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YASABTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
along tbe path of Mokşa the soul is confronted with views which broaden out more and more. The different schools of philosophy representing the varied views thus obtained in passing are conceived to form a graduated series, arranged according to an ascending scale of spiritual realisation, and in such a scheme the lower is always supposed to be a stepping stone to the higher and is to be superseded by it.” Even more explicitly and with greater catholioity does the Jaina writer Siddharşi declare the essential unity underlying all faiths and systems of philosophy ih his Upamiti-bhava-prapañcă katha Book VIII (Pp. 1220-1227). The sum and substance of what he says is that the Supreme Soul is one. He is endowed with pure intelligence, and delivers the world with His infinite power. The true religion (Dharma ) is also one and consists of such qualities as forbearance, kindness, purity, self-control, truth, chastity, honesty, sacrifice etc. Further, the Ultimate Truth, which is the way to final deliverance, is in reality one, although it may be expressed in different ways; and it is for the realisation of this Truth concerning tho Supreme Lord that people undertake austerities, meditation and vows. Mokşa is the subsistence of the soul in its pristine condition characterized by infinite intelligence, conation, joy and power, and known by such names as Supreme Attainment, Bliss, Peace, the endless Good, the Deathless State, Brahma, Nirvāṇa etc. The Doctrine that reveals the One God, the One Dharma and the One Truth, and propounds such a state of final deliverance is alone authoritative and commands universal jurisdiction. It is the purport of this Doctrine that men learn with special care and enunciate in varieties of expression. Call it Vaisnava, Brāhmanical, Saiva, Buddhist or Jaina, it is all the same: the difference in name does not count so long as the meaning remains the same. Such assertions as I am right and you are wrong', 'my system is right and yours is wrong' are only a manifestation of jealousy and nothing more. Siddharsi's sublime conception of the spiritual unity of man is no doubt much in advance of his age.
Somadeva's review of the tenets of the different schools of thought is important as illustrating the Jaina standpoint, and much of what he says is no doubt cogent and valuable even as an independent effort in philosophioal criticism. As a matter of fact, he belongs in this respect to a line of Jaina scholars who have discussed, criticised and attempted to refute the doctrines of other schools of thought both before and after the tenth century; for example, Haribhadra, Akalanka, Vidyānanda, Anantavirya, Prabhācandra, Hemacandra, Vādideva, Mallişeņa and others. It should, however, be pointed out that, so far as the Brahmanical schools are concerned, the reaction to the impact of
1 G. N. Kaviraja in Sarasvati Bhavana Studies, Vol. III, p. 112.
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