Shraman Mahavira

SR No.: 011093
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Mitra Parishad Calcutta
Publication Year: 1976
Total Pages: 351
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 13 MB

Page 184

166
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
creed surrounded themselves with fires during intense summers and stood in chilly waters of the river during severe Winters The Lord pronounced these pursuits as half-baked and inimical to life
If masochism was the essence of spiritualism why would he denounce such practices as lying on a bed of thorns ?
Once Gautam questioned, 'Sire, is masochism spiritual ?' 'I won't call it spiritual! 'Then, is it anti-spiritual?' 'I won't call it anti-spiritual, either' 'How shall we describe it, then?'
'An ailing person takes bitter drugs Will it be proper to call it unwise? A man in fever takes sumptuous meals Will it be proper to call it wise? Drugs aim at curing the ailment If a sweet salve can cure disease, why take a bitter one? If it cannot, one has no option but to take bitter one Rich food is nourishing to the body but in fever it is contra-indicated To torture one's self is not spiritual Spiritualism is a purging of the latencies'
Said Gautam, 'Do such possibilities exist 1 Grave discomfort and high sublimation, 2 Grave discomfort and little sublimation, 3 Little discomfort and high sublimation, 4 Little discomfort and little sublimation?
Said the Lord, 'It can be so ' 'How it be so ?'
Said the Lord, (1) A noble pursuant suffers great discomfort and is rewarded with a high degree of sublimation
(2) An individual self suffering internal existence suffers much without an equivalent sublimation
(3) A meditative genius suffers little and still attains a high degree of sublimation
(4) Gods suffer nothing and still attain a nominal sublimation '
7
Bhagwai' 6/15, 16.