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THE WORLD OF JAINISM
to the Jivanmukta stage described in the Vedanta philosophy. At the beginning of the stage Ayogikevali, the Tirthankara becomes a Siddha and realizes Moksha at once. This is the final culmination of spiritual life.
NIRVANA Absolute freedom from bondage is the ultimate goal of religious and spiritual life. To many religions (the term religion is used in the traditional sense) this goal consists in liberation or salvation of the soul. The Jains and Hindus aspire for this ideal. However, the aspirant for such an ideal is required to attain certain standard of spiritual progress. Jainism believes that only an adept who has perfected the last two stages of the ladder of moral evolution achieves liberation by destroying completely the knot of karmas and freeing the soul from it once and for all.55 Since Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism emanate from the same cultural ethos, they have the same conception of the highest goal irrespective of the different terms that they use to denote this goal. Desirelessness is the cause of Nirvana in Buddhism and Jainism; the same is the cause of Moksha in Hinduism. The Jain Sutras hold the view that the means to realize the goal of freedom from bondage are, as stated earlier, right knowledge, right faith, right conduct and austerity. "By knowledge, one knows things, by faith one believes in them; by conduct one gets freedom from Karman, and by austerities, one reaches purity. Having destroyed their Karman by control and austerities, the great sages, whose purpose is to get rid of all misery, proceed to perfection":56 For such a sage destroys all fetters of life and makes himself absolutely pure. *The dirt (of sins) formerly committed by a thus liberated mendicant who walks in wisdom (and restraint), who is constant, and bears pains, vanishes as the dirt covering silver (is removed) by fire". 57
The often repeated and short-cut way to Nirvana is to abstain from injuring any living being. For, Jaínism starts with the fundamental truth that every body shuns pain and likes pleasure. "A wise man should study them with all means of philosophical research. All beings hate pain; therefore one should not kill them”.58 Therefore, Jainism concludes: "He should cease to injure living beings whether they move or not, on high, below, and on earth. For this has been called the Nirvana, which consists in peace".59 There is an interesting discussion regarding the nature of Nirvana between two monks, Kesi and Gautama. To a question put by Kesi, as to what a
55. Tattvartha Sutra, X, 2. 56. Uttaradhyayana, XXVIII. 57. Akaranga II, 16, 8. 58. Sutrakritanga I. 11. 59. Ibid; also I, 3, 4.
