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Chapter 6.
Sugandha: Sweet fragrance
The ascetic who is fervent in the practice of austerity, whose spirit is directed towards mokṣā1
who is well-established in patience and self-mastery, victorious over afflictions, will readily attain the happy state [which leads to mokṣa].2
After following a long trail that has permitted us by successive stages to gain insight into how the doctrine is put into practice in the life of the śramanis, we find ourselves offered at the end of this vihāra a gift, one that represents the quintessence of all that we have discovered up till now. A sugandha, a fragrant, delicate, light perfume is emitted from a bunch of flowers of varied hue, flowers of the desert, of the fields, of the countryside or of the towns. These flowers are the authentic biographies of contemporary sadhvis who, though often concealed from the eyes of the world and of the learned, charm with their pleasing fragrance those who approach them with the same faith and simplicity as inspired the sadhvis who lived them and those who wrote them It is precisely because these biographies make no pretensions, aiming only to edify, and because they were composed spontaneously as a token of daughterly or sisterly affection that they are most precious documents and "pearls of great price". Their value is also due to the fact that each of them was written within the bosom of a sampradaya or gaccha for the members of these same communities. The language and verbal expressions used are those of. a given milieu. It was in this same milieu that one of the group stood head and shoulders above the rest, inspired thought and reflection, kindled hearts, aroused enthusiasm, reawakened dormant faith, re
1 Ujjumai (rjumate) can be interpreted in 2 ways: a spirit inclined towards mokṣā; or straight, honest; cf. Atmārama, DS, pp. 137-138.
2 tavoguṇapahāṇassa ujjumai-khaṁti-samjaṁarayassa parisahe jiņamtassa sulahā soggai tārisagassa. DS IV, 23, 27.
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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 |