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whom one comes to know what paramātmā is. It is for this reason, that in the famous pañca namaskāramantra of the Jains, first obeisance or prostration is to Arihanta and not to siddha. Arihanta is a paramātmā, who is still possessed of human body, whereas a siddha is free from human body as he does not have to take birth. For the same reason if the aspirant can secure the association of pious teacher and can be his devotee, it can help him certainly to achieve or realize his self or its nature.It becomes easier than devotion to the prophets of yore. This is because in case of remote prophets, one can only use one's memory to know or remember them, whereas in case of a living perosn, (sadguru) his very presence is there to guide, inspire and lead the devotee to self-realization. Srimad, therefore calls a sadguru 'a liberation incarnate' and he says that devotion to such an enlightened sadguru cannot be compared with any other means of achieving the goal of self-realization.
On some other occassion, Srimad has given a very good piece of advice to one of his admirers. He has advised him that it is better and beneficial to love and worship an enlightened person than to love and respect his learning (jñāna).*: The love of only Icaming is of
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