________________
178
dispelled all the doubts and because there are no fear, likes, dislikes, etc. in him an account of which a person becomes ignorant or stupefied. There are no external signs of these and hence Mahā vīra's words are those of an omniscient being and so authoritative (1902).*
As for the Vedic statement 'Na ha vai pretya nārakāḥ santi' which led Akampita to doubt the existence of närakas, it does not mean that the nārakas do not exist at all, but that there are not in the other world such nāraka beings as are eternal like Meru, etc.; those who commit very great sin become nārakas after death; hence one should not commit such sin as would make one go to hell after death. The emphasis is on the teaching that one should not commit sin and not on the non-existence of hellish beings (1903).
When Akampita's doubt was dispelled by Lord Mahavira, free from old age and death, he became a monk along with his 300 pupils and followers 1904.
* This Gathā has occurred earlier, Gāthā 1578,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
