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perception. Many of them were said to have right perception because they had the conviction, willingness, recourse, and firm determination that Lord Tirthankars are the true Guides; they have laid the path of liberation, and the way they have directed is the right path for attaining liberation."
Every occurrence or event has a cause. Conversely, if there is a cause, its result is bound to arise. In other words, the result is inherent in the cause. Therefore the cause itself is sometimes treated as the result. Shrimad here makes use of that logic and states that molding the life as per instructions of a Guru, being the cause of right perception, is itself the right perception.
The causes are of two types. One is the absolute cause known as Upädän, and the other is instrumental cause known as Nimitta. The Upädän is inherent in the subject and indicates its potentiality. For instance, right perception is potentially lying within the soul. The question is to manifest the same. The factor, which becomes instrumental in such manifestation, is called Nimitta. Going to the shelter of a true Guru is the Nimitta that leads to the manifestation of right perception.
Mänädik Shatru Mahä, Nij Chhande Na Maräy; Jätä Sadguru Sharanamän, Alpa Prayase Jäy.
Mighty foes like egotism cannot be destroyed by one's own indulgence; they can be overcome with little effort by surrendering to a true Guru. (18)
Explanation & Discussion:
In Jain terminology, the defiling instincts are called Kashäy. Krodh (Anger), Män (Ego), Mäyä (Deception), and Lobh (Greed) are the four main types of Kashay, which a spiritual aspirant needs to overcome. It is, however, the experience of those, who have tried to overcome them, that it is very hard to do so. Such instincts are therefore termed here as mighty foes. In Vaidic tradition the defilement is actually termed as Ripu, which means enemy. That tradition considers sexual indulgence, anger, delusion, greed, ego and jealousy as six enemies of the spiritual aspirants. Those enemies are so strong that it would not be possible to overcome them by one's own efforts. It is therefore necessary to seek help. This stanza states that such help can come from a true Guru, and the defiling instincts can be easily overcome by going to the shelter of such a Guru.
Since the above mentioned four types of Kashäy are usually presented in the order of anger, ego, deception, and greed, one would expect this stanza to start with Krodhädi (Anger etc.) instead of Mänadi (Ego etc.). That order, however, pertains to the time factor in which the Kashay can be overcome. Krodh, for instance, is gross and can be easily identified, while other instincts are subtle and are not so evident. Therefore it is comparatively easy to overcome the instinct of anger first. Greed or desire is the last to be overcome.
In Vachanamrut (Vyakhyänsär-1, #199) Shrimad has mentioned that the order in which Kashay arises consists of ego, greed, deceit, and anger. Ego is the predominant Kashäy among humans. If something happens to hurt our ego, we find it hard to bear
