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Puja or Worship as practised among the
South Indian Jainas
Dr M
D Vasantharaj
Man, with all his power and might, has not been able to ward off miscries that befall him and so also has not been able to get comforts of life fulfilled Therefore he thinks that there is certain invisible power behind it This invisible power, according to few religions is almighty God, by whosc mercy alone man can make himself free from miseries and gain the bliss Therefore it becomes necessary to win the favour of the God through some mcins and such means is puja or worship There are also other religions, which though do not believe in the concept of God, look upon puja, offered to spiritually elevated souls, as one of the means for the attainment of spiritual clevation and finally the bliss, and Jaina religion is one such religion
Jainism accepts the principle of Jiva or soul, which in its mundane existence, is bound by Karma Under the force of this karma the soul migrates from one body to another resulting in the cycle of birth and death Even under the bond of Karma the soul has an innate capacity to wake up at times and free itself from its fetters and attain its pure form or Siddhahood For this it is required to follow the path shown by those pure souls - Jinas or Paramatmans, who themselves, after treading the same path have attained their pure form Passions such as anger, pride, conceit, and greed, are the main binding forces which keep the soul in bondage to the cycle of birth and death which in essence is misery Once these passions are got rid of, the soul gains purity - Vitaraga state - resulting in the attainment of Siddhahood This Vitaraga state connot be attained all at once It needs constant practice with an unswerving faith (Samyagdarsana) For this, one will have to take as models those who have already attained purity or are on the path of purity Thus it becomes necessary to cultivate devotedly the qualities or virtues of those pure souls in one's own self with triple instrumentality of mind, speech and body In other words, one needs to take to the path of devotion or Bhakti expressed forms of which are the worship or puja and stotra or prayer In this context a statement by Samantabhadra is noteworthy 'Since you are devoid of all attachments, worship of you is of no significance to you, Since you are devoid of anger, abuse of you
