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The Forty-Seventh Chapter
476. O wise son, Abhaya, you are born of such a lineage. Therefore, after performing the twelve types of austerities as instructed by the Jinas, you will attain the state of liberation. 526. Knowing this, Abhaya, filled with joy, bowed to the Jina and entered the city with the king. 527. Then, on another day, King Shrenik was seated in the assembly. He saw Abhaya, the learned and eloquent prince, who was knowledgeable in all scriptures. 528. Desiring to know the greatness of Abhaya, he asked him about the true nature of reality. Abhaya, being a near-liberated soul, understood the true nature of reality and was endowed with clear, sweet, and pleasing speech. 529. Thus, he began to explain, his words illuminating the assembly like the brilliance of his teeth. 530. Those who understand the true nature of the soul and other entities are called Panditas by the wise. Others are merely called Panditas in name. 531. Abhaya said, "The Jinas have spoken of six entities: soul, matter, dharma, adharma, space, and time. These entities are eternal and non-eternal in nature, depending on whether they are considered in terms of their substance or their modes." 532. If we consider the soul and other entities as eternally existing, then the transformations observed in all substances would be impossible. 533. Similarly, if we consider all entities as completely momentary, then there would be no action, no agent, no fruit of action, and all worldly transactions would cease to exist. 534. One might argue that entities are eternally existing in a conventional sense, and therefore worldly transactions would not cease to exist. But this is not correct, because how can the truth of an entity be established through convention? Convention is ultimately false, and it cannot determine the truth of an entity. 535. When we see that the actions of entities are based on both eternal and non-eternal principles, how can someone who considers one of these principles as false claim that the other is true? In reality, both principles are true, as they are both involved in the actions of entities. 536. Those who believe that all entities are characterized by a single principle, their arguments about the origin of doubt and certainty, based on the general and the particular, are invalid. Because if entities are not considered as both general and particular, but only as one, then doubt and certainty cannot arise. 537. The knowledge that entities are characterized by both principles is true.