Traverses on Less Trodden Path of Indian Philosophy and Religion

Author(s): Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 138

Conception of Nirväņa
129
the attachment towards self. There will be no more pains, because of the destruction of attachment which is the root cause of worldly pains; when this root cause is destroyed, no forward movement will take place. By roalising the non-reality or unsubstantiality of personal self i.e. pudgalanairātmya, all the kleśas or obstacles are removed. When one realises the non-existence of self, naturally an individual ego is destroyed and, as a result of this, passions, desires and attachment are eliminated. This is known as destruction of kleśāvarana. The realisation of dharmanairatmya
-non-existence of things of this world, removes the screen over that knowledge. It is known as destruction of jie yāvaraña. Removal of jñeyavarana is possible only by realising dharmanairātmya i.e. realisation that all the dharmas or elements of existence are unsubstantial, devoid of any independent reality of their own. Realising the pudgalanairātmya and dharmanairātmya i.e. knowing the unreality of the ego and of the existing elements, a wise man recognisiog it to be essentially non-dual pure consciousness becomes one with it which is a non-describable state. Realising these two non-substantialities on enters reality. After that he transcends even this recognition and that is called mukti or Liberation or Nirvāņa. 12
Realising these two types of nairatmya, he secs everything as nane and form. 18 He dogs not see any duality, conception of pudgala and dharma disappears. This is called Vimukti. When both the screens are removed, one realises the true nature of pure consciousness. This is moksa, freedom, freedom from all obscuration. This is a stare of sarvākara jñata, state of omniscience. Realising the upreality of pudgala (selflessness) and dharmanairāimya-non-substantiality of all elements, removing both the kleśävarana and jñe yüvarana, the defled consciousness gets rid of the subject-object duality and becomes pure, rests again in itself.14
Nirvana is purification of consciousness (which is defiled by the false idea (kalponā) removing all sorts of covering. It is the discovery of the sole reality of consciousness eradicating the imaginary idea of subjectobject duality and empirical objects.
Hinayānists maintained that realisation of pudgalanairaimya leads to Nirvana. They did not think that realisation of dharmanairātmya is also necessary for attaining Nirvana. Asanga, when he emphasises the realisa. tion of both the pudgalanairātmya and dharmanoirâtmya, wants to point 12. Viditvä nairatmyam dvividhamiba dhimān bhavagatam samam tacca jñātva pravisati
satat vam grabanataḥ. Tatastatra stbānanmanasa iba na khyāti tadapi, tadakhyānam
muktih parama upalamdhasya vigamah. MSA. XI-47, 13. paśyati hi namamātram. MSA. XI-47. 14. Cintasya citte sansthānät. MSA.-XVIII-66.
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