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INTRODUCTION
CXV
realisation, he engages himself in the noble task of helping his fellow-beings with his message of Dharma which would enable the ordinary mortals to reach the summum bonum of life and attain the same spiritual status of perfection which he himself has acquired. Because of this noble task of showing the path of spiritual realisation or Mokshamarga, Jina is also called Thirthankara. This term Thirthankara means one who helps human beings to cross the ocean of Samasara by providing them with a vessel to sail with in the form of Dharma. Jinadharma is the boat which is provided for the human beings for the purpose of crossing the ocean of Samsara and because of this noble task of helping the mankind Jina is also called Thirthankara The divine personality Jina, who by his act of benevolence is called Thirthankara is therefore called Arhanta which means one worthy of adoration and worship Arhat Parameshti is therefore the Lord worshipped by all the Jains He is represented by a pratibimba or image which is installed in a Chaityalaya or a Jain temple built for the purpose. The pratibimba is always of the form of a human being because it represents the Jina or the Thirthankara who spent the last portion of his life on earth in the noble task of proclaiming to the world Mokshamarga or path to salvation. The idol will be either in a standing posture or Kayotsarga or in the posture of Padmasana-sitting-technically called Palyankasana Whether standing or sitting it represents the Divine Lord absorbed in the self-realisation as a result of Tapas or Yoga Therefore the facial expression would reveal the intrinsic spiritual bliss as a result of self-realisation People who worship the Jina in this form installed in Jinalaya or the Jain temple and who follow the religious tenets proclaimed by the Jina are called the Jainas and their religion is Jainism.
The same faith is also designated by the term Arhatamata, which means religion followed by Arhatas or Jainas, since the term Arhata means one who follows the religion of the Arhat Parameshti The terms Jina, Thirthankara and Arhat Parameshti all refer to the divine person or Sarvagna who lived in the world with his body, and it refers to the period after attaining Sarvagnahood or Omniscience and the last period of the parinivana, when the
