Soul Science Part 01

Author(s): Parasmal Agrawal
Publisher: Kundakunda Gyanpith

Page 83

Soul Science : Samayasāra by Jain Ācārya Kundakunda
greed, delusion, etc., but can become pure by our efforts like penance (Tapa) associated with the Self realization. In such a description the word 'pure conveys the meaning that the state (Paryāya) of our soul is not pure now but would be pure after the completion of the purification procedure. Such a purity of the state is different from the ever-existent purity of the soul described in this stanza.
In this stanza as well as in stanza 6, and at many places in this treatise, Ācārya Kundakunda has used the word 'pure' that signifies ‘always pure' with the objective of assigning I-ness to that which always exists. In other words, I-ness is not to be assigned to any state (Paryāya) which is temporary. The logic, advantage, and necessity of assigning such I-ness have also been discussed explicitly in this treatise (for example, see stanzas 6, 73, 186, etc. In stanza 186, Ācārya Kundakunda has described the attainment of the purity of the state of the soul from the realization of the ever-existent-purity of the soul.)
This stanza also affirms that I am always the same one. The world, 'one', signifies that I am the same one soul, i.e., I, as a soul, do not change, even when I, as a person, have changed from a baby to an adult. Or, as a living being, I might have been an animal earlier and now I am a human being, but as a soul, I am the same one.
The word, 'one', also implies that I am a single un-fragmented entity (see stanzas 7 and 14), i.e., I am not an assembly of various constituents.
In this stanza, one also notes an affirmation of the fact that I always have special attributes such as perception and knowledge (Upayoga). Further, by saying that I am always invisible, Ācārya Kundakunda explains that though, as living beings, our physical bodies are visible, we are not the physical bodies.
'What I am', and 'what I am not', both concepts have been explained in this stanza. In the next half of the stanza, we note that even an iota or a Paramāņu of any other substance is neither me nor belongs to me.