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called Hemaprabhāśrījī and published in 1977. She writes: 'Just as the darśan of the supreme soul (... meaning the Tīrthankara) makes the mind pure and becomes the means of the removal of karma (karma nirjari), so the pūjā of the Lord encourages the arising of ... feelings, and the spark of these feelings will burn kannas ai reduce them to ashes. Worship (...) is done in order to destroy sensual vices and eradicate karma. Just its austerity and self-denial eradicate karma, in the same way the Lord's puja, done willi devotion, also destroys karmas and provides many worldly benefits (labh) besides' (Hemaprabhāśrīji in Babb 1996: 92).
Babb (1996: 92) comments: from her standpoint, worship is really a kind of substitute form of world renunciation, which in Jainism is the principal means of shedding the karmas that impede the soul's liberation. In this sense the act of worshipping becomes - itself -- an ascetic act. She also says that these ritual acts result in worldly benefits by means of that relatively) positive form of karma called "merit" (punva). This seems to me to be as clear an example of 'having your karma and shedding it' as you could ask for.
My second example is provided by Bhadrankar Vijay (1903-1980), characterised by John Cort (1995: 601) as one of the most highly revered of all Svetāmbara Mūrtipujaka monks of this century' (ie. the 20h). This is taken from passages m his writings in which he 'responds to the questions of an imaginary interlocutor concerning the suitability of worshiping images of Jinas with physical offerings' (Cort 1995: 601). The potential problem, of course, is that 'worship involving physical objects also involves an element of harm (himsā) to living beings, and therefore runs counter to the central Jain ethical principle of non-harm (ahimsi) to all living beings' (Cort 1995: ( chann comes in the form of the fruit and floral offerings made, and the use of water and fire Similar problems attend the preparation of food and water for ascetics.)
First of all the monk says: 'Devotion of God [by which he means the Jinas or Tīrthankaras) destroys both separation from oneself and contact with harmful karma ... " (Cort 1995: 602). The question is then asked: 'If a householder performs only spiritual (bhava) worship li.e. inner worship or contemplation), and not physical drarvai worship. then will it work or not?' (Inner worship is the only kind of worship the monks and nuns are permitted - physical worship being inherently too violent.) The monk replies that inner worship will not work because a householder's mind requires the stability of an external support. He goes on to say: 'Not only that, all his i.e. the householder's) other activities involve physical matter and are successful, so therefore his mind is satisfied in the realm of religion by physical things. Since his mind is oppressed by worldly womes
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