Pushkarmuni Abhinandan Granth

Author(s): Devendramuni, A D Batra, Shreechand Surana
Publisher: Rajasthankesari Adhyatmayogi Upadhyay Shree Pushkar Muni Abhinandan Granth Prakashan Samiti

Page 796

Jainism : The Most Humanistic Religion
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veiled by the Karmas due to the exhibition of passions in thought, word and deed. It is this pure soul known as the Paramātman or which has attained his inherent divinity and purity that is regarded as worthy of worship. The Tirthankaras are such liberated personalities who have attained perfection and omniscience. They are prophets who have preached the eternal truths of life to all living beings so that they too could liberate them selves from the miseries of transmigration.
The object of worshipping them is not for getting their favours and grace but to cultivate the same attributes of one's own soul to attain their state by gradual advancement on the path of spiritualism. Acarya Pujyapāda in his commentary on the Tattvartha-Sutra by Umāsvami has expressed in the opening verse the concept of Jaina worship:
Moksamargasya netaram, bhettaram karmabh übhritam :
Jnataram visvatattvanam vande tadgunalabdhaye. "I bow to the Lord who is the leader to the path of liberation, the destroyer of the mountains of Karmas and the Knower of the whole of the substances and their modifications of the universe, so that I may realize the same qualities which He has attained."
This verse makes it clear that liberation can be attained by a soul, on removal of all Karmic impurities and on realization of his inherent qualities of Knowledge and Bliss, with freedom from wordly pain and pleasure. The same is the object of every Jaina repeating the Namokara Mantra :
Namo Arihantanam, Namo Sidhanam, Namo Ayariyanam,
Namo Uvajjhayanam, Namo Loe Savvasahūnam. “Adoration to the Arhat, Adoration to the Siddhas, Adoration to the Acaryas, Adoration to the Upadhyayas and Adoration to all the Sadhus of the Universe." This mantra which a Jaina is required to meditate upon everyday requires him to offer his salutations to the five Supreme Beings so that he could acquire their attributes and ideals.
The special features of Jaina worship and prayer are: (1) the catholicity of the Jaina attitude in worshipping all liberated and holy souls : (2) the worship is of the aggregate of all virtues and attributes and not of any particular individual ; (3) the Arhat, the Omniscient being, who has shown the path of salvation is the highest ideal as it is he who has laid down the principles leading to the path of liberation; and (4) the prayer and the worship are the media through which we can exert to achieve the ideals. As J. L. Jaini has observed : “Jainism, more than any other creed, gives absolute religious independence and freedom to man. Nothing can intervene between the actions which we do and the fruits thereof. Once done, they become our masters and must fruitify. As my independence is great, so my responsibility is co-extensive with it. I can live as I like but my voice is irrevocable, and I cannot escape the consequences of it. This principle distinguishes Jainism from other religions, e. g., Christianity, Muhammadanism, Hinduism etc. No God or His prophet or deputy or beloved can interfere with human life. The soul, and soul alone, is responsible for all that it does."11
The Universe The Vedanta school maintains that every thing in the universe, souls and matter alike, was produced from God's own essence as Lila or sport of the Brahman. Christianity holds the view that God made the Heaven, the Earth, the Sea and all that is there. It is the "lord of Heaven and earth...... that maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send the rain on the just and the unjust." "In Him” says St. Paul, "we live and move, and have our being." The Muslim account of the Universe, as found in the Quran seems to have been founded upon