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Pure Soul and its Infinite Treasure ** 43
Chapter V A RESERVOIR OF INFINITE POWER
Siddha is Pure..., without blemish and
adorned with gems of characteristics Nemichandra Siddant Chakravarty, Gommatasara, Verse 1
The pure soul has infinite characteristics and there is a need to acquire knowledge of them to the extent possible. Select characteristics of the pure soul are given below and analysis of each characteristic indicates its infinite nature:
1. Living (Jivatva) - The soul is a living thing. It has lived in the past and it will live in future and will always assume the properties of a living substance. It is characterised by consciousness. Life is the essence of all properties of the self and lays foundations for understanding of other properties.
Worldly beings are often characterised by ten attributes of life-five senses (touch, taste, smell, seeing and hearing), mind, expression of words, body, age and breathing. But these are in fact attributes of inanimate things or bodies and not that of a soul. All worldly beings will have a few or all of these ten attributes. Even feelings of attachment or aversion do not belong to the soul. A soul does not have any such property that it can assume one or a few of the ten forms. Therefore, it is a misconception to believe that one
