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414
The Unknown Pilgrims
(consecration) until the mahāprasthåna (Great Departure) and the daily activities of the śramaņis, those who labour for their own purification - contributing the while to that of others from before sunrise to after sunset. Although such an introduction to the life of the sādhvis is neither exhaustive nor very detailed, it may well give the impression that this life consists all day long in numerous observances, rites and varied practices. This is a feature common to all the monastic and ascetic traditions. One must, most certainly, have a knowledge of the observances, but it is above all necessary to grasp the spirit which inspires them and the goal towards which they tend. For, after all, what matters is niscaya-cāritra, action which is inspired by purely spiritual motives, the interiorisation of all the observances. 14
Fragrant blossoms on the way
Chapter six is based upon eleven biographical accounts of sõdhvis, dating from the middle of the last century to our own day. On the rough road of asceticism each biography, which is at one and the same time personal and linked with the life of the samgha, is like a sweetsmelling flower, fragrant with the perfume of the often heroic virtues of the particular sadhvi. Certain of these flowers were of short duration and remained hidden up until their final days. Others had long lives and yet others held important positions in the samgha, sometimes, even, in society at large. This delicate fragrance has not evaporated with the disappearance of the flower; 'it persists, even after long years. It is the fragrance of authentic sanctity which inspires and sustains other sadhvis. Through these biographies we get to know the sādhvis and their way of life in an existential, concrete and direct fashion and we grasp too how necessary are at the first stage of the path, observances, even those that seem highly restrictive, and how at a later stage, when the spirit is awakened and matured in wisdom, only the essentials are maintained.
A unique collaboration
Sadhvis of the various sampradāyas collaborated personally, intelligently, actively and directly in the shaping of this part. In the
14 Cf. SamSa 383-386.
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| SR No. | 007014 |
| Book Title | Unknown Pilgrims |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | N Shanta |
| Publisher | Sri Satguru Publications Delhi |
| Publication Year | 1997 |
| Total Pages | 820 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |