________________
Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
826
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
For Private And Personal
Atman and Mokşa
Although all the systems agree in holding that Mokṣa can be attained by the right knowledge of the world and of the Brahman and Atman by the removal of ignorance or nescience, yet the Vedas and the Purva Mimāmsā system give much emphasis on ritualism and sacrificialism (karma) considengri them necessary for the attainment of Mokṣa. According to Yoga, Mokṣa has to be attained by practising the Yogic disciplines of the body and the mind. Advaita Vedānta and Samkhya hold that knowledge alone is sufficient to bring about the final emancipation although highly moral life and Yogic discipline help it to a great extent. Rāmānuja and his successors, Nimbarka, Madhva, Vallabha, Saivas, S'aktas and all the Vaisnava Saints hold that Mokṣa can be attained primarily by sincere devotion (Bhakti), complete surrender to God (prapatti), and by the grace of God; knowledge enjoys a secondary position in their systems. The S'aivas and all the Vaisnava Acaryas and Saints believe that worship is necessary as a means of concentration on God and for the purification of the body, mind, and intellect. All the systems give equal importance to a highly moral and virtuous life which implies withdrawal from the world of sense, conquest of sense organs, and directing the mind exclusively to the object of worship and devotion. The Yogic method is more rigorous and austere in self-control. The Buddhists and the Yogic school try to forcibly curb and annihilate the senses; but the aim of Samkara, of the Vaiṣṇava Acaryas and Saints and of the S'aivas is not the