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Soul Science: Samayasara by Jain Acarya Kundakunda
Answer: This stanza indirectly conveys that acquisition of wealth, political status, etc. does not lead to liberation. The question raised here has come from the ego which views the liberation as an external achievement. The ego calls an achievement when someone acquires material prosperity and control over others, whereas the process of liberation starts with the acceptance of the truth. In the spiritual world, the acceptance of the truth regarding the true ownership of the soul is the most important achievement. The ownership over others and any desire of changing and controlling others go against the liberation. Further, the realization of the faculty of knowledge (JñanaPada) does not need any external object as it exists with every soul all the times. Thus the acceptance of the knowledge faculty (JñanaPada) as the Self is the truthful and the supreme acceptance. By accepting and grasping the pure Self one becomes the pure Self [stanza 186]. In other words, it amounts to the truthful realization of the Self, and it leads to the liberation.
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In this regard, it may also be appropriate to add a few points: (a) The soul has the faculty of knowledge whereas other kinds of substances such as matter do not have this faculty. Therefore, the focus on the eternal knowledge faculty is significant for the focus on the eternal Self. (b) Here we are not talking of the quantity or quality of the knowledge possessed by a living being at this moment or any other moment. We are talking of the ever existing knowledge attribute of the soul. (c) The grasping of soul includes the practice (penance) of grasping the soul. The development of the personality also takes place during the practice of grasping the soul. The development of the personality entails reduction in desires, possessions, fear, etc. of the personality. Such a development is also commonly known as the spiritual development. (In the rigorous sense, the concept given in stanza 6
