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Purity of Conduct and Nirvana
Throughout the Vedas, Upanishads, and the literature of the
saints there are exhortations to follow the path of morality.
For example, in the Brahmanda Puranottar Gita it says that one cannot attain Brahman without first being purified:
This body has nine gates. Without purifying this body no one can attain Pure Brahman. Thus say the wise ones.
Sant Kabir Sahib says:
By carefully tending to the life of morality, the bride (atman) and groom (God) enjoy bliss.
Guru Nanak Dev says:
The Truth can only be placed in a clean vessel, and few indeed are those who live a pure life.
The Katha Upanishad underscores the necessity of the life of morality:
Those who have not abstained from wicked acts, whose senses are not calm, and whose minds are agitated, can not attain this [the Ultimate Reality] through prajna (spiritual knowledge).
The Buddha gives instructions to follow five essential ethical principles. He teaches abstention from lying, stealing, intoxicating substances, violence, and adultery, and claims that the one who indulges in these sins brings his own destruction.
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