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114 1. Śramaņa, Vol 59, No. 3/July-September 2008
Jina, or Arhat, the supposed initiator of a new period of reawakening Jainism after a period of decay. Many such Arhats are related to have appeared on earth, many are said to be living even now in distant regions, and many to be expected in future too. The Jina or Arhat is man at the summit of perfection, man at the threshold of Mokṣa, ready to enter Siddhaśila, the place of eternal bliss, from where there is no return into this world of imperfection.
His Karmas, with the exception of some neutral ones, arc fallen off from him, and the innate qualities of his soul are expanded in fullest beauty and majesty. He is omniscient, all perceiving, filled with infinite joy and infinite strength. He is free from all passion and attachment, free from desire - for desire is nothing but an expression of imperfection, and yet he is a man, and has to keep his human body as long as the neutral rest of his Karmas force him to keep it. He is man and, as one part of the Jaina tradition, that of the Svetambara branch, so beautifully suggests, has to satisfy the requirements of his human body to beg his food, to eat and to sleep, within the limits prescribed for a monk, since the rest of his Karmas require him to do so. And the rest of his Karmas also require him to live exclusively to the benefit of the world, i.e., of those souls that are still in the bonds of dangerous Karmas. For as long as he lives in his human shape, he goes about sowing to the whole of creation the right path, by preaching and teaching, and by the example of his own model life. And it is obvious that the activity and life of the perfect one does indeed turn out to be a blessing, for he cannot but attract crowds of followers and imitators.
This is what the Jaina worships as his highest religious ideal, his "god," if one chooses to say so. He adorns his statue with pearls and diamonds, with roses and jasmine and costly champak flowers, he fans it, as one does a great king, with white chowries, he burns sweet frankincense before it, and builds beautiful temples over it,
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