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THE JAINA GAZETTE
Vol. XXIII.)
No. 8. $
MADRAS AUGUST 1927.
WHOLE No. 266.
DAS LAKSHAN DHARM. (Ten ways of Dharm.)
BY Gopichand Jain, B.A., Advocate, Ambala. Lord Mahavir, the great Light of India in the 6th century B.C. and the last and the 24th Tirthankar of the Jains, preached ten kinds of Dharm for the good of mankind and for the liberation of their souls. Dharm means Vastu Swabhau or real nature of things. Every object in the world has some real quality of its own, which is called its real nature, just as the nature of fire is to burn and the nature of water is coldness. In the same way soul has its own Dharm. Here Dharm means the real nature of soul. The real nature of soul has ten signs which are called its ten qualities. When these ten qualities of soul become visible in soul, it attains its real condition viz. liberation which is called Moksha, the highest attainment. These ten qualities of soul are called its Das Lakshan Dharm, which are as follows:
(1) Kshama or forbearance (absence of anger).
(2) Mardava or mildness or gentleness (absence of pride).
(3) Arjava or straightforwardness (absence of deceit). (4) Satya or Truthfulness.
(5) Saucha or cleanliness, which in connection with soul implies absence of greed.
(6) Samyam or control over senses.
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Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
