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Iṣṭopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
परः परस्ततो दुःखमात्मैवात्मा ततः सुखम् । अत एव महात्मानस्तन्निमित्तं कृतोद्यमाः ॥
An alien object is always alien and is the cause of suffering; the soul is always own and is the cause of happiness. All great sages, therefore, have exerted themselves only for the sake of the soul.
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
The senses are the indirect means of knowledge and whatever these comprehend is partial like the perception of an elephant by several blind persons, each of whom touches only different parts of its body and forms a wrong idea of the animal. Based on the senses, the comprehension of reality by the ordinary human beings, similarly, is partial and is valid only from a particular point of view. A substance (dravya) is subjected to constant flux of modifications and while looking at its present state, we must not absolutely deny its past or future states.
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The Jaina view considers the soul's journey to be a continuous process which necessarily extends beyond its present incarnation. All our actions, while impacting the present life have a bearing on our future incarnations too. If we take such a far-sighted and enduring view of life, many of our perceptions on issues like self and non-self, merit and demerit, pleasure and pain, rich and poor, friend and foe, beneficial and harmful, are bound to get reassessed and redefined.
Acārya Amitagati, in Yogasāra Prābhṛta, avers:
