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ESSENCE OF SOUL
the point of view of consciousness the soul is eternal. This consciousness of the soul existed in the past, it exists in the present and it will continue to exist for ever in future also. In the same discourse the words 'From the point of view of different modes' means that the soul changes its external appearance or garb. The same soul adopts different material forms of life and even in the same life it changes its modes, from childhood it developes into youth and from youth it changes to old age
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So, the soul is eternal and to cross over and reach the other shore of this ocean of births and deaths is its aim We come across a detailed explanation of this fact in an utterance of Kesi Gautam and this utterance in itself is a noteworthy passage from Uttradhyayan In this passage "the body is considered to be a boat, the soul is considered to be the boatman and the world is the ocean The great saints cross this ocean."
"When the self, completely eliminating karmic (non-self) matter and being absolutely pure, achieves salvation, it establishes itself on the topmost part of the universe and it is liberated for ever "2 This quotation amply explains to us as to how the soul liberated from the matter (non-self) exists
As in other age-old scriptures similarly in Jain
Dashvakalika 4-19
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