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ŚRĪ ANUTTAROVAVAI SUTRA
9TH ANGA SŪTRA
A DIVINE GLIMPSE OF SPIRITUAL PEOPLE
This is the ninth Agama of Lord Mahavira's flow of preachings. Not all the devotees who progress ahead in the field of Sadhana succeed. Only those devotees who endure the hardships with utmost patience and tolerance attain liberation.
Lord Mahāvīra has described the life of Dhanna Anagaar in Śri Anuttarovavaai Sūtra. Dhanna performed different kinds of penances. He renounced the world and made a firm decision to attain self-awareness. Thus, for him the body became secondary and inferior. When Dhanna Anagaar was in deep meditation, he got detached from his body and easily progressed on the spiritual path of penance. However, due to severe penances, his body became a skeleton such that each bone and vein was visible. His eyes had sunk, yet they were bright and shining, thereby proving his spiritual strength. As the body weakened, his soul became stronger. His strong faith in Lord is revealed in this Agama. It is the best guide to those who want to perform penances and Sadhana to attain the ultimate soul
(self-realization).
This Sūtra cites that food is not the main source of survival for humans. He can
survive on water and sunlight. There are examples of people who have survived
on sunlight or a grain of rice for a long time.
