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## The Nature of Sanvara-Bhavana
**The twenty stages (tapas) of worship of the Tirthankara-namakarma asrava are:**
* **Samvara-bhavana:** The nature of Samvara-bhavana
* **Yoga-shastra:** The fourth light, verses 79 to 83
* **Essential vows and conduct:** Maintaining vigilance in essential vows and conduct
* **Vinya:** Humility
* **Jnana-abhyasa:** Practice of knowledge
* **Tap:** Austerity
* **Tyaga:** Renunciation
* **Dhyana:** Meditation repeatedly
* **Tirtha-pravahana:** Pilgrimage
* **Sangha-samadhi:** Concentration in the Sangha
* **Sadhu-seva (Vyayavritti):** Service to the holy ones
* **Apuurva-naveen-gyan-grahan:** Acquiring new and unique knowledge
* **Darshan-vishuddhi:** Purity of vision
**The first Tirthankara, Shri Rishabhdev Bhagwan, and the last Tirthankara, Bhagwan Mahavira Swami, practiced all twenty stages of tapas. The remaining Tirthankaras practiced one, two, three, or all of these stages.**
**The asrava of Gotra-karma:**
* **Causes:** Slandering others, making fun of them, showing disrespect, neglecting their virtues, pointing out their faults (whether they exist or not), praising oneself (whether one has virtues or not), hiding one's own faults, and taking pride in one's caste or lineage.
* **These are the causes of the asrava of the low Gotra-namakarma.**
* **The opposite of these, such as being free from pride, being humble in thought, word, and deed, are the causes of the asrava of the high Gotra.**
**The asrava of Antarayakarma:**
* **Causes:** Obstructing others in their efforts to gain wealth, power, strength, enjoyment, and consumption, whether with reason or without.
* **This asrava can sometimes be auspicious, but otherwise, it prevents beings from attaining dispassion.**
* **Therefore, knowing the asrava to be inauspicious, the bhavya-jiva should contemplate the asrava-bhavana to cultivate detachment.**
**Now, we will explain the nature of Samvara-bhavana:**
**Verse 79:**
* **"Sarvesham asravaanam tu, nirodhah sanvarah smritah. Sa punar bhidyate dvedha, dravya-bhaava-vibhedatah."**
* **Meaning:** Restraining all the asravas is called Samvara. This happens only in the ayogee kevalis. This statement is in relation to Sarva-samvara. Restraining one, two, three, or more asravas is called Desha-samvara. Sarva-samvara occurs in the fourteenth gunasthanaka, called Ayogee-kevali. Both Sarva-samvara and Desha-samvara have two divisions each, based on dravya and bhaava.
**Verse 80:**
* **"Yah karma-pudgaladaan-chhedah, sa dravya-sanvarah. Bhava-hetu-kriya-tyagah, sa punar bhaava-sanvarah."**
* **Meaning:** Preventing the inflow of karma-pudgalas through the asrava-door is called dravya-samvara. Renouncing the actions that are the cause of existence is called bhaava-sanvara.
**Verse 81:**
* **"Yena yena hyupaayena, rudhyate yo yo asravaah. Tasya tasya nirodhaaya sa sa yojyo manishibhih."**
* **Meaning:** Wise men should employ those means by which each asrava can be restrained.
**Verse 82:**
* **"Kshamaya mrudubhaavena, rijutvenaapyaneeyaya. Krodham maanam tatha maaya, lobham rundhyad yathakramam."**
* **Meaning:** The yogi who strives to attain self-control should restrain anger with forgiveness, pride with humility, deceit with honesty, and greed with contentment.
**Verse 83:**
* **"Asanyama-krtotshekaan, vishayan visha-sannibhaan. Nirakuryaad akhandena, sanaymena mahaamatih."**
* **Meaning:** The great wise one should restrain the objects of sense, which are like poison, with unbroken self-control, as they are intensified by lack of self-control.
**Meaning:**
* The enjoyment of sensual pleasures seems sweet at the time, but in the end, it is like poison.
* Therefore, the power of the senses, which are intoxicated by touch and other objects, can only be restrained by unbroken self-control.