Moksha, also called vimoksha, vimukti, and mukti, is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, nirvana, or release. In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth. In its epistemological and psychological senses, moksha is freedom from ignorance: self-realization, self-actualization and self-knowledge.
Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early 6th century BCE to a royal Jain family of ancient India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which he attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained moksha (liberation) in the 6th century BCE, although the year varies by sect.
In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a saviour and supreme preacher of the dharma. The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, a fordable passage across saṃsāra, the sea of interminable birth and death. According to Jains, tirthankaras are the supreme preachers of dharma, who have conquered saṃsāra on their own and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthaṅkara attains kevala jnana (omniscience). A Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow them from saṃsāra to moksha (liberation).
In Jainism, godliness is said to be the inherent quality of every soul. This quality, however, is subdued by the soul's association with karmic matter. All souls who have achieved the natural state of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite perception are regarded as God in Jainism. Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. Instead, souls who have reached Heaven for their merits and deeds influence the Universe for a fixed period until they undergo reincarnation and continue the cycle of enlightenment. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents have always existed. All constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and "perfect soul".
Tattvārthasūtra, meaning "On the Nature [artha] of Reality [tattva]" is an ancient Jain text written by Acharya Umaswami in Sanskrit, sometime between the 2nd- and 5th-century CE.
Mallinatha was the 19th tīrthaṅkara "ford-maker" of the present avasarpiṇī age in Jainism.
The Pañca-Parameṣṭhi in Jainism is a fivefold hierarchy of religious authorities worthy of veneration.
Jain symbols are symbols based on the Jain philosophy.
Samayasāra is a famous Jain text composed by Acharya Kundakunda in 439 verses. Its ten chapters discuss the nature of Jīva, its attachment to Karma and Moksha (liberation). Samayasāra expounds the Jain concepts like Karma, Asrava, Bandha (Bondage), Samvara (stoppage), Nirjara (shedding) and Moksha.
Jain philosophy or Jaina philosophy refers to the ancient Indian philosophical system of the Jain religion. It comprises all the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among the early branches of Jainism in ancient India following the parinirvāṇa of Mahāvīra. One of the main features of Jain philosophy is its dualistic metaphysics, which holds that there are two distinct categories of existence: the living, conscious, or sentient beings (jīva) and the non-living or material entities (ajīva).
Jain texts assign a wide range of meaning to the Sanskrit dharma or Prakrit dhamma. It is often translated as “religion” and as such, Jainism is called Jain Dharma by its adherents.
Saṃsāra (transmigration) in Jain philosophy, refers to the worldly life characterized by continuous rebirths and reincarnations in various realms of existence. Saṃsāra is described as mundane existence, a life full of suffering and misery, and hence it is considered undesirable and worth renunciation. The Saṃsāra is without any beginning, and the soul finds itself in bondage with its karma since the beginning-less time. Moksha is the only way to be liberated from saṃsāra.
Jainism emphasises that ratnatraya — the right faith, right knowledge and right conduct — constitutes the path to liberation. These are known as the triple gems of Jainism and hence also known as Ratnatraya
Guṇasthāna are the fourteen stages of spiritual development and growth through which a soul gradually passes before it attains moksha (liberation). According to Jainism, it is a state of soul from a complete dependence on karma to the state of complete dissociation from it. Here the word virtue does not mean an ordinary moral quality, but it stands for the nature of soul—knowledge, belief and conduct.
Jain philosophy explains that nine or seven tattva constitute reality. These are:
- jīva – the soul which is characterized by consciousness
- ajīva – the non-soul
- puṇya (alms-deed) – which purifies the soul and provide happiness to others
- pāpa – which impurifies the soul
- āsrava (influx) – inflow of auspicious and evil karmic matter into the soul.
- bandha (bondage) – mutual intermingling of the soul and karmas.
- saṃvara (stoppage) – obstruction of the inflow of karmic matter into the soul.
- nirjarā – separation or falling-off of parts of karmic matter from the soul.
- mokṣa (liberation) – complete annihilation of all karmic matter.
Jīva or Ātman is a philosophical term used within Jainism to identify the soul. As per Jain cosmology, jīva or soul is the principle of sentience and is one of the tattvas or one of the fundamental substances forming part of the universe. The Jain metaphysics, states Jagmanderlal Jaini, divides the universe into two independent, everlasting, co-existing and uncreated categories called the jiva (soul) and the ajiva. This basic premise of Jainism makes it a dualistic philosophy. The jiva, according to Jainism, is an essential part of how the process of karma, rebirth and the process of liberation from rebirth works.
Arihant is a jiva (soul) who has conquered inner passions such as attachment, anger, pride and greed. Having destroyed four inimical karmas, they realize pure self. Arihants are also called kevalins as they possess kevala jnana. An arihant is also called a jina ("victor"). At the end of their life, arihants destroy remaining karmas and attain moksha (liberation) and become siddhas. Arihantas have a body while siddhas are bodiless pure spirit. The Ṇamōkāra mantra, the fundamental prayer dedicated to Pañca-Parameṣṭhi, begins with Ṇamō arihantāṇaṁ, "obeisance to the arihants".
Digambara is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being Śvetāmbara (white-clad). The Sanskrit word Digambara means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing nor wearing any clothes.
Aranath(Arnath) was the eighteenth Jain Tirthankar of the present half cycle of time (Avasarpini). He was also the eighth Chakravartin and thirteenth Kamadeva. According to Jain beliefs, he was born around 16,585,000 BCE. He became a siddha i.e. a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karmas. Aranath was born to King Sudarshana and Queen Devi (Mitra) at Hastinapur in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the tenth day of the Migsar Krishna month of the Indian calendar.
