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The picture of the character of the soul, which is tormented by the eight afflictions, is as follows:
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It is directly seen that the soul is constantly agitated by the three types of heat. It is realized that in this world, which is full of destruction and sorrow, there is only fear, fear, and fear. It sees that there is fear of attachment in wealth, fear of downfall in family, fear of the king in wealth, fear of humiliation in honor, fear of enemies in strength, fear of women in beauty, fear of debate in scriptures, fear of wicked people in virtues, and fear of death in the body. Thus, everything appears fearful to it, and it realizes that only detachment is fearless.
Thus, the whole world is full of fear and sorrow. Whatever is considered to be a source of happiness in the world is also only a semblance of happiness and is actually sorrowful. Even the position of Indra and Chakravarti is sorrowful. This is the firm conviction of the soul. Because:
“Every time there is fear of death, fear of attachment, fear of livelihood, fear of protection if there is fame, fear of avoiding infamy if there is infamy, fear of taking if there is something to take, fear of being indebted if there is something to give, fear of… if there is a woman, fear of acquiring if there is not, fear of the mischief of children and grandchildren if there are, fear of acquiring if there are not, fear of increasing if there is less wealth, fear of losing if there is more, thus, there is experience for every achievement.” - Shrimad Rajchandra
Therefore, the aspirant soul thinks: O soul! You have suffered endless sorrow while wandering in the four states of existence in this fearful world. You have experienced intense suffering in the terrible hell state, the animal state, the ghost state, and the human state. You have endured unbearable suffering for a long time due to the lack of detachment. You have repeatedly experienced physical and mental suffering. O soul! You have lived for a long time in the wombs of many impure, repulsive, and filthy mothers. You have drunk more milk than the water of the ocean. Your mother has shed more tears than the water of the ocean at the time of your death. Your hair, nails, etc., have been cut more than the height of Mount Meru. O soul! This:
“Fear of attachment in wealth, fear of downfall in family, fear of the king in wealth, fear of humiliation in honor, fear of enemies in strength, fear of women in beauty, fear of debate in scriptures, fear of wicked people in virtues, and fear of death in the body. Everything is filled with fear, detachment is the only refuge.” - Shri Bhartrihari
(For this, see - Shrimad Rajchandra's Bhavanamoad). “Whatever is called happiness in this world is all worldly. It is not happiness, but only a semblance of happiness, but undoubtedly sorrow.” - Shri Amritchandracharya's Shri Panchaadhyayee