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SOME PROBLEMS IN JAINA PSYCHOLOGY
stages may be called antarātman, or the spiritual self, or of the Tof William James. On the attainment of omniscience, the soul struggles to free itself from the bond of wordly life. This is the struggle to reach the highest perfection. The self in the highest stage of perfection is in the fourteenth stage of ayoga kevali, which is the consummation of self-realization. This is the transcendental self, a metaphysical concept of the self. One has to cross the stage of empirical self and also of inner self in order to reach the highest stage of transcendental self or paramātman.
Prof. S. C. Nandimath compares the gunasthānas to the satsthalas of Vīrasaivism. The sthala and sthāna are synonymous. The gunasthānas of Jainism have the same significance as the sat-sthalas. Vīraśaivism has six stages, while Jainism presents fourteen stages through which the soul has to pass before it reaches perfection. However, the underlying principle in both seems to be the same.32 According to Vīraśaiva thought, the soul possesses ignorance because of veil of avidyā. It identifies the self with the things of the world. But sometimes, miraculously, there dawns an idea that the things of the world are not all. This idea increases one's faith in the supreme power. This is the starting point. The first stages viz., bhakti-sthala, maheswara-sthala and pradeśa-sthala are stages in self-development wherein the distinction between the self and the absolute 'īswara' is still present. But later stages, like prāņalinga-sthala, and sarana-sthala or the stage of selfsurrender and aik ya sthala leading to the final unity, gradually eliminate the distinction between jīva and īśvara, finally to the fusion of jīva with the transcendental self. Prof. K. G. Kundanagar, in his introduction to the Adi-Purāna, also says that the Jaina gunsthānas may be compared to the sat-sthalas of Virasaivism. It would be difficult to accept the interpretation given by S. C. Nandimath and K. G. Kundanagar because there appears to be difference in the Jaina and Virasaiva attitudes towards the problem. The sat-sthalas show the way towards the union with the God in the aikya sthala. For the Jainas there is no absorption with the Infinite even in the highest stage of self-realization. The Jainas are pluralists. They do not admit a reality beyond the individual selves. In Vīrasaivism bhakti is an important factor for the realization of the self, which culminates in the union with God. It is through bhakti that the individual journeys through the stages of purification, self-surrender and the final stage of union. For the Jainas, bhakti has no place in the struggle for the realization of the self. The right attitude, (samyaktva), is to be coupled with the moral efforts in the way of self-realization. It is only the individual self-confidence, the Jainas say, that leads one on to the progress towards perfection. In my discussions with some
32 Nandimath (S. C.): A Hand Book of Virasaivism, Ch. XI. The Pilgrims' Progress.
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