Paramatma Prakash -16

                                                   Second Maha Adhikar

Now the second Maha Adhikar  starts, which describes Moksha, result of Moksha, and path of Moksha by means of 214 gathas apart from  additional dohas. The first ten gathas describe the Moksha :

Gatha 1-124: O guru! Kindly teach me Moksha, result of Moksha and real cause of Moksha so that I may learn the reality. 

Commentary: Prabhakar Bhatt requests shri Yogindra Deva to describe the Moksha, cause for Moksha and result of Moksha.

Now shri Guru describe these three in  order:

Gatha 2-125: O yogi!  You enquired of Moksha, r esult of Moksha and cause for Moksha. I describe them to you as stated by Jinendra Deva, so that you may learn their various divisions.

Commentary: Shri Yogendra Deva tells his disciple, O Prabhakar Bhatt! Moksha is of the form of attainment of pure soul, result of Moksha is of the form of revelation of infinite foursome  qualities of Keval gyan etc., path of Moksha is of the  form of jewel trio of Nishchaya-Vyavahara with and without divisions – these three I shall describe as stated by Jina. You absorb them properly so that you may learn their differences.

Out of the four kinds of Purusharthas ( efforts) namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the cause for happiness is Moksha only. With this in mind the next gatha is stated:

Gatha 3-126: O Jiva! Out of the  four purusharthas Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha ; wise people accept the Moksha as the best ; since other three do not provide supreme happiness.

Commentary: Here dharma should be understood to be punya, Artha should be taken as benefits of punya in the form of kingdom and riches, Kama should be understood to be the benefits of kingdom in the form of women, clothes, garlands etc.  various materialistic enjoyments. All these three do not provide supreme happiness, instead they cause unhappiness in the form of disturbances. Hence Veetrag Nirvikalpa omniscient having knowledge of own experience accept Moksha as the greatest of them; since the Dharma, Artha, Kama which are different from Moksha, are cause for perturbations. Further they are opposite to the nature of taste of Veetrag supreme bliss form nectar of Moksha, hence are not cause for happiness. Know this.

Further it is told that if Dharma, Artha, Kama were superior to Moksha then why would have Jinenshwara Deva proceeded to Moksha, discarding these three? :

Gatha 4-127: O Jiva ! if Moksha were not the most superior of them then why would Jineshwara Deva have gone to Moksha discarding these three Dharma, Artha and Kama? He went because Moksha was the superior most.

Commentary: ‘Param’ stands for Supreme without Mithyatva -ragas etc., having infinite qualities of Keval gyan etc., such is Paramatma ; and observation of such Paramatma with those qualities i.e. experience of Veetrag supreme bliss form with equanimity is called ‘ParLok’. Also Paramatma is called as Param Shiva and his observation is ShivaLok. Or, Paramatma only is called Param Bramha and his lok is called Bramha Lok. Or, he only is named Param Vishnu and his lok is called VishnuLok. – All these are names of Moksha only, i.e. adding the word Lok to the names of  Paramatma    result in names of Moksha. There is no other imaginary ShivaLok, BramhaLok or VishnuLok.

The essence is that the Paramatma alone is the subject of contemplation described by the term ParLok , he alone is worthy of meditation and none else.

Next it is told that the Moksha alone leads to infinite bliss by means of an example:

Gatha 5-128: If Moksha were not the cause for infinite bliss, then why would animals bound in bondage also desire of Moksha ?

Commentary:  There is no suffering worse than bondage and happiness greater than freedom. Even animals in bondage desire to be free and when they are free, then they are happy. Animals are seen to be happy even in getting freedom  from simple bondage, then it should be no surprise  that gyani people are supremely happy in getting rid of karma bondage. Therefore Moksha alone is most venerable being one with Keval gyan etc. infinite qualities, cause for infinite bliss and most cherishable. Therefore Gyani people specifically desire Moksha only.

Further it is told that if Moksha were  not the bundle of highest qualities then why would have the three loks kept Moksha on top of their forehead? :

Gatha 6-129: If Moksha were not the aggregation  of qualities much higher than all the loks , then why would all the three loks keep the Moksha on top of their forehead?

Commentary: Moksha is at the peak of lok ; since Moksha has qualities much beyond all the loks combined hence lok keeps it at the top of its forehead. If someone keeps something on top of its head then it is due to its having superior qualities only. If Kshayik Samyaktva, Keval Gyan etc. infinite qualities were not present in Moksha then Moksha would not be at the top of their head. There is nothing superior to Moksha, Moksha is on top of everything and beyond Moksha only infinite Alok exists which is null since there is nothing existent there. That infinite Alok is also getting illuminated in the knowledge of Siddhas. Here by establishing infinite qualities of Moksha, the beliefs of Mithyadrishtis are negated.

Some Mithyadrishti Vaisheshik etc. say that intellect, happiness, unhappiness, desire, aversion, effort, dharma, adharma, ordination – the lack of these nine qualities is Moksha – this has been negated here. This is so as follows -  Although (in Moksha)  wisdom derived from senses is not existent but wisdom alone i.e. Keval Gyan is existent; the happiness derived from senses is not existent but happiness beyond senses is complete; unhappiness, desire, aversion, effort- these qualities of vibhava nature are not existent , but manifestation in the natural form is existent; the dharma of vyavahara nature is not  existent but  dharma of the nature of substance is present while absence of adharma is alright; sanskar (ordination) in the form of other dravya is totally not there , while sanskar in natural form is existent. Those ignorants who believe the qualities to be absent, they talk unnecessarily; Moksha is infinite qualities form only. In this manner the arguments of non-believers of qualities are negated.

Further believers of Bauddha principles believe the absence of Jiva as Moksha. They believe the Moksha to be akin to extinguishing of a lamp. Such beliefs are also countered. If Jiva himself does not exist then who attained Moksha? The attainment of purity of Jiva is Moksha, but calling absence as Moksha is illogical.

Believers of Samkhya philosophy say that the state of sleeping is Moksha in which there is neither happiness not knowledge. Such beliefs are also negated.

Naiyayiks say that place from which salvation is attained, the Jiva  remains there and does not proceed upwards. This is negated by the statement that after salvation he is stationed at the peak of the lok. When someone is freed from bondage then he proceeds towards his home; that home is nirvana only. In Jain philosophy the  knowledge produced by senses i.e. Mati, sruta, Avadhi, Manah Paryaya gyan are absent; but the knowledge beyond senses i.e. Keval Gyan , which is the nature of substance, cannot be absent in the soul. The happiness generated with five senses- touch, taste, smell, sound, colour are absent but the happiness beyond senses which is perturbation free supreme bliss form is not absent. The ten sensory form Prans (lives) which are generated by Karmas i.e. five senses, mind, speech, body, breathing, ayu (age) are also absent but own life form of knowledge etc. is not absent. The impurity of Jiva is absent but purity is not absent – this you know for sure.

Next it is told that if Moksha did not give happiness for ever then why would Siddhas experience it continuously? :

Gatha 7-130: If Moksha does not provide highest indestructible happiness then it cannot be supreme also. If Moksha were not ever blissful then why would Siddha Parameshthi experience it all the time? Would never do so.

Commentary: Moksha provides uninterrupted bliss hence Siddha bhagwan experiences it continuously. Moksha is supremely overwhelming, indestructible, devoid of senses and mind, hence Siddhas experience it continuously; adorned with qualities of Keval gyan etc. Siddha bhagwan continuously reside in Nirvana only, this is for sure.

The bliss experienced by Siddhas is stated elsewhere as follows; “ By means of this spiritual knowledge the supreme bliss experienced by the Siddhas is generated by their own effort-power, without help from anybody else, by itself is glory form, without any hindrance, uninterrupted, without bounds, without variation in quantity or quality, devoid of corruption due to sensual subjects, without distinctions, without any challenge, where there is no expectations from other substances, incomparable, infinite, unlimited, which cannot be measured, always permanent, supremely best, with infinite worthwhileness – such supreme bliss is experienced by Siddhas and not others.”

Here the essence is that the bliss of Moksha alone is worthy of attainment and all other manifestations of the world are of no interest.

Further it is told that the objective of all great people is Moksha only:

Gatha 8-131: Narayan, Indra, Rudra etc. other gyani people, shri Tirthankara supreme deva, groups of Munis and other bhavya Jivas also contemplate of Moksha only engaging their minds in great uncorrupted self. This mind, which keeps being drawn towards sensual subjects-passions, is pulled back into its own self  so as to attain Nirvana.

Commentary: Shri Tirthankara Deva and Chakravarty, Baldeva, Vasudeva, Prativasudeva, Mahadeva etc. all famous people meditate upon the Moksha and attain salvation. They contemplate upon their own soul substance of pure, knowledge form, singular, indivisible nature  by means of right belief-knowledge-conduct form  undifferentiated jewel trio natured Nirvikalpa Samadhi resulting in Veetrag blissful experience beyond senses like an overflowing pot, describable as uncorrupted continuous shapeless, own form Paramatma. How is that Dhyan? Devoid of all webs of vikalpas of fame, own glory, benefits of riches etc. Here only meditation of soul is described as path to Moksha and own nature is subject of contemplation.

To summarize, although from aspect of Vyavahara naya, in the initial stages, the form of Veetrag omniscient, his image or letters of name- incantations  or Great Munis worshippers of Veetrag nature are worthy of contemplation; even then at the time of supreme samadhi or veetarag nirvikalpa form with complete restraints, our own pure soul is worthy of meditation. No other second substance is worthy of contemplation in the final stage.

Continued……..