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Lasting conviction occurs when deep faith in dev, guru, and dharma leads to firm conviction in the soul, in its attributes and in its ability to attain liberation by itself. Self-realisation shall strengthen faith in dev, guru, and dharma. Thus faith focused on the self is supremely beneficial from the point of view of salvation/emancipation/liberation.
In truth, deva {Jinaas), guru {preceptor} and dharma (religion} are not the end, but the means to the end. They are saadhanaa {means to achieve the goal} not the saadhya {goal}. Liberation is the saadhya. They are external catalysts that push the soul forward on its journey of spiritual emancipation. At the end of the day, it is the soul that has to attain liberation. And at that point of time, the soul is its own god and preceptor and aatma-bhaava {self-immerion} is its religion.
In order to full comprehend the terms 'deva', 'guru' and 'dharma', let us now examine each of them under the light of the different scriptures.
Deva (God)
In vyavahaara samyaktva, deva is the Arihanta or the Aapta. Amongst the respectable substance, deva comes first. Indian tradition has conceived god in many different ways. In the Vedic tradition, one who has great supernatural power is known as deva. And he is considered to be the giver of boons and the granter of blessings. Thus, the Vedaas considered Indra {lord of the skies), Varuna {lord of water), Agni {lord of fire), Vaayu {lord of wind) and others to be gods and recommended worshipping them in order to get material benefits. Thus, religion at that point in time entailed detailed and sincere worship of these gods who, when appeased, would bless their worshipper with a great deal of worldly joys.
Later developments in the Vedic stream led to the Puraanic concept of the godhood of the trinityBrahma, Vishnu & Mahesha, and the various incarnations they took in order to rid the earth of its problems and save their devotees from various dangers. The central idea was to worship the trinity in any one of their myriad manifestations in order to attain a peaceful and joyous life. The focus was on devotion rather than liberation.
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