Key of Knowledge

SR No.: 006702
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown
Publication Year: 1919
Total Pages: 1204
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 940

919
On two points alone does he come in touch with the men and women of the world, firstly he imparts instruction on dharma to all who seek it from him, and, secondly, he goes out to obtain his subsistence.from such of the pious house holders as welcome him with veneration and respect, considering it their good luck to have the opportunity of serving holy saints. He eats but only to keep his body and soul together, so that he might continue the work on which he has embarked-the destruction of his karmas. He is not a beggar in any sense of the word, and would not touch a morsel if the food be not free from all kinds of impurities pointed out in the Scripture. As a house-holder, he himself used to long for the opportunity to serve the holy men, and would patiently wait at his door for their arrival before taking his meal. What he then did for them it is his turn now to expect from others. Neither is he looked upon as a burden, for every true house-holder longs for the opportunity to tread the same path, and actually worships the beings into whose footsteps he knows that he will himself have some day to walk to reach the goal. With reference to the merit of giving food to homeless saints, it is said in the Ratna Karanda Srávakâchâra :
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF GODS.
"As water for certain washes away blood, so does the giving of food to homeless saints, without doubt, destroy the sins incidental to a house-holder's life."
The statement that the sins incidental to a householder's life are destroyed by the giving of food to a Jaina saint in the approved manner, is descriptive of the power of holy thoughts in washing away karmic impurities from the soul. The approved manner consists in (1) prostrating oneself at the feet of the saint, (2) offering