Some Aspects of Indian Culture

SR No.: 001132
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A S Gopani, Nagin J Shah, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 211
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Discourse
File Size: 15 MB

Page 132

Religious and Moral Element fo JC
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scriptures only. Wealth, woman, youth, sensual pleasures, relatives, friends, body and all the other things of this world and in this world are as transitory as the flash of a lighting or the drop of a dew. The only thing that saves a man from getting lost into it is non-attachment the maximum fruit of which is emancipation. (5. 28-36). All the beings in this world—the father, the mother, the brother, the son, the wife the relatives and the friends--are tied with each other through affection which is the result of the Karmas only. This affection serves only as the fetter. Death follows a man wherever he goes. Nothing shields him from death. He encounters bereavements and separations every moment. The world being such should be shunned (8. 41-62), Also never entertain a fascination for the world in which the beings are overpowered with diseases, privations and penury. (4. page 21 lines 3-11). He should on the contrary hanker after a place in the eternal abode which one can reach if he takes upon himself to practise the five vows and the religion of a monk having first of all acquired the Right Faith which results as perverted belief, sinful activities, ignorance, the three fold operation of mind, speech and body and a quaternary of passions are avoided. So long as the eightfold Karmas are not completely annihilated, the wanderings in this world never end. (6. 25-52),
(2) Body Having accepted the world as a necessary evil the author proceeds to enlighten the reader about the real nature of the body according to the Jaina scriptures. The body is a mere liability if it is not put to the use and benefit of others. It is evanescent like the dew-drop. Sometimes it appears promising while at other times it looks disappointing. Deprivation and disease are the usual attendants. It is beautiful outside and ugly inside. Its internal foulness is simply frightening. It is but dust. It is a bag of bones and blood, fat and flesh. How can you have love for such a body from which filth flows constantly? A paste which is fragrant becomes foul-smelling when it comes into contact with the body. Youthfulness is a sheer delusion. It vanishes when the body becomes old. The head shakes, the hands tremble and the nose exudes a stinking fluid. Hairs which were once pitchy black turn grey. The eyes which were formerly lotus-like ooze incessantly. Ears which were sharp become deaf and teeth become sparse and shaky. The same is the case with tongue, feet and mouth. As the body is such, one should make the best of a bad bargain. That is to say, it should be so used that it can become the cause of a better life hereafter (16. 302, 303, 304; 16. 308-336). Howsoever much, the body is condemned in Jainism, it has also given some credit to it in the sense that it can be turned into a vehicle for performing piety and religious practices. Thus a streak of goodness is not wholly denied to it. For its upkeep, pure and innocent food is also allowed. It is the cause, though remote, of final liberation. This is the raison d'etre of the body. (5. 250-251).
(3) Four Requisites Four things enriching the existence and difficult to be obtained are in order of