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68 : Śramaņa, Vol 61, No. 4 October-December-10
(stoppage of that inflow) is the cause of liberation. The soul engulfed in the mud of karmic matter from times immemorial, after getting rid of it, shines forth in its intrinsic purity of infinite knowledge, intuition, bliss and potency.
The foundation principle of ethics is 'As you sow, so shall you reap, but Jaina relates it with a Psychological attitude of habit and says, 'we sow a character and reap our fate'. Human efforts and freedom of will have their own part to play in altering, amending, aggravating or affecting our past deeds and determining our future."
The virtues lead to happiness and are to be preferred to vices, but the ultimate aim of morality is a state beyond vice and virtue. Such perfection is a far cry for an ordinary man as he has normal duties to discharge. For his help a code of conduct is prescribed and the code is only a path not the end. For perfection a considered balance is required between practical code of conduct and a supra moral plane of life. .: The meritorious action leads to wealth, wealth to pride, pride to infatuation and infatuation to sin; but from practical point of view good actions have to be preferred to bad action for the following reason. i) For a common man happiness is naturally preferable to
. misery!2. ii) Good activities result in negation of passions. 13 iii) Good acts promote the interest of society are preferable to
bad ones which are cause its disintegration.
Jaina ācāryas ask their adherents to follow those general customs of the society, which are not contrary to spiritual teachings.14
Jainism is reconciliatory in its attitudes. Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct are the compact exclusive formula
