Introduction to Jainism and its Culture

SR No.: 001605
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Balbhadra Jain
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 334
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Religion, & Culture
File Size: 21 MB

Page 152

Fifth Chapter
THEORY OF KARMA
COMPLEXITY OF BEINGS
There are infinite types of beings in the world. They exist in various realms and genuses in a variety of forms, colours, shapes, and kinds. In the divine realm there is an abundance of happiness whereas in the infernal and animal realms there is an abundance of misery, and in the human realm there is no such abundance of either happiness or misery. But among the beings of specific realms the intensity of happiness or misery is not uniform. As we are humans we closely observe the similarities and dissimilarities between human beings. We find that one is happy and another is sad; one is rich and another is poor. One is intelligent and another is stupid, one is beautiful and another is ugly, one is lovable and another is despicable, one is simple, peaceful and liberal and another is cunning, angry, and stingy. There are many students in a class. The same teacher teaches everyone but one is brilliant and another is a fool, one gets distinction in all subjects and another fails in all. Two traders start business with the same amount of investment but one keeps on earning profits and the other giving losses. Two farmers sow crops in adjacent farms with equal areas but the produce is not the same. Two young men study together and leave the college at the same time to seek jobs. One gets a lucrative job and the other remains unemployed.
A grave train accident occurred in Vihatā once. A young man, his wife, a six-month old daughter, and a nine-year-old servant were traveling in that train. The wife and the servant died on the spot. The husband was injured. Undeterred by injuries he started searching for his family. He found the dead bodies of his wife and servant. In spite of growing hunger and thirst he continued his search for his daughter. Almost seventy-two hours later he found his daughter fallen in a ditch, very much alive and suckling her thumb.
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