Answer

In Jain Dharma, this question is understood differently in different Jain traditions.

• Śvetāmbara tradition: Women can attain Moksha. Śvetāmbaras accept that women are capable of achieving Keval Jñān and liberation.
• Digambara tradition: Women cannot attain Moksha directly in a female body. According to this view, a soul must be reborn in a male body before attaining final liberation.

So it is not correct to say that “Jainism universally teaches that women cannot get Moksha.” It depends on the Jain tradition being followed.

Explanation

Jain Dharma teaches that the soul itself has no gender. Gender belongs to the body, not to the pure soul. Every soul has the potential for liberation when it destroys all karmas through right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct.

The difference between Śvetāmbara and Digambara views comes mainly from their understanding of the highest form of renunciation:

• Digambara view: Complete non-possession includes total nudity for ascetics. Since this is not considered possible for women within their monastic discipline, they hold that women cannot attain Moksha directly in a female body.
• Śvetāmbara view: Clothing does not prevent the highest spiritual purity, so women can attain liberation. Śvetāmbaras also regard Mallināth Bhagavān, the 19th Tirthankar, as female.

Spiritual Understanding

At the deepest level, Jain Dharma emphasizes that liberation depends on the purification of the soul, not worldly identity. Attachment, passions, ignorance, and karmas bind the soul. Detachment, self-discipline, compassion, and right conduct lead the soul toward Moksha.

Women have played a very important role in Jain Dharma as sādhvīs, śrāvikās, teachers, practitioners, and examples of great devotion and renunciation.

Takeaway

The soul is beyond male and female. In Jain Dharma, all souls have the inherent capacity for liberation. The question of whether Moksha can occur directly from a female body is answered differently by Śvetāmbara and Digambara traditions, and both views should be understood respectfully.