Answer

In Jain Dharma, the question of whether women can attain moksha is explained differently in the two major Jain traditions:

• Śvetāmbara tradition: Women can attain moksha directly from a female body.
• Digambara tradition: A woman cannot attain moksha directly from a female body; she must first be reborn as a man and then attain liberation.

So, the “karmic obstacles” are understood differently depending on the tradition.

Explanation

According to Jain philosophy, moksha is attained when all karmas are completely destroyed. The main obstacles to moksha are not gender itself, but karmas such as:

• Mohaniya karma — deluding karma, which causes attachment, aversion, passions, and wrong belief.
• Jñānāvaraṇīya karma — knowledge-obscuring karma.
• Darśanāvaraṇīya karma — perception-obscuring karma.
• Antarāya karma — obstructive karma, which blocks spiritual effort and energy.

These karmas bind the soul regardless of whether the person is male or female.

Śvetāmbara View

In the Śvetāmbara tradition, women are fully capable of attaining keval-jñān and moksha. A well-known example is Mallinātha Bhagwan, the 19th Tirthankar, whom Śvetāmbaras accept as female.

From this view, the real obstacle is not womanhood, but:

• attachment,
• passion,
• wrong faith,
• lack of discipline,
• and bondage of karma.

Digambara View

In the Digambara tradition, moksha requires complete renunciation in the highest form, including the practice of nudity for monks. Because Digambaras hold that this final form of ascetic conduct is not possible for women, they teach that women cannot attain moksha directly in a female body.

From this view, the obstacle is connected with:

• the body produced by nāma karma,
• social and physical limitations of ascetic practice,
• and the inability to observe the highest Digambara form of aparigraha in a female body.

However, Digambara tradition still honors women as capable of very high spiritual progress, deep tapasya, right faith, and future liberation after rebirth as a man.

Spiritual Understanding

In Jain Dharma, the soul itself has no gender. Gender belongs to the body, which is the result of karma. The pure soul is beyond male, female, caste, status, and physical form.

The true causes that prevent moksha are:

• ignorance of the soul,
• attachment to the body,
• anger, pride, deceit, and greed,
• and continued bondage of karma.

Takeaway

Women are not spiritually inferior in Jain Dharma. The soul is equal and pure by nature. The difference lies in how Jain traditions interpret the final bodily conditions required for moksha. The central path remains the same: samyak darshan, samyak jñān, and samyak charitra — right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct.