Religious Quest of India

SR No.: 011031
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J N Farquhar, Griswold
Publisher: J N Farquhar Griswold
Total Pages: 365
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 272

246 THE END OF THE ROAD means the absolute keeping of the five great vows. His conduct, as we have seen, should be perfect, or Sarvacăritrya, for he must follow the conduct laid down for him in every particular; but the layman is only expected to possess Deśaċāritrya (partial conduct), for, so long as he is not a professed monk, he cannot be absolutely perfect
in conduct. Three Right Conduct, however, can be ruined by three evil Salya. darts, or śalya. The first of these is intrigue or fraud that injure (Māyā šalya), since no one can gain a good character whose Cāritrya. life, social or religious, is governed by deceit. Even in such
holy matters as fasting, intrigue can make itself felt.
A second poisonous dart is false belief or Mithyātva salya, which consists in holding a false god to be a true one, a false guru to be a true guru, and a falsc religion to be a truc religion; by so doing one absolutely injurcs Right Knowledge and Right Faith which lead to Right Conduct; this is therefore a highly poisonous dart. The great evil wrong belief does shows how supremely important it is for men to know who is the true Tirthankara, and the definition, which the Jaina repeat every day at their devotions, runs as follows:
"He who is omniscient, free from all love of the world and froin all failings; he who is worshipped by the three worlds and who explains the inner meaning (of religion) as it exists: this adorable deity is the great god.'1
The Jaina similarly define a false god : "Those gods who retain women, weapons and rosaries, who are steeped in attachment and so stained, who are in the habit of giving and accepting favours, these can give no help towards deliverance.'
In the same way it is of great importance to recognize good gurus, especially in a land swarming with worthless ascetics. This is the Jaina definition, which is also repeated by them every day: "They who keep the (five) great vows, are steadfast, live only on
1 i.e. Tirthankara.