Answer

In Jain Dharma, it is not universally accepted that only men get moksha.

Different Jain traditions explain this differently:

• Śvetāmbara tradition: Women can attain moksha directly from a female body.
• Digambara tradition: A soul in a female body cannot attain moksha directly; it must first be reborn as a male and then attain moksha.

Both traditions agree on the deeper principle: the soul itself has no gender. Moksha is attained by the soul through complete destruction of karma, right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct.

Explanation

In Jain philosophy, the true self is the jīva, the soul. The soul is not male or female. Gender belongs to the body, which is produced due to karma.

The difference between traditions is about whether the physical and social conditions of a female body allow the final stage of liberation in that very life.

• Śvetāmbaras hold that women are fully capable of the highest spiritual purity and can become liberated.
• Digambaras hold that the final state of total renunciation requires conditions that, according to their tradition, are possible only in a male body.

This is why the two traditions differ on the liberation of women.

Spiritual Understanding

Jain Dharma does not teach that men are spiritually superior souls. Every soul has the same essential qualities:

• infinite knowledge
• infinite perception
• infinite bliss
• infinite energy

Bondage happens because of karma, not because of gender. Liberation happens when karma is completely destroyed.

So, the highest Jain understanding is that moksha belongs to the purified soul, not to a male or female identity.

Takeaway

Only some Jain traditions say moksha requires a male birth; others say women can attain moksha directly. But all Jain traditions agree that the soul is beyond gender and that every soul has the potential for liberation.