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Tattvārthasūtra
the self in mundane existence makes several efforts for attaining liberation. And even in the absence of these, the liberated soul darts up on account of the former impetus. Moreover, the self is free from attachment. A gourd coated with clay goes down to the bottom of the water because of its heaviness. But when the coating of clay is washed off by the water, the gourd becomes light and comes up to the surface of the water. Similarly, the soul, loaded with the burden of karmas, wanders indefinitely in mundane existence, being affected by it. But, on being freed from this burden of karmas, it shoots up. Just as the castor-seed darts up on breaking loose from confinement inside the fruit, in the same way, the soul darts up as it breaks loose from confinement of karmas of existence (gati) and birth (jāti) which lead it to the human and other states of existence. Further, the soul is of the nature of going upwards. For instance, in the absence of wind blowing sideways, the flame of a candle tends upwards of its own nature. Similarly, the liberated soul, in the absence of karmas which lead it wandering in different states of existence in different directions, darts upwards only as it is of the nature of going
up.
If upward motion is the nature of the soul, why does it not go beyond the end of the universe?
धर्मास्तिकायाभावात् ॥८॥
[धर्मास्तिकायाभावात् ] आगे (लोकाकाश के बाहर) धर्मास्तिकाय का अभाव है, अतः मुक्त जीव लोक के अन्त तक ही जाता है।
The liberated soul does not go beyond the end of the universe as no medium of motion - dharmāstikāya – exists there.
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