Pravachanasara

SR No.: 003289
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram
Publication Year: 1964
Total Pages: 612
Language: Hindi, Sanskrit
Classification: Book_Devnagari
File Size: 16 MB

Page 69

Pravacanasara
RAYANASARA: It contains 162 verses, of which one is a doha and the rest are gathãs. The author intends to give a discourse on the religious [p. 38:] duties of laymen and monks. A man of right faith always preaches what is traditionally received from the Tirthankaras through Ganadharas (2). Right faith is the root of the tree of liberation, and it is twofold (4); in its absence no virtues can stand (47 etc.); and it is a patent remedy against Karman (52). A man of faith is endowed with 70 virtues, and is devoid of 44 flaws (8,7). The duties of a house-holder consist in giving gifts and in performing püja, and those of a monk in meditation and study (11 etc.). Jinas should be worshipped, and the gifts should be given to recepients (pātra) who are of three kinds (15 etc., 123 etc.). Pleasurable and happy equipments, here and in the next world, are all the fruits of supätra-dāna, like seeds giving good crops when sown in fertile fields (17-30 etc.). That man, who appropriates for himself the wealth meant for jirnoddhära, pratistha, Jinapaja etc., is sure to go to hell etc. (32 etc.).
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Men without right faith have no discriminative faculty (40), are not devoted to religious duties, and do not meditate on the nature of the self (49 ff.). As opposed to a man of right faith, who spends his time thinking over vairagya and jñāna, the man of perverted faith spends his time in greed, wicked thoughts, laziness and quarrels. Men of right faith are rare today, but still, as said by Jina, Dharmadhyana is possible in the present age (57 ft.).
Inauspicious mental attitude (akubha-bhava) is inclined towards wicked and irreligious channels of activities, while the auspicious one towards meritorious and religious ones; accordingly hell or heaven is the consequence (61, 65 etc.). Auspicious attitude is attended with the suppression of passions etc., and consequently results into real self-control. A jäänin immediatly destroys his karman, and his achievements are varied (72-79).
Everywhere Bhakti or devotion is quite necessary; all the religious activities are fruitful, if one has regard or devotion towards his teachers.(83 ff.). Ascetic garb is a painful burden, if one is 'not directed towards self-realisation (88ff.). In order to realise atma-tattva and para-tattva, in this age, study is a sure remedy; so one should devote oneself to the study of sacred texts which is as good as meditation (95). When one's mind is set on the Higher-self with mental, verbal and physical purity, karman is immediately destroyed (96). This is the province of a great monk who abstains from all unhealthy and irreligious activities, and absorbs himself in the self. Those who are attached to paraphernalia, like a fly stuck in phlegm, have no hope of self-realization (106,93ff.). Those monks who are selfwilled, who do not live with a guru, and who, being of bad conduct, oppose the sangha, are a bane to Jainism (108). It is a great sin to dabble in worldly professions and to be attached to various items of worldly paraphernalia like gana and gaccha (109 etc.). The monk should not eat anything according to his sweet will, but recieve only the proper food, which is put in the cavity of his palms (116, 120 ff.). The penancial practices should be intelligent, and there should be no hankering after popularity, respect and gain (131 etc.). Attachment is bondage and nonattachment is liberation: knowing this one should not be attached to bahir-atman (134). There are so many things and relations which [p. 39:] constitute bahir-atman