Answer

In Jain Dharma, karma is indeed the main principle. One’s happiness, suffering, wealth, knowledge, status, and spiritual progress are ultimately connected to one’s own karma.

So Jains do not believe that Lakshmi, Saraswati, or Dhan Kuber can “erase karma” or give liberation. However, some Jains respectfully worship or remember them as devas/devis connected with worldly prosperity, learning, and auspiciousness, not as supreme creators or controllers of destiny.

Explanation

Jainism teaches that:

• No god creates your karma.
• No deity can give moksha directly.
• Your own thoughts, words, and actions bind karma.
• Your own right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct destroy karma.

In Jain understanding, devas and devis exist as heavenly beings, but they are also souls within saṃsāra. They too are bound by karma and are not liberated.

So when some Jains worship Lakshmi, Saraswati, or Kuber, it is usually for:

• Lakshmi – auspiciousness and prosperity
• Saraswati – learning, knowledge, speech, and wisdom
• Kuber – wealth and material abundance

But this is generally a worldly devotional practice, not the highest Jain spiritual path.

Spiritual Understanding

From the deeper Jain point of view, worship should mainly be directed toward:

• Arihants – perfected living spiritual victors
• Siddhas – liberated souls
• Āchāryas – spiritual leaders
• Upādhyāyas – spiritual teachers
• Sādhus/Sādhvīs – monks and nuns practicing the path

This is why the Namokar Mantra is central in Jain Dharma. It does not ask for money, success, or worldly favors. It bows to spiritually pure souls and inspires us to become pure ourselves.

The highest Jain wisdom is:

• Do good karma through compassion, honesty, restraint, and charity.
• Stop new harmful karma through self-control.
• Destroy old karma through tapas, repentance, meditation, and right conduct.
• Move toward moksha, not merely worldly gain.

Takeaway

Believing in Lakshmi, Saraswati, or Kuber has relevance only at a worldly and cultural level for some Jains. But in pure Jain philosophy, they are not supreme powers over karma.

Jain Dharma teaches that your own karma, your own effort, and your own spiritual purification are the true path. Deities may be respected, but liberation comes only through conquering one’s own passions and karma.