Bhagvan Mahavira gained omniscience on the tenth day of dark fortnight of Vaisakha month on the bank of river Rajuvalka after a long period of penance and meditation of about twelve and half years. By a series of unprecedented spiritual efforts he eliminated all his psychical karma covering the infinite psychical powers of his soul. This resulted in the state of the soul with infinite intelligence, intuition, bliss and spiritual energy. A common human soul veiled with psychical Karma is possessed of knowledge as well as ignorance, the ignorance out weighing knowledge by a very large measure. The ignorance puts a bound on knowledge and the soul is not able to perceive the truth. When the ignorance is eliminated on annihilation of knowledge obscuring karma the knowledge becomes boundless, The knowledge of omniscient has to be necessarily boundless in order that there is no trace of ignorance, if thee is a bound on knowledge, ignorance will necessarily exist. The first public exposition of omniscience of Bhagvan Mahavira was made in the first Samavasaran when eleven Vedic scholars got fully satisfactory reply to their doubts. All these scholars were renowned exponents of Vedas but had some doubts regarding soul, cosmology etc. that perhaps no one could answer. They were of the view that if great scholars like them were not able to find answers to these questions, no one else could do so. When they came to know that Gods and people were rushing to the Samavasaran of Mahavira and not coming to their yagya their pride was hurt. They thought that there was no scholar greater than them and hence decided to test the wisdom of Mahavira by posing their doubts as questions. These doubts of Vedic scholars are also generally the doubts of many scholars today and their answers by Mahavira are really very educative. The9th NINTH DOUBT:PUNYA AND PAAP EXIST WHAT IS PUNYA AND PAAP? WHAT ARE SIN AND VIRTUES ? Now Achalbhrata went to Mahavira. Addressing him Mahavira said. "You have a doubt whether merit (punya) and demerit (papa) exist and have a role in life?" Clarifying this doubt Mahavira said that there are five options regarding merit and demerit. 1. There is only merit, and no demerit. 2. There is only demerit, and no merit. 3. Merit and demerit are same; there is no difference between them. 4. Merit and demerit both exist and are different. 5. There is nothing like merit and demerit, the nature of being is everything. Let us discuss these options. 1. The first option says that only merit exists, demerit does not. As merit balance mounts, the happiness in life increases. When merit balance reduces, happiness also reduces. On complete elimination of merit the soul is emancipated. 2. In this case only demerit exists, merit does not. As demerit balance increases, suffering increases and vice versa. On complete annihilation of demerit the soul is emancipated. 3. Merit and demerit are not different; they are aspects of the same thing, say action of a being. When the good part of this action is more it is known as merit and when the bad part is more it is known as demerit. In other words when goodness of action declines it is demerit and it is merit if goodness of action is present. 4. Merit and demerit are distinct and independent. Merit is the cause of happiness and demerit is the cause of sufferings. 5. The existence of merit and demerit is denied, the soul transmigrates by his nature. Out of these five options only the fourth is logical and is true. We experience happiness and unhappiness in relation to the intensity of merit and demerit. The sufferings and unhappiness is not due to absence of merit but is due to fruition of demerit. Clarifying further Mahavira said "No action can be both merit and demerit. Why? Because the reason of bondage of karma is activities of body, mind and speech. This activity can be either good or bad but not both. So its result is either good or bad, good result is merit or bed result is demerit. Both merit and demerit is pudgala (karma), physical." Satisfied with the reply Achalbhrata and his 300 disciples accepted the Order of Mahavira.