________________
AN EPITOME OF JAINISM. decide between rival desires ; in as much as this harmony is brought about and kept up untarnished, not by leaving every chord of heart to vibrate freely, but by laying the silencing hand on everything that would speak in discord, if once left alone. The constitution here is undoubtedly regulated, the passions and propensities of life have been curbed and restrained to make the achievement of the observed End possible, and some sort of harmony truly shines forth. But still it goes without saying, that the right order is purchased here by some sacrifice of force, by exertion of will, some of which is spent still only in holding down the clamouring impulses of life and consequently the constitution can hardly be said to be properly tuned.
The fourth stage of life begins when the competition of impulses cease with the absolute concurrence of the natural solicitations with what ought to be, with the harmony of the scale of intensity of the impulses of life, with the scale of their excellence and moral efficiency. This stage is made possible only after a clear intellectual discernment (jnana) of what ought to
624
