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I am the Soul
25
Here defining jnana, he says that it should be understood first of all that the Soul is different from body, senses, mind, or intellect. What is there to understand? How do we understand? Do we define ‘understood as that which is understood by the intellect alone? Not here, understanding achieved through intellect alone has not been termed as jnana. When the purity of the soul begins to grow and when the soul changes from purer to purest, then the urge to know the Self is at the sharpest. This urge draws a being towards introspection. An introspecting soul develops equanimity. The Bhagawad Gita calls such a person as Sthitupragnya.
An equanimous person alone is inspired to receive and imbibe the advice of a good preceptor. Once the voice of the preceptor touches the soul, such a person gets drawn towards the elating feelings which enlighten. Just as a seed lying buried in the earth, absorbs the elements around it, converts them to its purpose and then sprouts. The seed first breaks itself and then the earth to push its seedling out. Similarly, a person with a balanced mind imbibes the advice of the preceptor into the depth of the Self and registers the same on the soul. Only then does he know the soul through itself. That the soul is of good use, has its own jnana and darshan and is indestructible. This is the limit to which jnana can bring us.
But that does not suffice. The knowledge of the mind only gets us this far and no further. Our effort has to take over from here. It is this point that Srimadji makes here -
जे ज्ञाने करीने जाणियुं रे, da ad at proses waita ...4 कह्यं भगवंते दर्शन तेहने रे,
stai auj 774 4fche ...400
The introspection agitates the intellect. It reaches the periphery of the knowledge of the Soul but cannot rest there. Just as the seed in the earth that sprouts and then cannot remain
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| SR No. | 006790 |
| Book Title | I am The Soul Part 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Tarulatabai Mahasati |
| Publisher | Shri Gujarati Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Association |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 468 |
| Language | English, Hindi |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |