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THE JAINA THEORY OF SYMBOL
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.modes--nāma etc. and ultimately there is nothing outside the scope of language and knowledge.
According to the Jainas the Tirthankara or the Siddha is Virarāga and so is quite indifferent towards the worship. So the question is : why one should worship such a person who has no interest in us? The God or Siva, Rama and Krisna etc are pleased by the worship. So there is a point in their worship. But why one should worship the one who is Vitarāga ? And in such a position what is the use of having symbols of such persons ? Jinabhadra says that it is true that Jina has no interest in his worship but that does not mean that the person who worships does not have any fruit of his worsbip. The soul of the worshipper is purified by the inood he is having while worshipping the Jina. The nature of the Jina is knowledge etc. and these are the very qualities which are the causes of liberation and so one must have an appreciation for such qualities and worship is nothing more than that. And so the result of worship is the gain of such qualities which are responsible for the lieberation of the worshipper. The Jinas
shown the way to liberation. So they are also conceived as the cause of liberation and hence they are to be worshipped. Just as by giving donation to others we ourselves acquire merit even so by worshipping the Jina we ourselves acquire the merit.
Bhadrabāhū has stated that when one worships the Jina or the Siddha he in this very world gets the wealth, the health etc. and also complete satisfication and in the next life goes to heaven or will have birth in high family or becomes liberated from birth and death. This is so because when engaged in worship his karmas ge destroyed at every moment.
Here some one argues as follows. The worship of the Jina or the Siddha is without any result because they are not pleased with the worship and are also not angry if a person does not worship them. Moreover the Siddhas are not benefited by the worship, they are not cven accepting the worship, they are without any form and they are far away from us. So it is useless to worship them. Answer to this arguments is given by Jinabhadra thus : we do not say that the Jina or the Siddha gives the benifit for their worship but we only accept that whatever is gained by the living being is the result of their own action-good or bad. The living beings are the masters of their action and their results
