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## Gatha 367-368
## Knowledge 453
This section describes the nature of the path (vidhi), the names of the Tirthankaras, their institutions, their festivals, the five great auspicious events (mahakalyaanak), the thirty-four extraordinary qualities (atishya), and the success of worshipping the Tirthankaras.
**Doubt:** The twenty-four Tirthankaras are considered to be "savady" (imperfect) because they preach the path of the Shravakas (lay followers) which leads to the harm of the six categories of living beings (chaykaaya). The four virtues of the Shravakas are: giving (daan), worship (pooja), conduct (sheel), and fasting (upavaas). These four types of Shravaka dharma cause harm to the six categories of living beings because:
* Giving cannot happen without causing harm to living beings through activities like cooking food, getting food cooked, lighting fire, extinguishing fire, etc.
* Building a Jain temple cannot happen without causing harm to living beings through activities like cutting trees, getting trees cut, making bricks, getting bricks made, baking bricks, etc.
* Worship cannot happen without causing harm to living beings through activities like performing abhisheka (ceremonial bath), applying unguents, cleaning, applying sandalwood paste, offering flowers, and lighting incense.
* Maintaining good conduct cannot happen without causing pain to one's wife. Therefore, even good conduct is considered imperfect.
* Fasting cannot happen without causing pain to the living beings in one's stomach. Therefore, even fasting is considered imperfect.
Alternatively, the Tirthankaras cannot be considered perfect because they preach to the Shravakas: "Do not kill the three categories of mobile beings, but you can kill the stationary beings."
Alternatively, the Tirthankaras are not perfect because they cause harm to living beings through practices like:
* Fasting (anashan)
* Avoiding food (avmodarya)
* Counting breaths (vritti parisankhyan)
* Giving up taste (ras parityaag)
* Sitting in a secluded place (vivikta shayyaasan)
* Living at the root of a tree, in the sun, or in open spaces
* Performing difficult postures like utkutasan, patyankasan, ardha patyankasan, khadgasan, gavasan, virasan
* Practicing humility (vinaya), self-control (vaivaavrittya), and meditation (dhyaan)
**Solution:** Even though the Tirthankaras preach the above-mentioned practices, their actions do not bind them to karma. This is because the Tirthankaras have attained the 13th stage of spiritual development (gunasthan) where they are free from the three causes of karma-binding: wrong belief (mithyatva), non-restraint (asanyam), and passions (kashaya). Therefore, they do not bind any karma except for the karmas that cause pain (vedaniya karma). Even within the vedaniya karma, they do not bind the karmas that cause existence (sthiitibandh) and the karmas that cause experience (granubhaagbandh) because they are free from passions. The existence of the karmas that cause nature (prakritibandh) and the karmas that cause location (pradeshabandh) cannot be argued because the existence of the karmas that cause existence is necessary for the karmas that cause experience to manifest. Furthermore, the Tirthankaras are constantly shedding their accumulated karmas through their infinite spiritual qualities (ashankhyaat gunee shrenee). Therefore, they cannot accumulate new karmas. The actions of the Tirthankaras' mind, speech, and body are not intentional, and therefore they do not bind new karmas. Just as the sun and the Kalpavriksha (wish-fulfilling tree) act naturally, so too should the actions of the Tirthankaras' mind, speech, and body be understood as natural.
**Verse 54:**
"The Tirthankaras are like the sun and the Kalpavriksha, their actions are natural, and they do not bear the fruits of their actions."
**References:**
1. Dhaval, Vol. 1, Page 66
2. Jayadhaval, Vol. 1, Page 100-101
3. Jayadhaval, Vol. 1, Page 101-102
4. Jayadhaval, Vol. 1, Page 105
5. New Edition, Page 66
6. Jayabal, Vol. 1, Page 101-102