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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
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of the aspirants of bliss to deviate the soul to the path of selfrestraint.
The practitioner of ideal monkhood becomes real protector of one's ownself and also of the others. Therefore, Oh, King, I am the protector of myself and of others and thus you need not be my protector. This is the cause of my embracing the life of selfrestraint. The king of Magadha having listened to the reply of the sage without a protector was very much pleased and satisfied. He folded his hands and said, “Oh Lord, you have properly explained to me the meaning of the words 'helpless' and 'protected'. Oh Sage, blessed is your human existence and blessed are your glory, fame and spiritual lustre ! You are indeed protected and endowed with relatives when established on the path carved out by the Omniscient Lords. Oh sage ! you are the real protector of the helpless souls. Oh, Lord, I have disturbed you in your meditation and so I beg your pardon".
The sage requiring no protection said, “To impart proper understanding of reality to the aspirant forms also the part of our meditation. Thus I believe that my meditation is not disturbed. Moreover, I rest assured that from the facts narrated, the inquisitive soul of yours will certainly imbibe proper guidance, and thus I am not worried for the time I have devoted for you".
The king of Magadha said, “Oh sage ! my heart is captivated by your speech and guileless nature. I am always out to carry out any sort of command of the ascetic and passionless person as yourself”. The self-protected sage said, “Oh King, the scope of command does not lie where all desires, cravings, and ambitions have perished, where attachments and delusions are dismissed and where aspiration to acquire material welfare does not prevail ; still however if command is to be made, then it is made for the welfare of others”.
The lord of Magadha said, "Blessed you are, and blessed are your words. The mission of my life is fulfilled by your encounter. My joy overflows. Please instruct me for my welfare”.
The self-armoured sage said, “Oh King, the religious realm propounded by Lord Jineshwar is ever-victorious. Cherish unflinching faith in his preachings, digest the tenets, enunciated by
