________________
THE MESSAGE OF JAINISM
35
“Just so are those monks, immune from all attachment, who are acclaimed as true sages in this world. As the bees with the blossoms, so are they gratified with begging their alms.
“ Their sentiment is: 'Let us find something to subsist upon, without causing harm to any creature. *This is why they go in quest of what they find ready, just as the bee moves among the blossoms.
“ Enlightened, indeed, are they, who act like the bees and who are independent. Satisfied are they with whatever food they obtain, and ever self-controlled. That is why they are called Sages."
.. The ideal of what human life can be like, what it wught to be like, in the light of all these conceptions, is
embodied in the figure of the Jina or .Jina
Arhat. He is the supposed initiator of a · The Image of new period of reawakening in Jainism Perfection after a period of decay. Many such
Arhats are said to have appeared on earth before and many are expected to appear in future too. Many are said to be living even now in distant supraearthly regions. The Jina or Arhat is the man who has attained the summit of perfection. He is the person who stands at the threshold of Salvation, “ Moksha”, ready to enter - Siddhasilā”, the home of eternal bliss, from where there is no return into this world of imperfection.
His Karmas, with the exception of some neutral ones, have withered away, and the inborn qualities of his benign
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com