________________
THE WAY OF LIFE
not compose his works to become famous but he has become famous as a great writer. If you give something good and exalted to others, you will become famous. People who benefit from you will surely praise you. Yes, you should not desire to hear yourself praised by others because this passion for praise is perilous. The desire to hear one's own praise from others keeps a man away from the performance of any noble deeds. If people do not praise his noble actions, he will not perform such actions. There is no rule that all the noble deeds of a man should be praised. Some may not become famous because of the adverse effect of Apayashnam Karma.
Sri Haribhadrasuriji was a great sage who had attained self-realisation. His purpose in writing great works was only Satvanugraha (Benevolence for living beings). He wrote his great works to render some help to people. The great Acharya wrote his works inspired by the lofty purpose that the principles of Dharma may be communicated to the lovers of Mo
Ioksha (deliverance) and to the lovers of Dharma Tatvas (the doctrines of the Dharma); that they may attain a knowledge of the path of salvation; that they may realize the exalted duties of human life; that from that knowledge they may attain mental cheerfulness and felicity ; that they may attain spiritual delight; and that in them the ideals of sacrifice and renunciation might be awakened.
The nature of benevolence is such that it inspires men to render help to others. Benevolence cannot bear with the misery that blights other beings. It impels us to eradicate the sorrows of others.
AWAKEN THE INNER-SOUL
The Jineshwars who are omniscient and who have attained total freedom from the inner enemies gave their opinion that the Jivatmas (lives) keep wandering about aimlessly in Samsar (the cycle of life and birth) because of the absence of the light of knowledge; and that sorrow, anguish and agony are rooted only in ignorance. The great writer made this his objective and performed this sacred task of writing hundreds of works only to give the light of knowledge to living beings. This is a great
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org