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of Indian philosophy, except the Carvaka, accept the concept of mokṣa.
Study of Jainism
According to the Jainas the soul in its real nature is pure and perfect. But due to its activity owing to its contact with ajiva it accumulates karma and gets involved in the wheel of life. But the end of the removal of karma is possible for a jiva if his eyes turn towards spiritual realisation. By his voluntary efforts and not depending on any superior deity or God for grace, one can attain the state of highest perfection by one's own efforts. This state of highest perfection is called mokṣa. Jainas say that the jiva has a characteristic of Urdhvagati (tendency to move upwards).79 When the karmic particles are removed and when the soul is free from all the karmic encrustations, it moves upward to the end of lokakasa and remains in its pure form in the siddha loka, at the end of lokakasa... It does not move further because there is the absence of the dharmastikaya in the alokakasa. The Jaina literature presents a picture of Siddha S'ila, and the description of the Siddha Sila, given by the Jainas is its peculiarity. According to the Jainas the world where the human beings inhabit has the extension of 45 lakhs of yōjanas and the extension of Siddha kṣetra has also 45 lakhs of yojanas. In this there is a special point about the possibility of attainment of moksa by the jiva. The efforts for the attainment of mokṣa are possible only for human beings and in this karmabhūmi. Even the Gods in heaven have to be reborn as human beings if they have to strive for the attainment of moksa.
The final stage of self-realisation is the stage absolute perfec tion. In this stage all empirical adjuncts, like the bodily functions are removed. The soul enters the third stage of sukladhyana. This state lasts only for the period of time required to pronounce five short syllables.80 At the end of this period the soul attains perfect and disembodied liberation. This is a stage of perfection. However, the Jaina conception of mokṣa does not obliterate the individuality of each soul. It is neither merged nor is identical with anything higher than itself. Its individuality is not lost. There is a permanent personality of the soul even in the state of perfection. We have elsewhere referred to McTaggart's analogy of the "College of selves" in order to explain the status of the soul in the state of perfection.
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