In the fourteenth stage of (Gunasthana called
Ayoga-Kevali, the self has attained peaceful perfection. The influx of
Karma is completely stopped and the self is freed from all Karmic
dust.[41] This stage lasts only for a period of time required to pronounce
five syllables. At the end of this period the soul attains disembodied
liberation. Being now, free with its upward motion the soul attains the
liberation or Moksa.
The liberated souls live in perfect peace and purity
in siddhasila which is the abode of the omniscient souls. In the
Tiloyapannatti, We get the description of the siddhasila, which is also
called the moksasthana or nirvansthana. These freed souls enjoy ' a kind
of interpenetrating existence on account of their oneness of status.'
Their soul substance has a special power by which an infinity of souls
could exist without mutual exclusion. The identity of the saved is
determined by 'the living rhythm retaining the form of the last physical
life and by the knowledge of the past.[42] The conception of the liberated
soul and the abode of the souls in sidhasila here they live with all their
individuality, is a logical possibility and psychologically significant.
EPILOGUE
1. We, may not attain Moksa; we do not need to. We can
still keep the idea of perfection before us and look to the perfect souls,
as ideals to guide us, like the kindly light in this life.
2. Struggle for perfection is a necessary factor in
life. Sorrow and imperfection are a flavour to the sauce. They are
necessary for onward journey in the spiritual struggle. The efforts for
self-realization will have meaning only when this world becomes a vale of
the soul making, and the life a real fight in which something is eternally
gained.[43]' Life is to be considered as a struggle towards perfection,
and not merely an amusing pantomime of infallible marrionettes. We should
realise that 'man is not complete, he is yet to be' in what he is, he is
small. He is hungering for something which is more than that he can get.
In this struggle for perfection man need not depend on God or any superior
being for favours for He rolls as impotently as you or I '. Man has to
depend on his own self-effort. The Jaina attitude is melioristic.
3. The synoptic view is the very foundation of Jaina
out-look. A Jaina looks at the soul from the noumenal and the phenomenal
points of view . It is simple perfect eternal from the noumenal point of
view, but not eternal from the empirical point of view. Space is
incorporeal and formless; yet divisible, and its divisibility is a
spontaneous feature. Reality is complex lie a many coloured dome and can
be predicated from many points of view. In the analysis of knowledge
Jainas admit levels of experience. Sense experience is empirical in nature
and content and cannot yield the noumenal reality, although the phenomena
can be apprehended by it. Supersensuous experience including omniscience
is direct and gives a synoptic picture of noumenal and th phenomenal
worlds. Dravya karma and the Bhava karma are two aspects of the after
effects of our action. Above all in their analysis of the way of life
Jainas have emphasised the synoptic outlook by introducing the gradations
of moral codes as munidharma and sravaka-dharma. This distinction is
unique Indian thought and it substantially contributes to the
understanding of human nature and its capabilities for the attainment of
perfection. The analysis in this sense is psychologically important.
Jainas have neither denied the reality cf empirical world nor have they
given exclusive emphasis on this world and our life. In understanding life
and experience we have to see everything with reference to its i)
substance (dravya), ii) nature (rupa), iii) place (desa) and iv) time (kala).
That is true of a thing in specific conditions at a specific time may not
be true if it were in a different context, and to ignore this is to commit
the fallacy of here say. This is the spirit of Anekanta. It expresses a
catholic outlook the spirit of intellectual non-violence.
The conditions of society in the present-day world
demand that we adopt such a catholic outlook or else we perish. We are in
the midst of a life where hatred, injustice and intolerance reign supreme.
A new orientation of values would be necessary for us to destroy the
inverted values and then 'rebuild to our heart's desire . What we need
today is love and sympathy and not prejudice and pomp. We need
understanding and a sense of fellowship between the peoples of the world.
And Anekanta would give us a ' Weltanschaung ' and a scientific
interpretation of things. We will then learn to love our neighbours as
ourselves. " And we can still cherish the hope when power becomes ashamed
to occupy its throne ' and, when the morning comes cleansing the
bloodstained steps of the nation ",[45] We shall be called upon to bring
the spirit of Anekanta to sweeten the purity of human destiny.
REFERENCES:
1. SMITH (U. R.): Religion of the Semites. p. 55.
2. D. MIALL EDWARDS: The Philosophy of Religion, p. 61.
3. Gunaratna, Tarka-rahasya-dipika.
4. Syadvadamanjari of Mallisena on Hemacandra's
Anyayoga Vyava-cchedaDvatrimsika.
Edt. DHRUVA A. B. Introduction.
5. ibid, 6.
6. Gunaratna, Tarka-rahasya-dipika.
7. Asvaghosa's Buddhacarita gives a detailed
description of the topic Dialogues of Buddha.
Also refer to Syadvada manjari for sirnilar views.
8. Ibid.
9. Pancastikayasara, 27 & Samayasara, 124.
10. DESAI (P. B,) ;Jainism in South India (1957) p. 72.
11. Ibid, p. 74.
12.Na manusat srerstharam hi kimcit.
13. Brho Upanisad 2.4.50
14. Radhakrishnanand Raju; The Concept of man.
Introduction p 18
15. Plato; Theaetetus, p. 152
16. Chan. Up. VlII. 3-12.
17. RADHAKRISHNAN(S); Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p.
170.
18. Plato Republic 346-355
19. HIRIYANNA: Outline of Indian Philosophy p. 18.
20 Bhadrasana Upanisads, 111 .
21. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 8, p.
770.
22. History of Philosophy (Eastern); edt. RADHAKRISHNAN.
Ch.1.
23. Zimmer, H. Philosophies of India. Vol. I, p. 287.
24. JACOBI (Hermann): Studies in Jainism.
25. Tattvartha Sutra. I 1.
26.RADHAKRISHNANI S.) Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p.
333.
27. ZIMMER (H.O): Philosophies of lndia, p. 260.
28. S. B E. xxii. p. 54.
29. Pancastikayasara. 36,
30. Ibid, p. 176.
31. Dravyasamgrnha, 39-40.
32. MURTI (T. R. V.); The Central Philosophy of
Buddhism. p. 205.
33.RADHAKRISHNAN(S) Indian Philosophy, Vol, II. p. 152.
34.Samkara's Bhasya, 1.i.4 and 1, 3.19.
35.Ibid, 19.
36.Ibid. 139.
37. Ibid. 1.39; 2.13.
38. Madhyamiku Kattka Vrtti, p. 519.
39. Vedantasara. 219.
40. ZIMMER ( H ): Philosophies of India, :p.446
41. Gommatosara, Jivakanda
42. RADHAKRISHNAN(S) Indian Philosophy, Vol. I , P.
333.
43. Ibid
44. WlLLIAM JAMES: The Will to Believe, 1889 pg 61.
45. Tagore; Nationalism
