Time
rolls along in eternal cycles of
rise and decline. Utsarpini is a
"rising" era in which
human morale and natural conditions
improve over time. At the end of
Utsarpini, begins Avasarpini, a
"declining" era of the
same length, in which humanfi morale
and virtues deteriorate. During
the middle of every rising and declining
era twenty-four souls become Tirthankaras.
They are the humans like us who
rise to that level. While accumulating
different karmas, they also accumulate
get a special karma called Tirthankar
Nam Karma in the last 3rd of their
life by performing one or more of
the 20 special austerities. Tirthankar
Nam Karma matures in the final life
and leads the person to become a
Tirthankara. After attaining omniscience,
Tirthankara reorganize Jain religion
to suit the changing times. Tirthankaras
are also called Arihantas,
Jinas, Kevalis, and Vitragi.
Arihant means
"destroyer of inner enemies,"
Jina means "victor
of inner enemies," and vitragi
means "one who does not have
anymore attachment or hatred towards
anyone." This means that they
are totally detached from worldly
aspects. They have destroyed the
four ghati karmas, namely Jnanavarniya
Karma, Darshanavarniya Karma, Mohniya
Karma, and Antaraya Karma. They
are Kevaljnani meaning that they
know everything everywhere that
happened in the past, that is happening
now, and that will happen in the
future at the same time. They are
also Kevaldarshani, meaning that
they can see all that happened in
the past, that is happening now,
and that will happen in the future
all at the same time. |
