Saman suttam Part 1

SR No.: 008022
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
Publication Year: 1993
Total Pages: 119
Language: Prakrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Religion, & Principle
File Size: 6 MB

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as the person down with fever does not relish even the sweet juice (68 poisons all our activities, so as to check the realisation of the Summum Bonum of life Moreover it is responsible for the perversity of knowledege and conduct alike. So long as spiritual perversion is operative, all our efforts to witness the sun of self's glory are bound to fail Thus it is to be rooted out in the interest of rendering its unwholesome function null and void. In other words, spiritual awakening is to be attained, which in turn will make knowledge and conduct conducive to the attainment of supreme peace. It is only after the acquisition of spiritual awakening that the person attains the primary qualification for even marching towards emancipation from the wheel of misery. If spiritual perversion is at the root of worldly life and living, spiritual awakening is at the root of liberation. The Samansutta tells us that if the achievement of spiritual awakening is on the one side and the achievement of the three worlds is on the other, out of these two the achievement of spiritual awakening is undoubtedly better than that of the three worlds (225). Even performing very severe austerities, persons devoid of spiritual awakening do not attain spiritual wisdom even in thousands and crores of years. (222). Just as a leaf of the lotus plant because of its own nature and constitution is not defiled by water, so also an awakened person bacause of his spiritual nature is not sullied by passions and sensuous attraction. (227). Rightness in knowledge and conduct is acquired through spiritual awakening. The spiritually awakened self considers his own self as his genuine abode and regards the outward dwelling places as artificial. He renounces all identification with the animate and inanimate objects of the world, and properly weighs them in the balance of his awakened spirit Thus he develops a unique attitude towards himself and the world around him
The Samanasuttani deals with the nature of spiritual awakening (Samiyagdarsana) from two points of view, namely Niscaya (transcendental) and Vyavahāra (empirical) The former regards Samvagdarsana as awakening of the transcendental sell, whereas the latter regards it as the belief in the seven tattvas (Jiva, Ajiva, etc ) (220)
There may be a tendency to confuse spiritual awakening with moral and intellectual accomplishments One may say that he who is intellectually enlightened and morally converted is spiritually awakened How can a man after attaining to the fair height of intellectual knowledge and moral upliftment be spiritually barren? Though it is astonishing, yet it is regarded as a faci by the Jainas The 'dravya-lingi-muni' is an instance of this sort of life No doubt, intellectual learning and moral conversions may facilitate spiritual awakening in certain selves, but this can not as a rule bring about the latter A spiritually unawakened man may be an astute intcllectualisi, a