History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s9.2

v3.c41.s9.2

The Vaishnava idea of final beatitude was different from the Vedantic but Rāmānuja was a strict orthodox philosopher and it seems to us that he insisted on Sanyāsa as a sine qua non for the attainment of Moksha. The Vīraśaivas or Lingāyats had a different idea of Moksha their highest God being Śiva; but they believed that every one including women could attain to Moksha i. e. to the service of Śiva in Kailāsa. The Buddhistic idea of Moksha was again different and their word for it was Nirvāṇa; but they insisted on the necessity of Sanyāsa which was open to all including women. The Jains originally were a little less liberal, as already stated, than the Buddhists and the Digambaras preached that Sanyāsa in the highest sense was necessary for attaining Kaivalya. We have already mentioned the disputation which was held between a Digambara philosopher and a Śvetāmbara, on this very subject at Dhar before a Paramāra king, the former holding that clothed monks and women were not fit to attain final deliverance. The idea of final deliverance from rebirth was common to all these different sections; but they differed as to the nature of Moksha and as to the persons who were fit to attain it as above and thus added to the state of religious disunion in the country.