© Jain Vishva Bharati For Personal & Private Use Only https ...Contents I. BEFORE THE ADVENT OF...

· ·

BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :

LIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHY


· ·

JAIN VISHVA BHARATI

LADNUN 341306 (INDIA)


· ·

BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA :

LIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHYLIFE AND PHILOSOPHY

ACHARYA TULSIACHARYA TULSIACHARYA TULSIACHARYA TULSIACHARYA TULSI


· ·

PublisherJAIN VISHVA BHARATIJAIN VISHVA BHARATIJAIN VISHVA BHARATIJAIN VISHVA BHARATIJAIN VISHVA BHARATI

Ladnun 341306 (India)

© JAIN VISHVA BHARATI

Frist Edition : 2001

Price Rs : 25.00$ : 5

Cover Design : Sankhla Printers

Printed bySankhla Printers, Sugan Niwas

Chandan Sagar, Bikaner 334001

BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA : LIFE AND PHILOSOPHYby Acharya Tulsi


· ·

PrefacePrefacePrefacePrefacePreface

The early household life of Bhagav¢n-Mah¢v¤ramade the later initiated life so august that themoment of the birth of the enlightened one becamemost invaluable. At present we are recollecting thegreat moment, by celebrating his birth day. Themoment of recollection is very small but hiscontribution is great. Whatever Bhagwan Mahaviracontributed to us is very beneficial to all the livingcreatures and human beings. His message is relatedto past, present and future, so it is the most relevantand greatly useful even in the present content.

On the auspecious 2600th birth anniversary ofBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, efforts are being made to carrythe message to the rank and file.

1. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra : Life and Philosophy

2. A Message to awakening

3. Thus spoke Mah¢v¤ra

4. Secrets of spirituality

5. Anekanta

Through these series of books, we canestablish the direct contact to Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra'ssoul.

—Acharya MahapragyaAcharya MahapragyaAcharya MahapragyaAcharya MahapragyaAcharya Mahapragya


· ·


· ·

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents

I. BEFORE THE ADVENT OF

BHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA 9-11

The Traditions of ¹rama´as 9 ;Bhagav¢n P¢rºva 10

II. AWATING THE DAWN 12-31The Sunrise 13 ; The Dreams of theMother 16 ; The Resolution in theWomb 18 ; Vardham¢na 23 ;Fearlessness and Exertion of SpiritualVigour 24 ; Detachment and Marriage26 ; Mah¢bhini¾krama´a (The GreatRenunciation) 27

III. THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡

(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE) 32-44The Sacred Grove 32 ; All Living Beingsare Equal 37 ; Emancipation of a Slave-Girl 40

IV. KAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) AND

THE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONS 45-56

The First Sermon : The fourfold path46i; Muni-Dharma (Asceticism) 46 ; TheHouseholder's Way for the Practice ofReligion 51 ; Stress on Inwardness 52 ;Equality of Human Beings 53 ; The Soulitself is the Perfect Soul 53 ; Puru¾¢rtha


· ·

(Spiritual Exertion) 53 ; SecondSermoni: Eleven Theses 54

V. FOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUS

ORDER 57-61Initiation of Women 57 ; The Gospel ofAnek¢nta 58 ; The Organization of theMonastic Order 60

VI. TRANSVALUATION 62-68Egalitarianism 63

VII. THE RELEVANCE OF THE

JAINA RELIGION TOMODERN PROBLEMS 69-81

Non-violence and Non-possessiveness69 ; Non-violence and Liberty 70 ; Non-violence and Equality 70 ; Non-violenceand Co-existence 71 ; Non-violence andSynthesis 72 ; Doctrine of Naya 73 ;Animate and Inanimate 75 ; ¡ºrava(Cause of the Influx of karma) andBandha (Bondage of karma) 75 ; TheCycle of Suffering 76 ; The Means ofLiberation from the Cycle of Sufferings76 ; The Purpose of metaphysics 77 ;The Doctrine of Karma 77 ; TheRelative Potentiality of SpiritualExertion and Karma 79

VIII. NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION) 82-86Epilogue 85


· · 9 ·

IIIII

BEFORE THE ADVENT OFBEFORE THE ADVENT OFBEFORE THE ADVENT OFBEFORE THE ADVENT OFBEFORE THE ADVENT OFBHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RABHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RABHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RABHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RABHAGAV¡N MAH¡V£RA

The Tradition of ¹ramaásThe Tradition of ¹ramaásThe Tradition of ¹ramaásThe Tradition of ¹ramaásThe Tradition of ¹ramaás

All substances undergo transformation. Thetransformations are temporal but the substances areeternal. Looked at from the point of view ofsubstance, the temporal flame of the candle is eternal.Looked at from the point of view of transformation,the eternal space is temporal. The world can beexplained in terms of both change and permanence.Names and forms continuously change. People oftenask : Is the Jaina religion eternal ? If they were to askwhether dharma (religion) is eternal, the reply wouldbe : yes, it is. Dharma is the nature of things. It hadno beginning and it will have no end. But the termsdharma and Jaina are not eternal. They came intovogue some time and might disappear in the courseof time. No name can claim eternity. The word Jainais not very old, but the tradition it stands for is indeedancient. The Jaina dharma is the successor of the olderºramaá dharma. The ¹ramaá tradition in Indian

Before the Advent of bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra· · 9 ·Before the Advent of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra


· 10 · ·Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra : Life and Philosophy

religion and philosophy has a hoary past. It wasdeveloped and enriched by the arhats. §¾abha wasthe first arhat. As a king, he was the pioneer in thefields of agriculture, trade and commerce, and crafts.He developed these for the good of his people. Hewas the first to set up a social organization and anadministrative machinery for it. He became an asceticin pursuit of spiritual attainments and was canonizedas an Arhat. Then he began to preach his religion. Thisevent belongs to that period of pre-history whenhuman civilization was in its infancy. Primitive peoplewere being settled in villages in organizedcommunities. Arhat §¾abha lit into every heart thefire which burnt in himself. The tradition of the arhatswas born and it flowed unfettered till the time ofP¢rºva who was a historical figure. The earlier arhatsare considered to be prehistoric.

Bhagav¢n P¢rºvaBhagav¢n P¢rºvaBhagav¢n P¢rºvaBhagav¢n P¢rºvaBhagav¢n P¢rºva

Bhagav¢n P¢rºva vitalized collective spiritualdiscipline. He opposed the practice of self-mortification based on ignorance and involvinghi¼s¢ (violence). He gave it a spiritual orientation.Because of his determined opposition to sheer self-mortification, he had to face serious difficulties. Butone who treads the path of friendliness and non-violence must oppose hi¼s¢ and face theconsequences, howsoever painful they may be.


· · 11 ·

Bhagav¢n P¢rºva succeeded in his mission. Theºramaás started wielding considerable influence inhis time. It was, in fact, the influence of ahi¼s¢.Bhagav¢n P¢rºva, therefore, became very popularand the followers of both—the ¹ramaá andBr¢hmaá traditions—came to acknowledge hisgreatness. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra used the epithetPuru¾¢d¢n¤ya for P¢rºva which means "worshippedby the people' or "leader of the people'. The parentsof Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra and his maternal uncleCe°aka, the head of the Licchavi Republic of Vaiº¢l¤,were the followers of Bhagav¢n P¢rºva who hadstrengthened and popularised the philosophy ofspiritualism and self-realization as againstmaterialism and nature-worship. This was a greatachievement.

Before the Advent of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra



I II II II II I

AWATING THE DAWNAWATING THE DAWNAWATING THE DAWNAWATING THE DAWNAWATING THE DAWN

§¾abha was the pioneer of this cultureBhagav¢n P¢rºva was the twentythird tirtha´kara inthe tradition. He was the prince of v¢r¢ás¤ and wasborn in 877 B.C. and initiated in 847 B.C.

Bhagav¢n P¢rºva gave a momentum to themovement of ahi¼s¢ as a result of which the peopleof Sindhu, Sauv¤ra, A¬ga, Kuru, P¢®c¢la, K¢º¤ andKauºala came under its influence.

The soothing message of ahi¼s¢ came as agreat relief to the victims of widespread violence inthe same way in which the first showers of thesummer rain are welcome to those sweating in theheat of the summer sun. The movement which hadonce grown weak was now made powerful again byBhagav¢n P¢rºva. His campaign to establish ahi¼s¢as a social ideal made him very popular. This madehim rise above the limitations of the old ¹ramaátradition. He became a cosmopolitan figure. Heattained nirv¢á in 777 B.C.


· · 13 ·Awating the dawn

The SunriseThe SunriseThe SunriseThe SunriseThe Sunrise

The spring came and began to make itspresence felt everywhere. Clad in the happy andcolourful garments of new-born leaves the foresttrees began to stir with life. The fragrance-ladenflowers filled the atmosphere with their sweet smelland the spiring breeze carried it to distant corners.The sun rose on the morning of the thirteenth day ofbright half of the lunar month of Caitia in thisatmosphere. His mother's name was Triºal¢ andfather's name Siddh¢rtha.

The birth of a child is not an accident. It is adefinite link in the endless chain of destiny. It is truethat new-born child comes all alone and barehandedin the world, but it is also equally true that its subtlebody and mind contains infinite potentialities. It wasthis child who came to be known by the epithetMah¢v¤ra (i.e. a great hero) thirty years later.Nobody can aspire to become a Mah¢v¤ra overnight.It takes ages to build a personality of courage andvalour, and it had happened so in the case ofBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra.

There is an old story. King Praj¢pati ofPotanpur had two sons, Acala and Trip¨¾°ha. Oneday a dance performance had been arranged in thecourt. The king, the princes and the courtierswatched the absorbing art of the dancers with great



interest. Suddenly a visitor entered the court anddisturbing the performance went straight to the king.The king suspended the performance, stood up toreceive the visitor and began to listen to him.

Prince Trip¨¾°ha felt offended. He enquired ofhis adviser inquisitively who the visitor was and howhe was being given so much attention by his father.He was told that the visitor was the envoy of KingAºvagr¤va, the Prativ¢sudeva (monarch of half of theworld), who was the overlord of King Praj¢pati. Theprince was put to silence. When the envoy was aboutto return, the prince accosted him and said, ""Mindyou, don't disturb such functions in the future. Thistime I pardon you''. The envoy pocketed the insultfor the time being. But when he presented himself tohis Sovereign to report on his mission, hecomplained against how he had been insulted by theprince. Aºvagr¤va was enraged and despatchedanother envoy to Potanpur to order Praj¢pati toguard the rice-fields. This put Praj¢pati in a dilemma.He told the prince that the envoy had avengedhimself for the insult meted out to him by the princeand as a result of which he had been ordered toguard the rice fields out of turn. The prince asked hisfather not to worry and promised to meet thesituation himself. He requested his father to deputehim to the rice-field.



Both the princes arrived at the rice-fields witha few soldiers. The officer-in-charge of the fieldstold them that a lion was at large stalking the valleyand entreated them to protect the farmers. Thinkingit to be a long drawn out affair, Prince Trip¨¾°hadecided to locate the lion immediately. Helped bythe local people he arrived at the lion's den. A beatby the soldiers forced the lion out. Prince Trip¨¾°hawas a dare-devil and preferred to meet the lion bare-handed. He jumped down from his chariot and threwaway his weapons. The frantic lion rushed atTrip¨¾°ha. The prince caught the jaws of the lion withboth his hands and tore the beast into two like aworn out piece of cloth to the amazement of theonlookers. Then he called the officer of the forestand asked him to inform Aºvagr¤va that the lion hadbeen slain and that he was now returning home.

This very Trip¨¾°ha, after having gone throughseveral cycles of births and rebirths, was born as theson of Siddh¢rtha. His valour now found new fieldsof operation. It was now oriented towards spiritualachievements. Now it was not a valour inspired byviolent dispositions. It had assumed spiritualdimensions. And yet it was not an accidental change.The new orientation was the logical outcome of thes¢dhan¢ performed by the soul of Trip¨¾°ha in thecourse of numerous previous births. Let us not forgetthat every event has a chain of causes behind it.



The Dreams of the MotherThe Dreams of the MotherThe Dreams of the MotherThe Dreams of the MotherThe Dreams of the Mother

Queen Triºal¢ had already given birth to herfirst son called Nandivardhana. The soul of Trip¨¾°hawas born to .her as the second son. She felt anunprecedented joy on the night of her conceiving thechild. She saw a series of significant dreams in a half-waking state. She woke Siddh¢rtha up and told himthat she felt something extraordinary. ""I saw anelephant and a bull and several other things in mydream. I feel a very pleasant sensation. The wholeatmosphere seems to be throbbing with light andjoy'', she reported to her husband and added, ""Iexpect some extra-ordinary event to happen''.

Siddh¢rtha sensed the situation and remarked,""Darling, you have seen very auspicious dreams.You are a fortunate lady and will bring fortune to ourfamily.'' Thus encouraged, the queen's joy knew nobounds. In a state of exhilaration she retired to herbed-chamber. She remembered the saying that onewho has seen an auspicious dream should not againgo to sleep after one has been awakened from thedream. She remained awake for the rest of the night.

The rays of the sun had pierced the far ends ofthe earth. Everyone had applied himself to the day'sbusiness. The king sat in the audience hall with thequeen. He called upon the chief courtier to summonthe sooth-sayers to his audience.



The sooth-sayers presented themselves beforethe king. They were honourably received. The kingbegan to consult them on the queen's dreams. Theyexamined the contents of the dreams and said, ""Thequeen has seen very significant dreams. She will givebirth to a son who will be a Cakravart¤ (universalemperor).''

The queen's face flushed with the forecastabout her son becoming a Cakravart¤. The king'sface beamed with joy. Expectations are morethrilling than actual happenings.

The leader of the sooth-sayers gave his furtherreading : ""Our prophesy needs an amendment aftera careful study of the queen's dream.'' The kingimpatiently interfered and asked, ""Is not my songoing to be a Cakravart¤ ?'' The sooth-sayer replied,""He will certainly be a Cakravart¤, but he willpreserve the ideals and values of the ga´atantra ofVaiº¢l¤. He will be a Dharma-cakravart¤, theEmperor of the Kingdom of Religion, and willdevelop the ideals of ahi¼s¢, freedom, relativism,co-existence and non-possessiveness. He will be agreat exponent of these.''

Siddh¢rtha's perplexity was over. He sighed asigh of relief and thanked the sooth-sayers. Thequeen was no less happy than the king. Their worldlyjoy changed into a pious mood. Joy born of a sense



of worldly gains is not pure joy. It is alloyed withpassion. Spiritual joy is perfectly pure. It can neverbe followed by sorrow.

The king amply rewarded the sooth-sayers andapplied himself to his routine duties.

The Resolution in the WombThe Resolution in the WombThe Resolution in the WombThe Resolution in the WombThe Resolution in the Womb

There are things in the world which we cannoteasily believe in. We are accustomed to believe inthose things only which we have seen with our owneyes. It is common knowledge that the mind of achild grows with the growth of his sense-organs andthe brain. Knowledge is not innate in the mind of achild. The reader will be surprised if he were toldthat the son of Triºal¢ commanded extra-sensoryperception while he was still in the womb of hismother. Experience tells us that a child in the wombis not even capable of having sensory knowledge, notto a speak of supersensory knowledge. Miraculousevents create all kinds of doubts.

The child which Triºal¢ had conceived hadbeen born in his previous lives as an ascetic calledNandan. He had performed long tapas (penances).He would remain absorbed in meditation for a wholemonth without eating anything. At the end of themonth he would take meals for a single day only andthen again begin another month-long meditation.These tapas and meditations lasted for years and



years together in a series. Service and meditationwere blended together in the saint's life. Subtlepowers had come to acquire perfect control overgross ones. By removing the effects of karmaenveloping his consciousness he had permanentlydeveloped the capacity for pratyak¾a or directperception, avadhi j®¢na which may be called asclairvoyance.

While it was still in the womb, the child, out ofcompassion for its mother, decided not to move andstir in the womb. Why should it cause pain to itsmother or to anybody else, it thought. Its soul hadbeen soaked in ahi¼s¢ from time immemorial. It hadbeen immersed in compassion. Moved by these itstopped stirring in the mother's womb like a yogilost in meditation.

When Triºal¢ did not feel the foetus stirring inthe womb, she became sad. Doubts possessed her.After some time she disclosed her condition to herattendants. The king also came to know what washappening to the queen. He too became gloomy. Theentire household shared the anxiety and sadness ofthe royal couple.

The unborn child perceived what washappening in the external world. He saw sadness andanxiety pervading the whole atmosphere of thepalace. He soon came to know the cause of the



sudden change and reflected, ""This world is reallymysterious. That which is done for the good ofmankind is regarded as a source of evil. I hadstopped stirring out of compassion for my mother.This has caused distress to everyone. The world isaccustomed to gross things only beyond which it isincapable of imagining anything.'' It decided to stiragain. When Triºal¢ felt the stir in the womb, herface beamed with joy and the gloom changed intoexaltation. The news reached the king also. Onceagain the palace became gay and assumed a festiveappearance.

The child in the womb reflected upon themental state and ambitions of its parents. Out ofaffection for them, it resolved not to become anascetic after he had been born during the lifetime ofhis parents.

Triºal¢ had taken every care and practiseddiscipline for the safety and good of the child she hadconceived. She took very meagre meals during herpregnancy. She avoided all kinds of rich and harmfulfood. She lived on a balanced diet. She tried to keepherself as cheerful as she could by avoiding sadness,anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy, envy etc. She keptthe entire atmosphere cheerful and sweet. Shewalked slowly, spoke in soft tones and never laughedaloud. She would not sit under the open sky and



would not make any kind of hurry. The bestdevelopment of the child takes place in the womb ofmother. The mother is to a very large extentresponsible for the development. The mother whoknows her responsibility will certainly give birth to achild which is beautiful, enlightened and valorous.An ignorant mother, on the other hand, gives birthto a child who is ugly, unintelligent and timid. Triºal¢fulfilled her responsibility successfully. Therefore,she gave birth to a child fully beautiful and possessedof the best qualities.

The child was born with divine characteristics.He commanded a wonderful form. His breath wassweet and fragrant. It made the whole atmospheresaturated with a sweet smell. It was a wonderfulthing. It was an indication of the fact that the childwould be the dharma-cakravart¤. The purity of thesoul destroys all the ailments of the body.

Thousands of people came to have a look atthe extraordinary child and they became exhilaratedby the sweet odour its body emitted.

The child was born at a wonderful moment.The breeze was mild and pure. It blew soft. It wasspring. The woods were articulate and the trees hadbecome laden with new leaves. It was the thirteenthday of the bright half of the lunar month of Caitra. Itwas the time of midnight. The portents were



auspicious. The planets stood high. Nature greetedthe birth of the child with all her cheerfulness andgrandeur.

The darkness of the night disappeared and raysof the sun brightened every particle of the earth.Nature began to appear neat and clean. At thissacred hour, Siddh¢rtha was informed by a slave girlthat the queen had been delivered of a son. Theking's heart began to throb with joy which knew nobounds. He rewarded the slave girl with invaluablepresents and accorded to her the status of a freecitizen for ever. This emancipation of the slave girlwas a symbol of the charity. The new-born princewas to practise in the future.

The king called the Chief Minister and orderedhim to celebrate the happy birth of the prince in themost befitting manner. The capital was profuselydecorated and prisoners were ordered to be releasedfrom the prison as is done on such occasions. Thehappy occasion was to be celebrated with all pompand show and gaiety. The king expressed the wishthat all commodities should be sold in the market atcheaper prices and that the poor should be fed free.The shopkeepers were to be compensated for theloss they would suffer. The king's wish wasannounced to the citizens in no time to their greatpleasure. The whole day was spent by the people in



joyous festivities. The celebrations lasted for sevendays to the great comfort of the poor.

Vardham¢naVardham¢naVardham¢naVardham¢naVardham¢na

Name and form are the basic constituents ofthe universe. The king's son had been born with abeautiful form. He had yet to be named. The kinginvited all his relatives to a grand feast. The questionof giving a name to the child came up forconsideration. It was customary for the parents tochoose a name for their child. The king observed :""Ever since Triºal¢ had conceived the child, ourfamily has grown richer in every respect. Prosperityhas been followed by increasing love among themembers of family. Keeping in mind all this, I liketo name the child as Vardham¢na (literally meaningever-prospering).'' The queen agreed with the kingand the child acquired the name Vardham¢na.

The child never wept nor laughed. He alwaysremained in a contented mood and a strange aurashone on his face. He was quite active like a growingchild but never restive. Even as a small child, heappeared to be unattached to everything. He did notseem to have any physical attraction towards foodand play. His spiritual growth made all the things ofthe world appear to be devoid of any kind ofattraction for him. This state of his being hintedtowards his great future.



Fearlessness and Exertion of Spiritual VigourFearlessness and Exertion of Spiritual VigourFearlessness and Exertion of Spiritual VigourFearlessness and Exertion of Spiritual VigourFearlessness and Exertion of Spiritual Vigour

Success in life depends on two factors :wisdom and energy. Knowledge unattended bypower is pitiable and power uncontrolled by wisdomis dangerous. A harmonious combination of the twomakes a man fearless and strong. Vardham¢napossessed both in equal proportion. He was nevertouched by any kind of fear.

Once his playmates persuaded him to play the¡malak¤ game with them. They played in the gardenof the house. All the children ran towards the tree.Vardham¢na outran everyone else and climbed upthe tree. When he was coming down, he saw a hugesnake coiling around the trunk of the tree. Thesnake hissed at the sight of Vardham¢na. Struckwith fear the rest of the children ran away.Vardham¢na, however, remained unruffled. Hecaught hold of the snake and disentangling it fromthe tree threw it away. He climbed down the treeand his playmates applauded him. He had won thegame.

Vardham¢na was hardly eight years old, but hisfearlessness and strength came to be recognisedeven at that tender age. Being born in a family of theK¾atriya he began to exhibit the character of aK¾atriya. He was also born with the accumulatedstrength of s¢dhan¢ he had performed in the course



of his previous lives. The spiritual and physicalgrowth impressed everyone.

Vardham¢na was a very respectful child. Hewas very much devoted and obedient to his parents.As his extra-sensory knowledge had already becomewell-developed, he was conversant with what wasbeing taught at school. Yet he joined school simplybecause he had been commanded to do so. Theteacher welcomed him and he joined hiscompanions. It is said that Indra, the king of gods,disguised himself as a Br¢hma´a and came to theschool to test Vardham¢na. He came to Vardham¢naand asked him several questions about letters andtheir combinations. The child's answers weregrammatically so much of a higher standard that theBr¢hma´a Indra suggested to the teacher that thechild was master of subjects taught in that kind of aschool, and hence needed no more schooling.

The teacher felt himself to be too small beforeVardham¢na. He asked the latter to remove hisconfusion in matters of teaching. The child did soeasily and promptly. Vardham¢na was removedfrom the school and the king was told that he haddone his schooling. Vardham¢na relatives now beganto acknowledge the depth of his knowledge too. It isreally more difficult to fathom person's internaldepth than the external one.



Detachment and MarriageDetachment and MarriageDetachment and MarriageDetachment and MarriageDetachment and Marriage

Time moves on. It is never at a stand-still.Vardham¢na grew up and stood at the threshold ofyouth. He commanded a very healthy, beautiful andstrong personality.

It was time to think of the marriage of theyoung prince. The king and the queen considered thematter. Jitaºatru, the King of Kali¬ga, sent an envoyto Siddh¢rtha with the proposal of the marriage of hisdaughter with Vardham¢na. The king and the queenaccept the proposal of Jitaºatru.

When his father informed Vardham¢na of theacceptance of the proposal of the latter's marriage,the prince found himself in a strange situation.Marriage implies duality. One has to enter intoworldly relations with another being. The husband'sconsciousness will have to be diverted to the externalworld. Vardham¢na was unwilling.

The prince lived in the royal palace surroundedby relatives, servants and all kinds of prosperity andcomforts but his mind was turned inwards into thedepths of the self. His tendencies had becomespiritualized. Man's ego remains shared by theattractions of the world when his spiritualconsciousness is undeveloped. Once the spirit wakesup, sensuous pleasures do not attract him any moreand the world begins to appear to be tasteless.



Vardham¢na's spirit had attained this stature and helived in the world unattached like the lotus in thepond. He observed strict austerity in matter of food.This was resented by all. They failed to appreciatehis abstinence. Similarly they could not understandthe attitude of compassion and equality which theprince adopted towards everyone.

Mah¢bhini¾kramaá (The Great Renunciation)Mah¢bhini¾kramaá (The Great Renunciation)Mah¢bhini¾kramaá (The Great Renunciation)Mah¢bhini¾kramaá (The Great Renunciation)Mah¢bhini¾kramaá (The Great Renunciation)

At the age of twenty-eight, his parents passedaway. The royal family was plunged into sorrow asa result of their death. The prince loved his parents,but their death did not affect him at all. The spiritualheights he had attained made him averse topleasures and pains. He was not a sheer philosopher.He had a direct perception of Truth. He did not takedeath seriously. It was to him a normal happening inlife.

The ties of affection which bound him to hisparents broke. His resolve to serve his parentsduring their life-time had served its purpose. Therenow arose in him the great desire to renounce theworld. He apprised his elder brother of his intention.Nandivardhana was shocked to hear of his plans. Hiswhole being trembled and he began to weep. He hadhardly recovered from the shock of the death of hisparents when he was called upon to face a newsituation. The death of the near and dear ones does



produce a mood of aversion to the world. One whohas a spiritual inclination is all the more prone to thedesire for renunciation. Nandivardhana felt that hisyounger brother had been seized of a stronginclination to renounce the world, but he felt nervousand was unwilling to part with in company of hisyounger brother at this stage. He would not be ableto stand two successive shocks.

Prince Vardham¢na did not like to cause anykind of inconvenience to anybody. His mind was fullof love and compassion and this forced him toremain with his family for another two years. He haddeveloped the feeling of complete equality with allthe living beings of the world. He saw life in rawwater and left using it. He acquired complete controlover his sense-organs. He had mastered the processof meditation with a full control over his speech.Although he lived in the family, his life was that of arecluse. He still had the responsibilities of his familyon him and could not be called a recluse even.

Though he led a worldly life, his mindremained occupied with the idea of renouncing theworld. He did not like wealth accumulating in thehands of a few. Every morning he would give up apart of his wealth and income, and share them withthousands of needy persons. This continued for a fullyear.



Two years went by. He, therefore, placed againhis proposal to leave the family before brotherNandivardhana and uncle Sup¢rºva. They agreedwith him. The Great Exit took place at the muh¦rtacalled Vijaya, in the third quarter of the tenth day ofthe first half of the lunar month of M¢rgaº¤r¾a in theseason of Hemanta (autumn) (corresponding to themonth of November).

Prince Vardham¢na had been fasting for thelast two days. He had a peculiar way of fastingbecause he was realizing that his body was entirelydifferent from his soul. One who is not able todistinguish between the soul and the body attachesvalue to the body, but one who has the rightknowledge to distinguish between the two puts apremium on the soul alone. For him living for thebody is no life at all. He lives in order to liberate thesoul from the bondage of the world. Only those whohave attained self-enlightenment can renounce theworld.

Vardham¢na's renunciation was marked byrejoicings in the family. Young girls sang songs of joyand the sky resounded with the music ofinstruments. The bards recited auspicious hymns.There was a happy motion everywhere.

Seated in a palanquin the prince left home forthe J®¢takha´²a forest. Nandivardhana and Sup¢rºva



and a crowd of thousands of people ascorted him tothe forest. The prince alighted from the palanquin,stood under an Aºoka tree, took off thehouseholder's garments and became a nirgrantha(ascetic). The strain of music stopped and everyonebegan to gaze at the prince. Nature seemed to beengulfed in a strange calmness. The prince pluckedoff the hair of his head and stood looking towards thehorizon between the east and the north. His facebeamed with joy and a divine light shone on hisforehead. The whole atmosphere pulsated with joyand enthusiasm. Folding both his hands, the princesaid, ""I bow to the Perfect Beings.'' As soon as hehad dedicated himself to the attainment of liberation,his egotism and attachment disappeared. Heresolved whole-heartedly to follow the principle ofequanimity and not to do any action born ofattachment or aversion. Attachment and aversiongive birth to inequality and sin. One who renouncespassions becomes unfettered nirgrantha. Anirgrantha is one who is free from inhibitions. PrinceVardham¢na assumed the status of ¹rama´aVardham¢na in the presence of the people ofK¾atriya Ku´²apura. He no more belonged to thekingdom he had left behind. He had now entered intoan empire where there were no rulers and the ruled.He left behind the ties of his family and entered intoa new family where there was no distinction between



"mine' and "thine'. Thousands of people shed teas tosee him leave the boundaries of K¾atriya Ku´²apuraand followed him feeling sad at the solemn parting.It is a strange custom of the world to treat one as ourown till he lives with us and to treat him as a strangeras soon as he had estranged himself from us.¹ramaá Vardham¢na now appeared to be such astranger to the people of K¾atriya Ku´²apura.Vardham¢na remarked—

""Now I am a ¹ramaá. I have risen above thelimitations of the state and the nation. You are thecitizens of a state living within its boundaries. Noboundaries surround me. I am a wandering'ascetic.How far will you be able to accompany mel?'' Hethen took leave of the followers and went aheadalone. The last stage or the individual's developmentis a state of loneliness. ¹ramaá Vardham¢naappeared to be an example of this. He transcendedthe limitations of time and space, completely cut offfrom his people. People watched him disappear inthe distance and returned home. Nandivardhanatook charge of the affairs of the State and ¹ramaáVardham¢na installed himself as the emperor of theKingdom of the Spirit. Nandivardhana's duties wereof a gross and simple nature; those of ¹ramaáVardham¢na were subtle and complex. But he wasbent on changing the complex into the simple.



I I II I II I II I II I I

THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡THE PERIOD OF S¡DHAN¡(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE)(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE)(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE)(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE)(SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE)

The Sacred GroveThe Sacred GroveThe Sacred GroveThe Sacred GroveThe Sacred Grove

After becoming an ascetic, Vardham¢naneeded no security. He was no longer a privateindividual now. He began to treat everyone as awelcome visitor with whatever purpose he came. Hislife of spiritual discipline began with the resolution :""I dedicate myself to the highest liberation. I shall nolonger be interested in my physical body and shallbear all kinds of calamities whether they are broughtabout by gods, human agencies or animals. I shall inno case deviate from the path of s¢dhan¢.''

His s¢dhan¢ began with the above resolutions.His will-power began to exert itself. Only he whofears needs security. ¹rama¬a Vardham¢na had shedall fear.

Fear is born of the desire for possessions orpossessiveness. Vardham¢na became fearless,because he had assumed an attitude of non-possession.


· · 33 ·The period of s¢dhan¢ (spiritual discipline)

Fear takes root in us when we feel that we haveenemies. Vardham¢na became fearless because heassumed an attitude of friendliness towardseveryone.

He began to traverse the path leading toinfinity. He never thought of what was going tohappen to him the next day. He did not care for food,shelter and the inclemency of the weather. All theanxieties disappeared with the renunciation of hisinterest in his body. He had already discarded hisclothes and began to wander naked. The shades ofthe forest trees served as a home for him. Sometimeshe took shelter in houses which had been abandonedor in sequestered temples. Only those who arehabituated to putting on clothes, eating regular mealsand living in sheltered houses feel difficulties whenthey do not get these. Vardham¢na put on the clothesof self-certainty, began to live in the home ofconsciousness and to draw strength from subtlespiritual world. He experienced no difficulty.

Having left K¾atriya Ku´²apura he arrived atKarm¢ragr¢ma in the evening. He remained standingin a state of meditation near the village. The first dayhere was the day of test for him.

A farm-boy happened to return to the villagefrom the farm. He had a pair of bullocks with him.He saw the monk standing there. In anticipation that



he would look after his bullocks, he left the bullockswith Vardham¢na and went away. The bullocksbegan to graze and in a short time strayed far away.Vardham¢na was all along lost into the depths of hissoul in a state of intense meditation. It had growncompletely dark and nothing was visible. The farm-boy returned after having milked his cows in thevillage. He could not trace his bullocks. He enquiredof Vardham¢na about them. Getting no reply fromthe ¹ramaá he went about in search of them. Hesearched for them till late in the night but in vain. Hewas now so tired that he fell asleep. He got up earlyin the morning and again began the search for hisbullocks but again in vain. When he was againreturning to the village, he found the bullocksstanding near the monk. The boy began to feelsuspicious about the ¹rarmaá whom he thought tobe a thug. He thought that the ¹ramaá would stealthe bullocks away. Wrong conviction enraged thefarm-boy so much so that he rushed at the ¹ramaáto strike him with the rope he carried. It was astrange coincidence that as the farm-boy raised therope to strike, Nandivardhana suddenly arrived atthe spot.1 He intervened and persuaded the farm-boy to go. Then he said to the ¹ramaá, ""Tillyesterday you had commanded the status of a prince.

1. There is also a hersy that Indra arrived at the spot.



Nobody could dare to offend you. Today you are inthe position of an insignificant man. It's a pity, youhave no security arrangements. It's intolerable. Letme make security arrangements for you.''

¹rama´a Vardham¢na replied with a smile onhis lips, ""Whose security ? I have deliberatelychosen the path of equanimity. I have willinglyadopted the path of ahi¼s¢. I do not know whoneeds the security you are speaking of. I am no morein an egocentric body. I am now firmly entrenchedin myself. Why should I then be afraid of death ?Those who have a longing for life, fear death. I knowwhat life and death are. One who does not run aftersensuous pleasure will never be afraid of misery. Ihave begun to treat pleasure and pain and life anddeath alike. I am perfectly secure.

Only he who has no fears can protect others.He who has a longing for life and fears death cannotprotect anybody. How can you then protect me ?''

Nandivardhana was stunned to hear this. Hecould not speak any more although he wanted to.Composing himself a little, he cleverly said, ""Sir,you are a Mah¢v¤ra (a great hero). How can I providesecurity for you ? But if you like, I intend to help youa little.''

The ¹rama´a replied, ""That is also notpossible. An arhat needs no help from others. The



arhats never needed, don't need now nor in thefuture shall need any help at all. They achieve thestate of perfect knowledge as well as mok¾a orliberation through their own spiritual exertion. It istheir own strength that helps them.''

After this bold declaration ¹rama´aVardham¢na came to be known as Mah¢v¤ra.Nandivardhana said, ""Bhagav¢n, you are indeed aMah¢v¤ra. Your resolution, your forbearance, yourconstancy and your spiritual achievements are reallygreat. You are a great hero.''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra experienced Truth withinhimself. It is true that once we get attached to theexternal world, we lose sight of the Existence withinand also that once we become absorbed in theExistence within, we become free from the worriesof the external world. Mah¢v¤ra had now attainedthis state. Therefore, he did not care a fig foranything including his body, life and death.Absolutely contented and carefree, he began to leadthe life of a wandering ascetic.

Mah¢v¤ra wandered from place to place. Hewas of the opinion that one whose mind is not stablewill not be able to concentrate even if he did notwander. On the other hand a wandering state willhave the least effect on him whose mind is fixed.


· · 37 ·

All Living Beings are EqualAll Living Beings are EqualAll Living Beings are EqualAll Living Beings are EqualAll Living Beings are Equal

Once Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was going tonorthern V¢c¢l¢ through the hermitage ofKanakakhala. When the cow-boys saw him, theycame to him running and said, ""Sir, the path throughwhich you are going is a short-cut, no doubt, but itis fraught with dangers. A little ahead there is a snakecalled Ca´²akauºika. The person on whom it casts aglance would be burnt to ashes.'' They advised himto take another route and not to play havoc with lifeon purpose. Mah¢v¤ra had risen above life and deathwhich are like the two facets of a coin. He hadbecome totally immersed in his soul whichtranscends life and death. He did not heed thewarning given to him by the cow-boys andproceeded forward. He had adopted an equalitarianattitude towards all living beings. He walked up tothe interior of the forest and began to meditate in astanding position.

The snake appeared on the scene after it hadtaken a round of the hermitage. It became suddenlyenraged when it sensed that somebody stood beforeit. It could not tolerate the man encroaching upon hisdomain. It spread its hood, looked at the sun andthen at Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. The serpent began tospray its poison which spread over the aura aroundMah¢v¤ra's body. The entire atmosphere becamepoisoned, but Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra remained

The period of s¢dhan¢ (spiritual discipline)



unaffected. He stood motionless in an atmospheresurcharged with poison. An endless stream ofspiritual companion flowed from his steady gaze atthe snake. There ensued a duel between love andrage, nectar and poison.

Seeing all this, the snake could not believe hiseyes. It was a new experience for it. It again tried tocast a dangerously poisonous glance at Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra but could not succeed. While the serpentsprayed poison at him, he continued to look at itkindly. It was a strange tussle between love andanger. The snake bit the foot of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raand blood began to flow from it. The snake began tosuck the blood but to his surprise he found that it wasnot blood he was sucking, but milk. The snake bitBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra's foot a second and then a thirdtime and every time it felt that only milk flowed fromthe victim's body. The serpent coiled round the bodyof Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra but he could not upset him.The snake lost its self-confidence and presum-ptuousness. It's anger disappeared and it becamecalm. It ate a humble pie. It's grip on Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra's body began to become loose. Lovebecame victorious. When Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra'smeditation was over, he saw the motionless snakesitting docilely before him. He addressed the snakethus : ""Ca´²akauºika, be calm ! You are born as a



snake because you had been a victim of anger inyour previous life. Then you had been ascetic. Youhad once trampled to death a frog. One of yourdisciples had entreated you to do a penance for thesin but you refused to do so.''

""Enraged by the repeated entreaties of thedisciple, you tried to strike him and having lost thesense of proportion you crashed against a pillar andbroke your head. In the, next life, you became thehead of this hermitage where the inmates practisedspiritual discipline. As you were prone to greatanger, you were named Ca´²akauºika. Once theprince of ¹vet¢mbi came to your hermitage andwhile he was plucking fruits and flowers you becameso much enraged that you ran after him with an axein your hand. You slipped on the ground and fell intoa ditch and were fatally injured by your own axe.After the death, there you are as a reborn deadlypoisonous serpent. You have already suffered muchdue to your passionate nature. Leave the passion ofanger like your worn-out skin and be peaceful oncefor all.''

Ca´²akauºika began to remember its past life.All the events of that life began to float in itsmemory. His heart changed and the seeds ofequalitarianism for all living beings began to sproutin him.



Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra went to Uttarav¢c¢l¢ tobreak his fast. He would not accept food especiallyprepared for him. Whatever food he got alreadycooked, he accepted it.

During the period of his s¢dhan¢, Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra mostly observed fast. The days of fastingoutnumbered those of taking meals.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra performed s¢dhan¢ fortwelve years and six and a half months. Most of thisperiod was spent in meditation and he spoke little.For a few years he lived alone and for some time hewas accompanied by Goº¢laka. He patiently bore theinclemency of the weather as well as hardshipscaused by men, beasts and god. These outwardhappenings would not affect him at all.

Emancipation of a Slave-GirlEmancipation of a Slave-GirlEmancipation of a Slave-GirlEmancipation of a Slave-GirlEmancipation of a Slave-Girl

It was the twelfth year of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra'ss¢dhan¢. He was putting up in Kauº¢mb¤. He haddeveloped super-sensory knowledge ever since hisbirth. The moment he became an ascetic, hedeveloped another kind of knowledge the perceptionof thoughts of other people's minds. He was nowabout to attain the kevalaj®¢na—omniscience. Atthis juncture, he decided to perform an experiment.Women and slaves led a wretched life those days.Religious prejudices had deprived women of the


· · 41 ·

privilege of being treated equal to men. The masterstreated the slaves as cattle and could punish them inany cruel way they liked. Neither the law nor anyconscious religious opposition could interfere withthis cruelty. This orgy of violence continued forcenturies together in the name of custom, religionand fate.

On the first day of the dark half of the lunarmonth of Pau¾a, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra resolved toaccept food under particular conditions only. Thisresolution went a long way to mitigate socialinjustice. Of course, he did not disclose this toanybody. Spiritual forces control the world in theirown way by changing heart and correcting mentalattitudes. The minds of the people of Kauº¢mb¤ werethoroughly shaken by the revolutionary plan ofBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra within six months. He went outto collect food on the first day of the month. Hevisited several families and was greeted with greatesteem. He was offered food everywhere but hereturned without accepting anything from anybody.People wondered as to why he had not acceptedfood anywhere. Nobody could understand him.

One day Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra visited the houseof the minister Sugupta. Sugupta's wife Nand¢ wasvery much devoted to Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. Sheinsisted the Bhagav¢n on accepting food which she




offered. Although the food was acceptable,Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra returned as usual withoutaccepting it. Nand¢ became sad. She came to knowfrom the gossip among the servants that Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra had not been taking any food for the lastfour months. This made Nand¢ all the moreimpatient.

When Sugupta came home to lunch, he askedhis wife the reason of her sadness. She told him whathad happened.

¹at¢n¤ka was then the ruler of Kauº¢mb¤. Hisqueen, M¨g¢vat¤, was the daughter of King Ce°aka.One of her attendants, named Vijay¢, happened tovisit the house of the minister. She gathered whathad been happening and informed her mistressM¨g¢vat¤ who consulted her husband about thematter. There was a lot of talk about it in the wholeof the Kingdom.

The king and the minister tried their best topersuade Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra to accept food but invain. His visits to the families and his returningwithout accepting food continued for five monthsand twentyfive days. On the twentysixth day hevisited the house of ¹re¾°h¤ Dhan¢vaha. ThereBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra saw a girl with shaven headstanding on the threshold. Her legs had beenchained. After a three-day fast, she had been given


· · 43 ·

a few boiled pulses in a winnower. Though born as aprincess, she was then living the life of a slave-girl.There was the opportunity for Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra totranslate his resolution into practice. On seeingBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, she became extremely happyand forgot her miserable lot. She offered boiledpulses to him from her winnowing basket. She sawBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra approaching her to collect food,but alas, the very next moment she saw him turningback. He did not accept the food, so she became sad.She suddenly began to shed tears and sobbed. Tearsrolling down her cheeks fulfilled all the conditions ofBhagav¢n's resolution. Mah¢v¤ra returned andaccepted the pulses he had been offered.

The news that Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra hadaccepted food from the slave-girl of ¹re¾°h¤Dhan¢vaha became the talk of the town. King¹at¢n¤ka and queen M¨g¢vat¤ came to the house ofthe ¹resthi to congratulate the slave-girl. They weresurprised to see that the slave-girl was none otherthan Chandanab¢l¢, the daughter of KingDadhiv¢hana of Camp¢ and wondered how she hadbeen made a slave. (Chandanab¢l¢'s motherhappened to be the sister of Queen M¨g¢vat¤). Whenthe people came to know the miserable plight of thisgirl, they began to become critical of the socialcustoms based on injustice to human beings. They




remarked, ""Alas, if even a princess can be sold in asocial system, just imagine what can become ofothers.' It was a great challenge to the age-oldinstitution of slavery. The first consequence of thegreat stir was that Chandanab¢l¢ was released andemancipated.


· · 45 ·Kaivalya and the Bhagav¢n's sermons

IVIVIVIVIV

KAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) ANDKAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) ANDKAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) ANDKAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) ANDKAIVALYA (OMNISCIENCE) ANDTHE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONSTHE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONSTHE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONSTHE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONSTHE BHAGAV¡N'S SERMONS

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra spent twelve years in thes¢dhan¢ of meditation and self-discipline. He spentanother six months and the seventh month wasrunning. It was the tenth day of bright half of thelunar month of Vaiº¢kha. It was the time of afternoonand the vijaya muh¦rta had arrived. Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra was camping on the river §jub¢luk¢ on theoutskirts of the village Jambhiyagr¢ma. He sat in theposture of a meditator in the rays of the sun near as¢la tree in the farm of ¹y¢m¢k. He had been fastingand had not taken even water for the last two days.In the state of deep meditation, he establishedhimself in perfect equanimity, extirpated the karmasresponsible for delusion, ignorance, imperceptionand spiritual weakness and at once he attained thestate of kaivalya or omniscience.

His period of s¢dhan¢ came to an end with theattainment of kaivalya. He now came to perceive andknow the whole of reality directly. He had a direct



perception of his own self as well as the entire world.He became omniscient.

THE FIRST SERMONTHE FIRST SERMONTHE FIRST SERMONTHE FIRST SERMONTHE FIRST SERMON

The fourfold pathThe fourfold pathThe fourfold pathThe fourfold pathThe fourfold path

Having attained ka¤valya Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra inthe first sermon explained the fourfold path of self-realisation :—

1. Samyak darºana—Spiritual experience ofReality or Faith in Truth.

2. Samyak j®¢na—Knowledge of Reality.

3. Samyak c¢ritra—Spiritual Discipline, and

4. Samyalk tapa—The washing off of the effectsof accumulated karmasthrough right austerities.

The world consists of two types of basic sub-stances the soul and the non-soul. A soul or ¢timabound by a body is called jiva or an embodied soul.A free or a disembodied soul is called Param¢tm¢(Perfect Soul). That which causes transformation ofthe soul into the perfect soul is called dharma orreligion.

Muni-Dharma (Asceticism)Muni-Dharma (Asceticism)Muni-Dharma (Asceticism)Muni-Dharma (Asceticism)Muni-Dharma (Asceticism)

The Principle of Equalitarianism comprisesdharma and its opposite is adharma. All the livingbeings are equal to each other insofar as their



potentialities are concerned. No living being issmaller or greater in this respect. From the point ofview of their development, the living beings can beclassified into six categories :—

1. Beings with earth-bodies viz. mineralsubstances.

2. Beings with water-bodies.

3. Beings with fire-bodies.

4. Beings with air-bodies.

5. Vegetation beings composed of vegetationbodies.

6. Mobile living beings.

1. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra preached non-violence andsaid—

Don't kill any living being.

Don't cause pain to anybody.

Don't impose yourself on anybody.

Don't bind and enslave anybody.

This is the Principle of Equalitarianism. This isthe religion of ahi¼s¢ (i.e. non-violence). It is theEternal Religion.

The following are the constituents of theReligion of Equalitarianism :

* Don't be afraid of anybody, nor terroriseanybody.



* Don't consider yourself nor others to bewretched.

* Don't cherish hatred towards anybody.

* Don't be sorry if you do not'get what youhave desired and don't be joyous if you get it.

* Don't be elated in your happiness anddejected in your misery.

* Don't be attached to life nor be afraid ofdeath.

* Don't be puffed up by flattery nor be upsetby criticism.

* Ahimsa consists in attitude of equanimity.

2. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra's sermon on truth:

Truth is Supreme. Truth is the essence of theworld.

Truth is the Eternal Religion. In order topractise truth—

* Don't practise falsehood even throughbodily actions.

* Be straight-forward and ingenuous byexpressing the same feelings which youhave in your mind.

* Speak the truth and don't tell a lie.

* Don't be double, tongued and maintain abalance between what you say and whatyou do.



* Don't be prone to anger.

* Don't be covetous.

* Don't be afraid.

* Don't indulge in revelry.

3. The sermon on non-stealing :

Control your desires. One who does not doso, encroaches upon the rights and propertyof others. This results in conflicts and thefeelings of jealousy and enmity. These givebirth to passions of attachment and aversion,and they in their turn produce delusionwhich ultimately results in misery. Youcannot get rid of miseries without controllingdesires.

Control of desires is the Eternal Religion. Inorder to practise it—

* Keep your needs at the minimum and don'tuse things unnecessarily.

* Discriminate between what is necessaryand what is not.

4. The Sermon on celebacy :

Control of the sexual desire is the key to thecontrol of all kinds of attachments. One whohas crossed the ocean can easily cross theriver.



Celebacy is the Eternal Religion. In order topractise it—

* Control your speech.

* Control your eyes.

* Don't recall the past enjoyments.

* Control your food habits.

Practise looking within the soul.

5. The sermon on non-possessiveness

A covetous man creates enemies. Thereforedon't put premium on possession.

Non-attachment is the Eternal Religion. Inorder to, practise it :

* Don't be attached to sounds.

* Don't be attached to beauty.

* Don't be attached to fragrance.

* Don't be attached to tastes.

* Don't be attached to touch.

The rules of samiti and gupti are meant for thepractice of ahi¼s¢.

1. £ry¢ Samiti—Walking in a disciplined way.

2. Bh¢¾¢ Samiti—Speaking in a disciplined way.

3. E¾e´¢ Samiti—Accepting food in accordancewith the rules of begging, andeating food in a disciplinedway.



4. ¡d¢na Nik¾epa Samiti—Using equipments andutensils in a disci-plined way.

5. Utsarga Samiti—Disposal of excreta in adisciplined way.

6. Discipline of the mental activities.

7. Observance of silence.

8. Control of physical actions.

The Householder's Way for the Practice of ReligionThe Householder's Way for the Practice of ReligionThe Householder's Way for the Practice of ReligionThe Householder's Way for the Practice of ReligionThe Householder's Way for the Practice of Religion

After having laid down a discipline for themonks, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra laid down the rules ofconduct for the householders also. He said thatalthough the householders cannot be free from theresponsibilities concerning the family, the society,the state etc., yet they should observe the follow- ingminor vows :—

1. Renunciation of gross violence.

2. Renunciation of gross untruth.

3. Renunciation of gross stealing.

4. Continence.

5. To limit desires-to put a limit to possessionof wealth etc. The householder shouldpractise the following teachings in order tostrengthen the above- mentioned minorvows :—



1. Confining oneself to a certain geographical area,one should not commit violence, etc. beyond it.

2. One should not consume things beyond a certainlimit.

3. One should renounce things which are notnecessary.

4. One should practise equanimity.

5. One should put a limit even to routineengagements necessary for life.

6. One should remain absorbed in the self byfasting.

7. One should part with a portion of dailynecessities, and offer them to ascetics.

Men benighted by false beliefs, attachmentsand indulgence were enlightened by Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra's call to practise right belief, unattachmentand discipline. Thousands became ready to followhis path.

Stress on InwardnessStress on InwardnessStress on InwardnessStress on InwardnessStress on Inwardness

A widespread prevalence of rites and ritualshad made the people extrovert even in matters ofethical values. In order to bring about a revolutionarychange, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra asked the people to giveimportance to inwardness. It was a common beliefamong the people that one became a ¹rama´a bysimply shaving the head, a Br¢hma´a by merely



repeating the sound of Omk¢ra, a muni by merelyliving in the forests and a tapasv¤ (hermit) by puttingon clothes made of the barks of trees. He insisted ontheir recognition through their internal qualities. A¹ramaá must practise samat¢ equanimity, aBr¢hmaá must practise brahmacharya celebacy, amuni must seek after knowledge (moá) and atapasv¤ must observe austerities.

Equality of Human BeingsEquality of Human BeingsEquality of Human BeingsEquality of Human BeingsEquality of Human Beings

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra rejected casteism as anarbitrary doctrine. He stressed the fact that onecould be called a Br¢hmaá, a K¾aitiya, a Vaiºya or¹¦dra only on the basis of his conduct. The Varáorganization had been made by men. It could not beaccepted as made by God.

The Soul itself is the Perfect SoulThe Soul itself is the Perfect SoulThe Soul itself is the Perfect SoulThe Soul itself is the Perfect SoulThe Soul itself is the Perfect Soul

Man is the maker of his own fate. He is theauthor of his own happiness and misery. There doesnot exist any external agency as God which governsman's actions. The soul itself is the Perfect Soul bydissolving karmas. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra aroused thePerfect Soul immanent in the Soul of all living beings.

Puru¾¢rtha (Spiritual Exertion)Puru¾¢rtha (Spiritual Exertion)Puru¾¢rtha (Spiritual Exertion)Puru¾¢rtha (Spiritual Exertion)Puru¾¢rtha (Spiritual Exertion)

People afflicted with passivity and lazinesswere inspired with the ideal of spiritual exertion by



Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. He said to man, ""O man, Exertyourself. If you do not use your inherent spiritualpowers, you will remain devoid of spiritual wealth.''

His message was : ""Exert yourself in spiritualdiscipline so long as you remain unaffected of by oldage, disease and senility.'' Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra didnot reject the effects of past actions (popularlyknown as fate) but he tried to free man from theshackles of fatalism, resulting from lack of exertingoneself. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra stood for the doctrine ofsynthesis. He extolled neither absolute fate norabsolute exertion. He synthesised both. This newtrend freed the Indian society from faith in miracles,passivity and stupour and inculcated in them theforce of realism, manliness and awakening. Heenlivened the soul of India.

SECOND SERMONSECOND SERMONSECOND SERMONSECOND SERMONSECOND SERMON

Eleven ThesesEleven ThesesEleven ThesesEleven ThesesEleven Theses

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra delivered his secondsermon in the Mah¢sena gardens of the cityMadhyama P¢v¢pur¤ on the eleventh day of thebright half of the lunar month of Vaiº¢kha. In thissermon, he propounded the reality of the humansoul.

A Br¢hma´a named Somila had organised agreat sacrifice on that day. Many learned men came



to participate in the sacrifice. Indrabh¦ti Gautamawas the chief among these learned Br¢hma´as. Hewas apprised of the presence of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤rathere. The overweening Br¢hma´a came to theMah¢sena Gardens to defeat the Bhagav¢n in adebate.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was omniscient. He knewthe thoughts of Indrabh¦ti. Revealing whatIndrabh¦ti was thinking, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said,""Indrabh¦ti, you consider yourself a great scholar ofthe Vedic Scriptures, still you are sceptical about theexistence of the soul. Isn't it so ?'' Indrabh¦ti wasstunned to hear this reading of his mind by theBhagav¢n. By unveiling the doubt hidden in hismind, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra at once won hisveneration.

Enquiring rather in a submissive voice,Indrabh¦ti said, ""Does the soul exist ? How do you,Sir, assert its existence ?''

The Bhagav¢n said, ""Yes, Gautama, the soulexists. I have perceived it. I assert its existence onthe basis of my direct knowledge of the soul.''

Indrabh¦ti said, ""Sir, I am a student of Logic.Don't you explain the existence of the soul in termsof Logic?'' Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra replied, ""The soul isnon-perceptible to senses. The domain of Reason (orLogic) is limited only to those objects which are



perceptible to senses. Where there is DirectCognition, reason is rendered redundant''. And,here, indeed, a logician felt himself helpless beforea Direct Perceiver. He submitted himself to theBhagav¢n along with his five hundred followers. Hebecame a disciple of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra resolved the doubt of allthe eleven scholars and they became the disciples ofBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra along with their own disciples.


· · 57 ·Foundation of religious order

VVVVV

FOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUSFOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUSFOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUSFOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUSFOUNDATION OF RELIGIOUSORDERORDERORDERORDERORDER

Initiation of WomenInitiation of WomenInitiation of WomenInitiation of WomenInitiation of Women

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra propounded the Doctrineof Soul (¢tman), according to which "soul' is theprincipal or the most fundamental point of consi-deration while evaluating any living being. Quali-fication of "being a human being' was secondary inhis view. Secondly, he was also a "humanitarian' inthe sense that he gave importance only to the qualityof "being a human being'; he gave the least importanceto other considerations such as caste and sex.

Candanab¢l¢ expressed her wish to be initiatedas a nun. There were a few other women with her.They too wanted to be initiated. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤rainitiated all of them as nuns.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra founded a fourfold t¤rthacomprising of the monks, the nuns, ºr¢vak¢s andºr¢vik¢s. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra is known as at¤rtha¬kara, (i.e., propounder of t¤rtha) because he



enunciated the fundamental doctrine of dharma. Theteachings propounded by one who has accomplishedself-realization never fail. The teachings of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra had the same effect. They got materializedinto an organization a religious order or t¤rtha. It keptthese teachings intact and is even now preservingthem.

The Gospel of AnekantaThe Gospel of AnekantaThe Gospel of AnekantaThe Gospel of AnekantaThe Gospel of Anekanta

Indrabh¦ti Gautama was an erudite and versatilescholar having encyclopaedic knowledge. But hisknowledge resulted in turning him extremely self-conceited. It is a common saying that learning purgesman of egotism and makes him humble. But it is acommon experience that it creates a superioritycomplex and reduces humility in man. Which is true—the common saying or the common experience ? Thedoctrine of anek¢nta would hold that both of them aretrue. In the context of the spiritual learning, the formeris found true, while in the context of the mundaneknowledge, the latter holds good. No sooner didIndrabh¦ti enter the domain of the spiritual learningthan his egotism evaporated, and he was filled with asense of modesty. A new thirst for knowledge wasawakened in him. He approached Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raand asked him enquiringly, ""Bhagav¢n, what isReality ?''


· · 59 ·Foundation of religious order

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra replied, ""Becoming.''Gautama repeated his question, ""What is Reality ?''Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra replied, ""Non-becoming.''Gautama repeated his question again, ""What isReality ?'' Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra replied, ""Being.''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra revealed to Gautama thebasic formula of the theory of anek¢rta in the formof this triade becoming, i.e., coming into existence,non-becoming, i.e., ceasing to exist, and being, i.e.,subsisting.

Thus he imparted to him the essence of hisphilosophy.

The eternalists held that reality is eternal, whilethe non- eternalists believed it to be transitory.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra did not agree with either.According to him, there is nothing either absolutelyeternal or absolutely transitory. He professed thatthe reality is a synthesis of eternity andtransitoriness. Reality is transitory because it ispossessed of becoming and non-becoming. But it iseternal because by its very nature, it is subsistent.The reality is a synthesis of becoming, non-becoming and being.

In this discourse, Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raenlightened Gautama to comprehend the reality inthe right perspective.



Gautama imbibed the doctrine of anek¢nta onthe basis of which he compiled Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra'steachings in the twelve a¬gas (canons). Thefollowing are the twelve a¬gas—

1. ¡c¢r¢¬ga

2. S¦trak¨t¢¬ga

3. Sth¢n¢¬ga

4. Samav¢y¢¬ga

5. Bhagavat¤

6. J®¢tadharmakath¢

7. Up¢sakadas¢

8. Antak¨ddas¢

9. Anuttaropap¢tikadas¢

10. Praºnavy¢kara´a

11. Vip¢ka

12. D¨¾°iv¢da

Like Bible and Quran, the Jain holy books areknown as agama (canon).

Like Gautama many other scholars attendedBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra's discourse. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raenlightened them with the philosophy of anek¢ntaand sharpened their spiritual propensities.

The Organization of the Monastic OrderThe Organization of the Monastic OrderThe Organization of the Monastic OrderThe Organization of the Monastic OrderThe Organization of the Monastic Order

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was the apostle of ahims¢(non-violence) and equality. Freedom is the


· · 61 ·

concomitant result of ahi¼s¢. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤rapropounded the path of emancipation. This pathcomprises spiritual discipline and self-control, but itis free from all kinds of regimentation.

Inspired by the teachings of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra women belonging to all the castes, familiesand classes became initiated as the members of theOrder. Several queens of ¹re´ika, the Emperor ofMagadha, were initiated. Queens of other kings andwives of the feudal lords and merchant-princes alsojoined the Order of nuns. The great nunCandanab¢l¢, as the able leader of the nuns,efficiently guided them.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was an exponent of boththe aspects of truth—the objective as well as thepragmatic.

""If one wants to practise the religion of theJina, he should keep in mind both kinds of truth, theobjective and the pragmatic. If you discard theformer, you will be estranged from the truth and, ifyou discard the latter, you will be deprived of a well-organized religious Order.''

It is on the basis of this principle that the Jainareligious Order embodies even today both—the truthand a superb organization.'

Foundation of religious order



VIVIVIVIVI

TRANSVALUATIONTRANSVALUATIONTRANSVALUATIONTRANSVALUATIONTRANSVALUATION

After attaining the omniscience he began topropound the eternal Dharma. He uplifted thecommon people to a higher moral and spiritualstandard and satisfied their desire for knowledge.

Once he left Vaiº¢l¤ for Kausamb¤ whereJayant¤, the sister of King ¹at¢nika, asked him a fewquestions :—

""Lord ! what is better for the living beings tosleep or to keep waking ?''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra : ""Both sleeping andwaking are good.''

Jayant¤ : ""How ?''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra : ""It is better for irreligiouspeople to sleep, because in that state they will notinflict pain on anybody. But it is better for religiouspeople to keep waking, because in the waking statethey practise religion and do not injure anybody.''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra viewed the truth in thelight of anekantavada, and propounded it in terms ofRelativism.


· · 63 ·Transvaluation

EgalitarianismEgalitarianismEgalitarianismEgalitarianismEgalitarianism

Fourteen thousand monks and thirtysixthousand nuns were initiated in the Order foundedby Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. Lakhs of persons adoptedthe minor vows and became ºr¢vakas (lay followers).The number of his followers, admirers andsupporters was even larger than that and includedmany well-known personalities of that age.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra considered casteism as irrationaland inegalitarian. Hence men and women belongingto all castes and communities were initiated by him.Four thousand and four hundred monks initiated byBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra were Br¢hmaás.

Many K¾atriya rulers like Daº¢rábhadra, theruler of Daº¢ráp¦ra (Vidiº¢), Udr¢yaá, the ruler ofSindhu Sauv¤ra, ¹iva, the ruler of Hastin¢pur etc.entered the Order of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. M¨g¢vat¤,the queen of ¹at¢nika, ruler of Kausamb¤ and severalqueens of the Emperor ¹reíka of Magadha becamenuns and joined the Order.

Dhann¢, ¹¢libhadra, An¢thi etc. belonging tothe Vaiºya community and ¹udr¢s like Arjunam¢liwere also admitted to the monastic Order ofBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra.

He addressed the monks and nuns : ""I havepropounded the principle of equality. You haveaccepted its discipline. The pride of caste, family and



status creates inegalitarian attitude. One who adoptsan insulting attitude towards others gets lost into theworld of adversities.

Hence do not take pride in your caste, familyand grandeur. You have transcended the limitationsof all clan-denominations. You are seekers afteremancipation. Only by renouncing the sense of clan-denominations, you can attain that state.'

On being instructed in the egalitariandiscipline, monks and nuns hailing from differentcountries and brought up in different environmentsfostered brotherhood. The spirit of equality createdby Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra in that age of inequality is stillthe greatest inspiration for the present age also.

Freedom, relativism, co-existence, co-operation, service, disarmament, renunciation ofwar, honest dealings, harmony in precept andpractice, ahi¼s¢ (non-violence), aparigraha (non-acquisition), celibacy, and vegetarianism—these aresome of the flashes of the light of the philosophytaught by Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra.

In the context of spirituality, Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra said, ""It is better for me if I govern myselfthrough religious discipline and, penance rather thanbe governed by others through force.''



The principles of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra have agreat relevance today. The concept of freedom wasdeveloped in the modern period as a practical ideal,revolution took place against colonialism. In everycountry, there was a movement to achieve freedom.A major part of the world is free today. Eventotalitarianism of today cannot exist without puttingon the mask of democracy. Today, even inequalitycan survive only in the garb of equality. There hasnever before been such a powerful public opinion infavour of co-existence, human equality, disarma-ment and anti-militarism. There have been manygreat men in the history of the world who havepreached these very ideals or identical ideals. Butinvestigation will reveal how vitally the experiencesand philosophy of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra havecontributed to the development of these ideas andideals.

The age of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was chiefly anage of religion. But religion was practised mostly inthe form of rites and rituals, and that too merely forattaining the heaven. Such form of religious practicedid no service to the society. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤rapreached a religion based on spiritual and moralconduct. A prominent citizen named ¡nand came toBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra with a view to understand theessence of religion.



Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said, ""¡nanda, you wantto adopt the vow of ahi¼s¢, but you have a largefamily, thousands of cows and hundreds of servants.You come into contact with thousands of people.You cannot be cruel to them, if you want to practiseahi¼s¢. You shall not kill any innocent living beingintentionally. You know it very well how cruelly theservants and cattle are treated. You shall not indulgein acts like (1) killing, (2) mutilating men andanimals, (3) overloading animals, and (4) deprivingmen and animals of sustenance.''

""¡nanda ! it is true that you propose to takethe vow of truth, but you have a huge agriculturalestate, a big family and innumerable social contacts.If you behave in delinquent or remiss manner, youwill not be able to practise truth. For practising truth,you shall not deny anybody his property depositedwith you, not give a false testimony, and not tell liein your dealings.''

There are people who thoughtlessly defameothers, accuse others on mere suspicion, discloseconfidentially imparted secrets deliberately,misguide others, and indulge in forgery. All suchmalpractices are opposed to the practice of truth.

""¡nanda, it is true you propose to take thevow of non-stealing. But have you controlled yourdesires ?''



¡nanda said, ""My lord ! I have done so.''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said, ""¡nanda, there arepeople who do not themselves commit the theft, butreceive the stolen property, encourage others tocommit theft, illegally transgress the boundaries ofhostile countries and use false weights andmeasures, sell spurious articles after exhibitinggenuine ones, and practise adulteration. Thesemalpractices are caused by uncontrolled desires.''

""¡nanda, it is true you want to take the vowof celibacy, but you know there are people who haveno control over lust, and consider sexual pleasuresas the be-all and end-all of life. But I have realizedthe truth to be contrary to this. According to me, thesummum bonum of life is the ever-throbbing innatebliss in the depths of consciousness. The sex instinctmakes it obscure.''

""¡nanda, you want to take the vow of non-possessiveness. But you will not be able to practiseit until you impose a strict control on your desires.There are people who needlessly accumulate land,buildings, precious metals like gold and silver,servants, cattle, grains and other household articles.You shall refrain from doing so. You shall have tocircumscribe your desires to your bare necessities.''

¡nanda took all these vows from Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra and began to lead a religious life. Bhagav¢n



Mah¢v¤ra moulded thousands of people like ¡nanda.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra enhanced the importance ofasceticism and also provided a larger scope for thepractice of religion in householder's life. He said onone occasion, ""The spiritual discipline of thehouseholders may be higher than that of someascetics (who are lax), but spiritual discipline of theascetics devoted to s¢dhan¢ is undoubtedly thehighest.''


· · 69 ·The relevance of the jaina to modern problems

VIIVIIVIIVIIVII

THE RELEVANCE OF THE JAINATHE RELEVANCE OF THE JAINATHE RELEVANCE OF THE JAINATHE RELEVANCE OF THE JAINATHE RELEVANCE OF THE JAINARELIGION TO MODERN PROBLEMSRELIGION TO MODERN PROBLEMSRELIGION TO MODERN PROBLEMSRELIGION TO MODERN PROBLEMSRELIGION TO MODERN PROBLEMS

Non-violence and Non-possessivenessNon-violence and Non-possessivenessNon-violence and Non-possessivenessNon-violence and Non-possessivenessNon-violence and Non-possessiveness

One cannot appreciate Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra'sconception of non-violence until and unless hecomprehends his conception of non-possessiveness.

Violence and aquisitiveness go hand in hand.

Today, when violence is used against powerand wealth, we think violence is on the increase. Inthe language of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, this violence isagainst violence. Thinkers of today have begun toendorse Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra's view that we can putan end to violence only by putting an end to themonopoly of power and wealth. According toBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, violence can be eradicated onlythrough a change of heart. Modern political thinkerstake a different view of things. They believe thatviolence can be stopped only through force. Butexperience so far has shown that force has failed tostop violence and people have now begun to think



that it cannot succeed unless supported by afavourable public opinion.

The only graceful way to escape reactiveviolence is to willingly put a limit on possessiveness.The natural conse-quence of this discipline will be anequitable distribution of possessions.

Non-violence and LibertyNon-violence and LibertyNon-violence and LibertyNon-violence and LibertyNon-violence and Liberty

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra did not ever acquiesce inthe usurpation of the freedom of man. Usurpation offreedom amounts to violence. He said ""One shoulddiscipline oneself. Self-discipline is undoubtedlymost difficult. One who has disciplined his own selfwill certainly be happy here and hereafter.

Non-violence and EqualityNon-violence and EqualityNon-violence and EqualityNon-violence and EqualityNon-violence and Equality

Gautama asked Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, ""Lord !Are the souls of an elephant and a tiny insectequal?''

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra replied, ""Yes, Gautama !The souls of an elephant and a tiny insect are equal.The body of an elephant is huge and that of an insecttiny. The difference in the size cf their bodies doesnot affect the equality of souls. One who confusesthe innate equalities of the souls with their externaldifferences such as bodies, sense-organs, colour andform, caste etc. cannot be a votary of non-violence.



A non-violent man is he who finds all souls to beequal in spite of external differences.

Where there is inequality, people resort toviolence. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said, ""O man, you havebeen passing through the cycle of births from eternityin the course of which you have had relations ofmother, father, son or brother etc. with each livingbeing. Then, whom will you treat as a friend or foe,higher or lower, beloved or despicable ? You havenot been born only now, hence do not adopt ashortsighted view of things from a timelessperspective. Your soul is eternal and therefore youshould try to experience the relationship between allsouls. Try to control your mind by practisingconcentration. By doing so, you will attain equality atall levels of principle, nature and mind. Once youattain equality, you will master ahi¼s¢. Where thereis equality, there is non-violence.

Non-violence and Co-existenceNon-violence and Co-existenceNon-violence and Co-existenceNon-violence and Co-existenceNon-violence and Co-existence

Our thoughts may be divided into twocategories : identical, i.e., thoughts which we sharewith others and different, i.e. thoughts which we donot share with others. We like to live with those whohave identical thoughts and ideas but not with thosewho think differently. We want to eliminate thelatter. This is all-pervading conflict; this is war.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said, ""How superficial man's



vision is ! How great is unity below the apparentdiversity ! Unity and diversity are the go togethers.There is no real contradiction between the two. Whyshould then man give importance to differences andtry to eliminate opposition and the opponents ?''

""Passions breed violence and violence leads toconflict. Conflicts disappear as soon as passions havebeen pacified and the consciousness and mind hasbeen purified. Unity as well as differences are thenature of things and both of them will remain. oncewe develop the attitude of non-violence, differencesdisappear and co-existence becomes feasible. Non-violence is higher development of consciousness.

Non-Violence and SynthesisNon-Violence and SynthesisNon-Violence and SynthesisNon-Violence and SynthesisNon-Violence and Synthesis

Mental violence is even worse than physicalviolence. He said, ""Look at innumerablecharacteristics and variations of things in infiniteperspectives. Do not perceive them in a singleperspective. A narrow-minded man is alwaysdogmatic about his beliefs and decries those ofothers.''

""There is nothing either absolutely eternal orabsolutely phenomenal. Whatever exists is eternal aswell as ephemeral. A thing which you call eternal atone moment is at the same moment ephemeral also.There is no word in man's language to express this



simultaneity of opposites. Therefore whenever yougive a statement, add the term sy¢t (from a certainpoint of view) to it. "Sy¢d asti' means that from acertain point of view, the thing exists. "Sy¢d n¢sti'means that from a certain point of view it does notexist. The moments of existence and non-existenceare not different. A thing which exists at one momentalso does not exist at the same moment. The termsy¢t implies that when we emphasise the existenceof a thing, we treat its non-existence as secondarycharacteristic associated with it and vice versa.Existence and non-existenctic cannot be separatedfrom each other. But we cannot express both with asingle word and from this point of view a thing is"inexplicable' (sy¢d avaktavya).''

This theory of sy¢dv¢da puts an end toideological conflict. It synthesises all the schools ofthought. Synthesis exists in the very nature ofobjects. Sy¢dv¢da expresses this natural state ofsynthesis. This way of synthesizing liberates us fromviolence born of a one-sided view of things, cock-sureness and dogmatism.

Doctrine of NayaDoctrine of NayaDoctrine of NayaDoctrine of NayaDoctrine of Naya

There may be a hundred forms of synthesis.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra classified them into sevencategories :



1. Naigama the view which accepts bothidentity and difference.

2. Sa¼graha the view which posits only identity.

3. Vyavah¢ra the view which posits onlydifference.

4. §jus¦tra the view which posits only thepresent moment.

5. ¹abda the view which assigns differentmeanings to a word according todifferent categories of time, etc.

6. Samabhir¦²ha the view which assigns differentmeanings to the synonymouswords according to theiretymology.

7. Eva¼bh¦ta the view which assigns a meaningto a word only according to thepresent action.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra said, ""Both unity anddiversity are real. But they are real only in relationto each other, not absolutely. Once this underlyingrelativity is abandoned, we enter into falsity.'' Thisrelativism is the Nayav¢da theory of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra. The term sy¢t in the theory of sy¢d-v¢darelates one aspect of truth to its remaining aspects.

The first step in the journey to nirv¢´a isspiritual vision or self-knowledge. Bhagav¢n



Mah¢v¤ra said, ""See the truth. Do not depend onlyon what I say, but develop your own spiritual vision.''

Animate and InanimateAnimate and InanimateAnimate and InanimateAnimate and InanimateAnimate and Inanimate

There are two fundamental substances in theuniverse, animate and inanimate. The universe isneither absolutely of the nature of soul, norabsolutely of the nature of matter. It is both—spiritual and material. Both the kinds of substances(animate and inanimate) of which the universe iscomposed have their independent existence. Neitheris the inanimate born of the animate, nor the viceversa. There is an infinite number of animatesubstances or living beings. Existence of every livingbeing is independent of every other living being.There are five kinds of inanimate substances :

1. dharm¢stik¢ya the medium of motion.

2. adharm¢stik¢ya the medium of rest.

3. ¢k¢º¢stik¢ya the container substance orspace.

4. k¢la the cause of change or time.5. pudgala the substance having touch,

taste, smell and colour.

Asrava (Cause of the Influx of Asrava (Cause of the Influx of Asrava (Cause of the Influx of Asrava (Cause of the Influx of Asrava (Cause of the Influx of karmakarmakarmakarmakarma) and Bandh) and Bandh) and Bandh) and Bandh) and Bandh

(Bondage of (Bondage of (Bondage of (Bondage of (Bondage of karmakarmakarmakarmakarma)))))

The animate and the inanimate substancespossess many a common characteristic. That is why



they interact. The exertion of the animate (soul) isthe agent of this interaction. It (soul) exerts itself toattract the inanimate (matter) and associates it withitself. This attempt to attract the pudgala is called¢ºrava (the cause of the influx of karma) and itsbondage with soul is called bandha.

The Cycle of SufferingThe Cycle of SufferingThe Cycle of SufferingThe Cycle of SufferingThe Cycle of Suffering

The karmas bound by good activities expressthemselves in the form of pu´ya and those bound bybad activities express themselves in the form ofp¢pa. Man driven by attachment to the rise of pu´yaand aversion to the rise of p¢pa exerts itself again to¢ºrava. Thus the cycle from bandha to ¢ºrava andfrom another ¢ºrava to another bandha goes on. Thisprocess is called sa¼s¢ra (the mundane existence).A soul caught in this process goes on experiencingphysical and mental sufferings such as birth, death,old age, disease etc.

The Means of Liberation from the Cycle ofThe Means of Liberation from the Cycle ofThe Means of Liberation from the Cycle ofThe Means of Liberation from the Cycle ofThe Means of Liberation from the Cycle of

SufferingsSufferingsSufferingsSufferingsSufferings

One who has achieved the right vision strikesat the root of the cycle of sufferings. This can beachieved in two dimensions. The first is not to getinvolved into the bandha of fresh karmas. This iscalled sa¼vara. The second is to shed off the pastkarmas. This is called nirjar¢. This process of



sa¼vara and nirjar¢ does not allow fresh bandha totake place and liquidates the old bandha. This leadsto mok¾a (emancipation).

The Purpose of metaphysicsThe Purpose of metaphysicsThe Purpose of metaphysicsThe Purpose of metaphysicsThe Purpose of metaphysics

The metaphysics in the context of religion isnot an intellectual exercise. Its purpose is not merelyto know, but is mok¾a—to emancipate the soul.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra laid down nine principles for theachievement of this purpose :—(1) j¤va (2) aj¤va (3)pu´ya (4) p¢pa (5) ¢ºrava (6) sa¼vara (7) nirjar¢ (8)bandha and (9) mok¾a. Among these the first two,i.e. j¤va and aj¤va are metaphysical realities and theremaining are the parts of the process of bandha andmok¾a.

The Doctrine of KarmaThe Doctrine of KarmaThe Doctrine of KarmaThe Doctrine of KarmaThe Doctrine of Karma

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra propounded the doctrine offreedom of soul. The soul is not a part of param¢tm¢—God or Supreme Soul. It does not dissolve intoparam¢tm¢ after it has become emancipated. Itmaintains its independent existence in the state ofbondage as well as liberation. In the 20th century, theintelligentia are now considering Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raas a Saviour of mankind in the sense that he liberatedthe mankind from the mirage of dependence onothers. He endowed man with the insight to tread thepath of self-dependence and spiritual exertion. People



who believed in God as the creator and controller ofman's fate sought his grace. Then, there were thosewho believed Nature to be the controlling force, anddepended on it. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra did not deny theexistence of param¢tm¢, but he did not accept him tobe the creator and controller of man's fate. He said,""Man himself is the maker of his own fate; nobodyelse is. Even karma is not such a controlling force, forman himself is the maker of karma. Man is bound tosuffer the consequences of his karma, but not to theextent that he cannot change its course. One whoenjoys an independent existence is also free to enjoythe freedom of action. The ultimate cause lies whollywithin him. Forces other than himself do influence hisactions, but they cannot completely emasculate him.

Several forces like Time (k¢la), Nature,universal laws, and karma influence man's capacityto act. Karma is the most powerful among them, andis closely connected with man. But karma itself iscreated by man's own exertion. The effects of pu´yagive pleasure and those of p¢pa produce adversity.Man must bear the consequences of his karma in thisor the next life. He cannot get rid of the effects of hiskarma until they have been separated from the soul.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra accepted the power ofkarma, but he did not accept it as the supremepower. Had he done so, he would not have been in


· · 79 ·

the position to deny the existence of God as theCreator or Controller. It would have simply meantsubstituting karma in place of God without makingany difference. Then there would have been acontrolling force over soul, whether it be God orkarma. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra accepted the concept ofa supreme force in a limited sense only.

The Relative Potentiality of Spiritual ExertionThe Relative Potentiality of Spiritual ExertionThe Relative Potentiality of Spiritual ExertionThe Relative Potentiality of Spiritual ExertionThe Relative Potentiality of Spiritual Exertion

and and and and and KarmaKarmaKarmaKarmaKarma

As karma imposes a limit on the free will ofman and the puru¾¢rtha (spiritual exertion) of manlimits karma, karma and man's puru¾¢rtha can beexplained only from a relativistic point of view.Puru¾¢rtha produces karma, i.e., karma is a productof Puru¾¢rtha. In case karma had an unlimitedpower, it would render Puru¾¢rtha ineffective. Insuch a state, the effect of past karma would begin tomanifest itself and force man to produce anotherkarma. The result would be again the rise of karmaand again the bandha. This vicious circle would havedeprived man of his freedom. He would havebecome totally enslaved by karma. We should notforget that Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was the instructor ofthe gospel of Anek¢nta. He did not perceive the truthonly from a single perspective. He realized the truththat karma influences man. But at the same time healso emphasized the other aspect of this very truth

The relevance of the jaina to modern problems



that the powerful Puru¾¢rtha of man, in its turn,influences karma. When we consider the efficacy ofkarma and Puru¾¢rtha from the relativistic stand-point, we have to conclude that karma neither allowsperfect freedom to man nor does it usurp hisfreedom completely. Once the karma has beencompletely obliterated, man's power to know, to bedetached and to act freely begins to operate fully. Ifkarma remains only partially dissolved or subdued,then man's power expresses itself only occasionallyand not continuously. This process of manifestationand suppression of man's power goes on. During thisprocess, sometimes karma and sometimes man'spower has the upper hand.

When we do not truly evaluate the efficacy ofpuru¾¢rtha, we extol fate or the power of destiny. Infact, Puru¾¢rtha is capable of changing fate—theeffects of karma.

This doctrine of karma sets man free from thementality of pessimism, passivity and dependenceon others. If the present puru¾¢rtha of man wererighteous, the effects of past malevolent karma canbe weakened or transformed into those ofbenevolent karma, and thereby one can tread thelightened path instead of groping in darkness. On theother hand, inactivity born of indolence or mentalityof dependence on others deprives man of the


· · 81 ·

opportunity of enjoying future benefits and itsachievements. It is derogatory on the part of man tobe despondent. Problems melt away if man takesrecourse to right puru¾¢rtha. He is not totally underthe domination of karma. Karma is only aninstrumental cause of man's helplessness. Aninstrumental cause, no doubt, shows its effect, butafter all it is only an instrumental cause, and not anefficient cause. An awakened man can obliterate thedominance of karma which only exists as aninstrumental cause.

It is man's internal capacity of experiencingpleasure or pain which gives a chance to theinstrumental causes to play their role and producethe feelings of pleasure or pain. Individual problemscannot be solved by simply changing externalconditions and instrumental causes of pleasure andpain. They can be solved only on the basis of theindividual's karma and the conditions which effectkarma.

The relevance of the jaina to modern problems



VIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIII

NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION)NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION)NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION)NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION)NIRV¡³A (LIBERATION)

Once Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra reached P¢v¢ aftervisiting various villages. King Hastip¢la and hissubjects assembled to pay their obeisance to him.Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra expounded to them the conceptof nirv¢á. He was the most effective exponent of theconcept of nirv¢á. After his discourse, he calledGautama and said, ""Gautama, a Br¢hmaá namedSomaºarm¢, lives at a little distance from here. Heis a seeker after truth. He will certainly beenlightened if you instruct him. Go there andenlighten him.''

In obedience to the instructions of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra, Gautama proceeded to enlightenSomaºarm¢.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra had been fasting for thelast two days. He had not taken even water. He hadbeen delivering long discourses explaining the effectsof karma in detail. After finishing his final discourse,he entered silence. And he adopted the lotus postureof yoga. His body was completely motionless and


· · 83 ·Nirv¢á (liberation)

relaxed. He became emancipated from his gross aswell as subtle bodies and became free from theshackles of birth and death. The pure and serenelight of his soul attained the perfect state.

He attained the state of nirv¢á in the earlydawn of the fifteenth day of the dark half of the lunarmonth of K¢rtika when hardly an hour and a halfwere left for the sun to rise. Sudharm¢ and a numberof other ascetics were by his side, Eighteen kings ofthe Gaá (Republics) of the Mallas and Licchaviswere also present there. They lighted lamps inhonour of the Light of the soul of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra.

The news of the nirv¢á of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤raspread far and wide. Nandivardhana, the elderbrother of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra was overwhelmedwith grief when he received this news. Although thenews of the attainment of the nirv¢á is a matter ofgreat ecstasy, those entangled in the snares ofworldly attachment behave in their own way.

Gautama Sv¢m¤ had gone to enlightenSomaºarm¢, so he was stunned when he heard thenews of the nirv¢á of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. He hadimmense devotion for Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra. In thepresence of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra, Gautama'sconsciousness experienced perfect protection,Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra found a dependable devotee in



the latter. Gautama had much attachment to themortal frame of Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra and was notprepared to bear separation from him. Hisattachment to Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra had not wanedeven in his physical presence with the result that hecould not attain the state of kaivalya. His attachmentknew no bounds on hearing the news of the nirv¢´aof the master. Being overwhelmed he was grievedlike an ordinary man. But this state lasted for a fewmoments only. Gautama was a great sage and wasconversant with ºruta (scriptural knowledge) andwas possessed of an insight into the Truth. He had aprivilege of being associated with Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra for a long period of thirty years. Heexerted himself by engaging his thirst for knowledgein gaining philosophical knowledge. The Bhagavat¤S¦tra bears a living testimony to these efforts ofGautama. Such a wise man could not be lost insorrow. He regained himself. The image of Bhagav¢nMah¢v¤ra symbolizing non-attachment flashedbefore his eyes. His attachment melted away. Hehimself became free from all attachments, andattained the state of kaivalya. Now he was no moreseparate from Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra.

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra attained the nirv¢´a at theage of seventy-two. He had lived the life of a house-holder for thirty years, that of s¢dhan¢ for twelve and


· · 85 ·Nirv¢´a (liberation)

a half years, and that of a Keval¤ for another thirtyyears. Highly enlightened ascetics like Gautama andSudharm¢ were his disciples, and even though theywere eighty years old, they behaved beforeBhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra with great modesty anddedication. Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra had a large numberof disciples at the time of his nirv¢´a.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue

Bhagav¢n Mah¢v¤ra had been born a princeand was brought up in the midst of prosperity. Hisyouth synchronized with the development ofequality. He devoted himself to the practice ofequanimity. He achieved his goal. He lived and wor-ked in the midst of people and showed them the wayto peace, equanimity and anek¢nta. His teachings aremeant not only for individuals but for the entiresociety. They do not envisage only the worldbeyond, but are concerned with this world also. Hissystem of spiritual discipline is not only capable ofsolving the internal problems of individuals, butsocial problems also. The principle of ahi¼s¢ hetaught is not that of the coward but of the valiant. Itis invariably associated with fearlessness and valour.The doctrine of detachment he taught is not adoctrine of passivity. It is an indomitable spiritualforce for the pruning of the effects of karma and agreat means for the development of mental powers.



Even today his teachings are capable of showing thepath to world peace and hence the entire mankindvenerates him.


© Jain Vishva Bharati For Personal & Private Use Only https ...Contents I. BEFORE THE ADVENT OF...

Documents

Transcript of © Jain Vishva Bharati For Personal & Private Use Only https ...Contents I. BEFORE THE ADVENT OF...