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## Āgama Sūtra 39, Cheda Sūtra-5, 'Mahānishīth'
Study/Purpose/Sūtra Number - 1062
A householder is inclined towards restraint and austerity, and towards the elimination of sin. Whatever religious practices they perform until they accept initiation, they benefit from them. Sūtra-1063-1064
Here, one should understand the category of sādhus and sādhvīs. O Gautama! Apart from inhalation and exhalation, no other action should be performed without the permission of the guru. Even that should be done only with jayana, not with ajayana. With ajayana, there is absolutely no breathing or holding of breath. How can one who breathes with ajayana attain austerity or dharma? Sūtra - 1065-1069
O Bhagavant! How can one follow what one has seen or known to the same extent? Those who have not yet known the ultimate truth, who are not aware of what is right and wrong, how can they follow? O Gautama! Only the Kevali Bhagavant speaks words that are beneficial for solitude. Even they do not force dharma upon a being by holding their hand. But those who follow the words spoken by the Tīrthankara Bhagavan, who are worthy of being called 'tahatti' because they behave accordingly, are saluted by Indra and the community of gods who find joy in their feet. Those who have not yet known the ultimate truth, who have not recognized the discernment of right and wrong, are like a blind person following another blind person, unaware whether the ground is water or land, mud or stone. Similarly, an ignorant person does not know whether their worship of dharma is true or false. Therefore, either one should be knowledgeable about the Gītartha-śāstra themselves, or they should live in the company of such a knowledgeable person, or they should live under the guidance of such a knowledgeable person. The śāstrakāra has permitted this for the sake of the best sādhus. There is no third option in the śāstra. Sūtra - 1070-1071
One should live with a Gītartha guru who has experienced deep emotions, is free from laziness, has firm vows, always has unblemished character, is free from attachment and aversion, has subdued the four kṣayās, has conquered the senses, and possesses such qualities. Because even though they are in a state of concealment (śruta), they are Kevalis. Sūtra - 1072-1076
O Gautama! Where a single being with a subtle earth body experiences kīlamāṇā, the all-knowing Kevali calls it alparambha. Where the life of a single being with a small earth body ends, all Kevalis call it mahārarambha. If even a little bit of a being with an earth body is crushed, it results in an asātavedanīya karma-bandha, a sinful karma that is very difficult to shed. Similarly, beings with apkāya, teūkāya, vāyukāya, vanaspatikāya, trasakāya, and those who engage in sexual intercourse, acquire slippery sinful karmas. Therefore, seeing the adverse and long-lasting fruits of the earth body and other beings due to the thought of sexual intercourse, the jāvajīva should abandon all three types of trividha. Sūtra - 1077-1082
Therefore, O Gautama! Those who do not know the ultimate truth, who are ignorant, should practice restraint and worship dharma under the guidance of a Gītartha guru, who will lead them away from the path of hell. They should drink the poison of halāhala according to the words of the Gītartha. Without any other option, they should immediately consume the poison according to their words. If considered from the perspective of the ultimate truth, it is not poison. Indeed, their words are like the taste of nectar. In this world, one who follows their words without thinking, even after death, attains nectar.
Do not drink nectar from the words of an agītartha. From the perspective of the ultimate truth, the words of an agītartha are not nectar, but they are poison, a mixture of halāhala, kālakūta, and poison. One cannot become immortal by their words. But after death, they go to hell.
Muni Dīparatnasāgara Kṛt (Mahānishīth) Āgama Sūtra-Hindi Anuvāda
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