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Jaina Philosophy
In the Sthananiga we get the description of the soul as one. In Samayasära Kundakundacarya describes the absolute oneness of the soul on the strength “of myself realisation”. 10 This does not mean that the soul is one Advaita in the Vedantic sense. It only emphasises the identity of the content of the soul. If the souls were one, then "O Gautama, there would be no sukha, dukkha, bandha and noksa" 11 The individual souls are different like the kun
The nature of jiva has been described by Nēmicandra from the noumenal and the phenomenal point of view. From the noumenal
of view the soul is pure and perfect. It is consciousness, but
ne phenomenal point of view soul is characterised by upayoga. It is the agent, it has the same extent as its body, it is the enjover of the fruits of karma, it is in samsara 13 The characteristic “upayoga' of jiva has to be re-defined in terms of psychology. Very often it has been translated as the result of consciousness. But in my book Some problenus in Jaina Psychology, I have interpreted the term upayoga as "horme" as it has conative prominence. I have there used the word horme in the sense of McDougall's use of the word horme. Jnana and darsana are manifestations of upayoga in the light of the cetana. 14
From the phenomenal point of view, jiva is also described as possessing of praņas, life forces : indriya prana, bala prana, ayu prana and annapraņa.16 The jiva is the doer (karta), enjoyer (bhokta), limited to his body (dehamatra), still incorporeal and it is ordinarily found with karma. As the potter considers himself the maker of the pot, so also the mundane soul considers itself to the doer of activities, 18 However, from the noumenal point of view, jiva is the doer of 'suddhabhava', pure thought and from the phenomenal point of view it is the doer of pudgala karma. 17
Pancastikaya describes the atman as the agent of its own bhavas. But it is not the agent of the pudgala karmas.18
We have seen that due to the contact with ajiva the jiva engages itself in activity and activity brings in the influx of karma. Due to the influx of karma the soul gets entangled in the wheel of samsara and embodied through the operation of karma. When the
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