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## Āgama Sūtra 39, Cheda Sūtra-5, 'Mahānishīth'
**Study/Purpose/Sūtra Number**
I will criticize, condemn, and censure in the presence of the Guru, and by taking Prāyaścitta, I will burn and destroy the sinful karma that causes suffering in the world, through intense penance, with fortitude, courage, and valor. Sūtra - 1414-1415
I will practice that intense, very intense penance, which is difficult and painful, with great effort, as it is the cause of all welfare, as taught by Jinendra, with respect, even if it dries up my body while standing. Sūtra - 1416-1418
I will restrain my mind, speech, and body, by controlling the beginning of the flow of karma and the doors of inflow, by abandoning ego, pride, and anger, free from attachment, aversion, delusion, association, possessions, and possessiveness, with detachment even towards my body, I will observe the five great vows. And I will certainly not allow any transgression in them. Sūtra - 1419-1422
Alas, I am cursed! Indeed, I am unworthy! I am a sinner and a sinner in thought! I am a sinner who commits sinful acts! I am the lowest of the low, a great sinner! I am a wicked, corrupt character, worthy of being compared to a hunter and a butcher! I am a Chandala, a cruel, merciless sinner, a doer of cruel deeds, and I am worthy of condemnation! Having obtained such a rare character, I will not criticize, condemn, censure, and take Prāyaścitta, by contradicting knowledge, vision, and conduct, and perhaps I will die with a faithless devotion, then I will surely sink into the depths of the immeasurable, terrifying ocean of existence, from which I will not be able to emerge even after millions of births. Sūtra - 1423-1425
So, until I am afflicted by old age, and then I am afflicted by some disease, until my senses are sound, I will practice Dharma. I will condemn and censure the sinful karma committed in the past, for a long time, and burn it to ashes. By taking Prāyaścitta, I will become free from blemishes. O Gautama! I will accept any difficult Prāyaścitta, before those pure, spotless, and unblemished feelings are destroyed. Sūtra - 1426-1429
Thus, by expressing criticism and taking Prāyaścitta, becoming completely free from suffering and karmic impurities, perhaps they will not attain liberation in that moment or in that birth, but they will go to a heavenly abode, a celestial realm, adorned with hundreds of Apsaras, with the sweet sound of the self-illuminating, eternally radiant, divine drum, Devadundubhi. From there, they will return here, born into a noble family, and after indulging in worldly pleasures, they will attain dispassion, practice penance, and then attain the state of a learned sage, and reside in an incomparable celestial chariot, and coming here, they will become the Dharma-Tīrthankaras, the equals of all beings in the three realms. Sūtra - 1430
O Gautama! The name of this fourth stage, which is well-established, is Ālocanā, the feeling that gives liberation, the state of imperishable happiness. Thus I say. Sūtra - 1431-1432
O Bhagavant! Having attained such a noble, excellent, and pure stage, if someone, due to carelessness, repeatedly makes a mistake, errs, or slips in some matter, then is there a purification stage, a stage of purity, that is sufficient for them? Please resolve this doubt. Sūtra - 1433-1435
O Gautama! If someone, after condemning and censuring sin for a long time, and taking Prāyaścitta, does not then protect their great vows, etc., then it is like not carefully protecting a washed garment, and it gets stained.