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IN JAINISM, O REJOICE
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Alas, attachment and aversion Again and again impel the infatuated soul Into the great misery of body bondage. Be pleased, therefore, of the Jaina way out: Non-violence, truthfulness, honesty, Chastity and non-possession-- By these vows, the Bhavya soul may sever The karmic ties that bind body to soul, -Free soul, freed by way of inner detachment. Meditate thyself, the poet says, Upon this dust and relic marigold. Ah, the heredity of the soul. ... Here, the poet's own temple After the poet's body makes dusts. Yet everlasting is the ideal within the Jina image And in venerable truth, in every age existing. Hence, gladly forget the body heretofore, For Jainism forever shall exist for the body hereafter. And the poet chants, Joy, joy In Jainism, sweet, sweet butterflies of joy'. Yes, to all body and soul beings, Mobile or immobile, visible or invisible, Ideal Jainism offers an Ahimsā all-embracing,
Likewise, a holy freedom Ahimsā That allows all living beings to work out Their own karmas in their own ways Without the ill winds of interference. Hell beings to penance, peace to them, Creepers, to climb inward walls, Animals, the only hand lifted to help them, Humankind, to righteous meditations While welcome are alien gods To garlands of spiritual restraints. When karmas are checked. And the motionless real is realized Over the passional ocean of the unreal,
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