Soul Science Part 02

Author(s): Parasmal Agrawal
Publisher: Kundakunda Gyanpith

Page 52

Virtue and Vice (Punya and Pāpa).
15
Those who do not abide in the supreme substance (Paramārtha), do not attain the liberation, even though they take vows and resolutions, follow the rules of good conduct, and perform penance. [153]
Those who are not anchored to the supreme substance (Paramārtha) do not know the cause of liberation; and due to ignorance, long for the bondage with auspicious Karma (Punya) which are cause of wandering in cycles of birth and death. [154] Annotation
In stanza 151, Ācārya Kundakunda explains that the attainment of liberation is possible by ascetics anchored to the supreme or the Self. The use of 'ascetics' ('Muņiņo' – plural of Muni, used in the second half of the stanza in Prākṛta) signify a basic tenet of Jain metaphysics that in the path of liberation the attainment of the monkhood is an essential stage.
In this stanza 151, Ācārya Kundakunda first introduced a few words - Samaya', 'pure', 'Kevali' (only consciousness), ‘Muni'(one who has nature of existing as a knower or consciousness), Jñānī (knower) – as synonyms of the supreme substance (Paramartha). From the commentaries of this scripture written by Ācārya Amstacandra and Ācārya Jayasena as well as on the basis of the context, it may be noted that the meaning written in this paragraph in the brackets of some of these synonyms is different from their conventional meaning.
In these four stanzas, Ācārya Kundakunda explains the importance of staying (or remaining absorbed or anchored or engrossed) in the supreme in various possible ways:
1. Stanza 151: The monks attain liberation by abiding in the
supreme substance (soul). 2. Stanza 152: Without abiding in the supreme substance