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**Āgama Sūtra 39, Cheda Sūtra-5, ‘Mahānishītha’**
Adopting the study/purpose/sūtra number, abandoning attachment and aversion from afar, remaining with an earnest, fierce meditation, being averse to distortion. Sūtra - 1374-1375
Whoever anoints their body and arms with the juice of forty-two sandalwood trees, or shaves their body with a bamboo, whoever praises their qualities or criticizes their faults, one who remains equanimous towards both, without concealing their strength, vigor, effort, and courage, with an equal mind towards grass and gems, a drum and gold, with vows, rules, knowledge, conduct, austerities, etc., unique in the entire universe, auspicious, characterized by non-violence, with a steady and unique characteristic for the ten types of religious observances like forgiveness, etc., suitable for all necessary study and meditation at that time, unimpeded for countless and numerous places of restraint, striving for the complete avoidance of negligence, being diligent and austere, and then again, repenting for past transgressions and preventing possible future transgressions, being restrained from transgressions, therefore abandoning sinful actions like those that are not to be done in the present, being free from all faults, and then again, being free from the root of worldly growth, i.e., being liberated, not performing the worship of the liberated discourse for the sake of external happiness in this world or the next, abandoning ‘lying with deceit’, such a sage or saint, endowed with the qualities mentioned above, if I have found them to have slipped from restraint through negligence in any way, at any time, in any place, through mind, speech, or body, through the purification of the three instruments, with all my being, then for them, if they are in a place of purification, there is only atonement.
_O Gautama! For that reason, teach them purification through atonement, but not in any other way. The atonement that is mentioned in each and every place of atonement, as much as is mentioned, is certainly called the determined atonement. O Bhagavant! Why is it said so? O Gautama! These atonement sūtras are in an endless, continuous sequence. Many blessed souls, bound in the prison house of the world, in the form of the four states of existence, will be freed from the suffering of being bound and afflicted, and will quickly be freed from the shackles of karma, in the form of chains, that they have accumulated in their past lives. These atonement sūtras are endowed with many oceans of qualities, they are firm in their vows and conduct, and are suitable for solitude. They should be taught in a place where no one else can hear them, and they should be explained in such a way that the atonement that leads to the highest purification for each individual, according to their capacity, should be given to them with words that arouse enthusiasm, with attachment and aversion, creating an unprecedented taste for religion. Therefore, such atonement is proven and authentic. It is called the determined atonement. Sūtra - 1376-1377_
O Bhagavant! How many types of atonement are prescribed? O Gautama! Ten types of atonement are prescribed, and they are of many types even within the category of ‘pārancita’. O Bhagavant! For how long will the practice of these atonement sūtras be carried out? O Gautama! Until the king named Kalki dies, the earth will be adorned with a Jinalaya, and there will be an ascetic named Śrīprabha. Until then, the practice of the atonement sūtras will be carried out. O Bhagavant! What will happen after that? After that, there will be no one who is fortunate enough to have this Śruta Skandha explained to them. Sūtra - 1378
O Bhagavant! How many places of atonement are there? O Gautama! The number of places of atonement is said to be countless. O Bhagavant! Which is the first step of atonement among those countless places of atonement? O Gautama! Knowing the daily actions. O Bhagavant! What are those daily actions called? O Gautama! Those that are repeatedly performed, day and night, from the destruction of the life force to the performance of countless necessary actions, are called necessary actions.
O Bhagavant! Why is it called ‘necessary’ by that name? O Gautama! Because it destroys all eight karmas, and it is the means of achieving the highest right faith, knowledge, and conduct, and it is the practice of very intense, heroic, fierce, difficult, and arduous austerities.
Muni Dīparatnasāgar Kṛt (Mahānishītha) Āgama Sūtra - Hindi Translation
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