________________
( 52 )
of passion, and in which the pure flame of knowledge is burning steadily, cannot such a living lamp destroy ignorance and shine in the world? -Of a surety it can!
48. That intellect which, leaving its family house of pure intelligence incarnate, wanders about in the wilderness of scriptural text and is worried much, cannot be likened to a chaste wife : it is like a harlot.
49. He whose mind remains absorbed in his own intelligent self is the best of Saints; he perceives every soul as intelligence incarnate like himself.
3
50. Let merit and demerit produce their various effects; what have I, who am endowed with the utmost purity of nature, to do with them? Just as a mirror is not affected by the distortions of the face before it, so am I only a knower and perceiver.
51. I, even 1, am intelligence incarnate; embodied intelligence, that I am. I am only dependent on my own Self; on no other object do I depend, since they are all unintelligent; love is productive of good only when it is for those who are one's equal in nature.
52. That which knows is also that which perceives; it never loses its nature: that I, too, am; I am nothing else; this is my essential nature.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org