________________
36
HERITAGE OF LORD MAHAVIRA :
soul are expanded in fullest beauty and majesty. He is omniscient, all-perceiving, filled with infinite joy and infinite strength. He is free from all passion, all attachment; free also from desire, for desire is nothing but an index of imperfection. And yet he is man and has to keep his human body as long as the neutral rest of his. Karmas force him to keep it. He is man and, as suggested so beautifully by one part of the Jaina tradition--the Svetämbar branch,—has to satisfy the requirements of his human body. He begs his food and he eats and drinks within the limits prescribed for a monk, since the rest of his Karmas require him to do so. Even so, the rest of his Karmas require him to live exclusively for the benefit of the world, that is, of those souls who are still in the grip of dangerous Karmas. For, as long as he lives in his human shape, he goes about, showing the whole of creation the right path by preaching and teaching, and by the example of his own model life. And it is obvious. that the activity and life of the Perfect One must indeed turn out to be a blessing, since he is bound to attract: masses of followers and imitators.
This image of perfection is what the Jaina worships as his highest religious ideal, his 'god', if one chooses to say so. He adorns his statue with pearls and diamonds, with roses and jasmines, and costly champak flowers. He fans it, as one fans a great king on his throne, he burns: sweet frankincense before it, and builds beautiful temples over it, beautiful and costly as fairy palaces. He takes it -round the city in splendid processions, on golden cars, followed by crowds of singing women dressed in beautifully
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
