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Atmānuśāsana
आत्मानुशासन
conduct (samyakcăritra), he can take its possession. (verses 233-234)
The worthy soul who desires liberation should practise withdrawal from mental segregation of objects in terms of agreeable and disagreeable. As long as there is association with external objects worth dissociating should contemplate dissociation. When no objects that need dissociation remain, one contemplates neither association nor dissociation. Presence of attachment (rāga) and aversion (dvesa) constitutes association (pravrtti), and absence of attachment and aversion constitutes dissociation (nivrtti). These, attachment and aversion, pertain to external objects. Hence, external objects should be renounced. (verses 235-237)
Leaving observances that the ascetic had contemplated on earlier, he now contemplates on new observances that cause destruction of the mundane existence. These three - auspicious (śubha), merit (punya), and happiness (sukha) - are beneficial for the soul and worth accepting. These three - inauspicious (aśubha), demerit (pāpa), and misery (duḥkha) - are harmful for the soul and worth rejecting. Out of the three that have been mentioned as beneficial for the soul, discard the first one. By doing this, the remaining two will automatically cease to exist. The soul then gets established in its pure (suddha) nature, and reaches ultimately the supreme state of liberation. (verses 238-240)
The bondage of the soul is caused by influx (asrava) of the karmic matter, auspicious and inauspicious, due to the activities of the mind, the speech, and the body. Influx (āsrava) is caused by passions (kaşāya), like anger (krodha). Passions, like anger, are caused by negligence (pramāda). Negligence is caused by vowlessness (avirati) which results from wrongbelief. The same soul in (karmic) bondage, in a particular mode (paryāya) and on attainment of a favourable-time (kālalabdhi), observes these - right faith (samyagdarśana), vows (vrata), non-negligence (apramāda), destruction of passions (kaşāya), and curbing of activity (yoga) - sequentially, and finally gets liberated. (verse 241)
So long as infatuation for the body – 'the body is mine and I am its' - persists in the soul, there is no hope for its liberation (mokşa), the fruit of austerities (tapa). When true discernment between the soul and the body dawns on the soul, it gets rid of wandering in the world. The objects of the
(XXXVI)
