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THE JAINA THEORY OF KARMA with better judgment and understanding; it is the Truth revealed by the Omniscient Tirthamkaras, every single detail of which has been confirmed by the experiences of a countless number of Siddhas (Perfect Souls) and Saints. Its agreement with reason is indicative of its rational nature, but not suggestive of an origination from a finite human intellect."
The effect of samvara and nirjarā is the complete removal of the particles of matter adhering to and in union with the soul, which being accomplished the jiva (soul) is left as a pure spirit, whole, effulgent and worshipful, like pure, shining gold, separated from the impurities of alloy. This is moksha, the seventh and last tattva. The Saved One now rises up to the topmost part of the universe, called the Siddha Sila and resides there for ever, possessed of all divine attributes--eternal life, omniscience and the like--and in the full enjoyment of unbounded, unabating bliss. This is nirvana, the attainment to the ideal of perfection and joy.
Such is the Jaina doctrine of kurma, which, for obvious reasons, has been described with the utmost brevity in these pages. Jainism, it will be seen, does not recognise any god or goddess to be appeased or propitiated for one's good, but appproaches the subject in the spirit of pure science, investigating and dealing with it on lines of cause and effect throughout. Of all the creeds now prevailing in the world Jainism is the only religion that places the doctrines of karma, transmigration and salvation on a scientific, and, therefore, thoroughly rational basis. Some of the other creeds, indeed, have no idea whatsoever of what the bondage of the soul might signify, and there are others that openly preach to the contrary. Those amongst the remaining systems that profess to preach the doctrine know little or nothing about it on lines of scientific thought, and exhaust themselves in elaborating fanciful theories of their own which are beside the point, and which only tend to make the confusion worse confounded. The elaborate' doctrines of others, no doubt, at times seem to approach the Jaina conclusions, but they only proceed upon vague generalities and wordy abstractions. Unscientific at core, they betray their intellectual poverty, if carefully probed and examined.
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