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THE GREAT SCRIPTURES OF JAINS
way to his anger, and bear with indifference the pleasant and unpleasant occurances.
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The second lecture deals with the troubles in the path of ascetic life which a monk should bear and face boldly. If a layman abuses a monk the latter should not grow angry. If a monk hears bad words, cruel and rambling ones, he should silently overlook them, and not take them to heart. A monk should not be angry if beaten, nor should he entertain sinful thoughts. Knowing patience to be the highest good a monk should meditate on the Law (Dharma).
The third lecture, the "Four Requisites", stresses the value of human life and its utility for spiritual development. It says, "Four things of paramount value are difficult to obtain here by a living being, human births, instruction in law, belief in it and energy in selfcontrol."
The fourth lecture deals with the inpurity and ephemeral character of worldly pleasures. The following stanza reminds us of the famous line by Naciketas in the Kathopaniṣad :
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"Wealth will not protect a careless man in this world and the next. Though he had seen the right way, he does not see it, even as one in the dark whose lamp has suddenly been put out."
"Though others sleep, be thou awake! like a wise man, trust nobody, but be always on the alert.”
The fifth lecture gives a beautiful description of the two types of death, that of a fool and the wise.
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