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PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
483
SERVITUDE OF THE HOLDER OF RIGHT KNOWLEDGE
“Serving the preceptor well-versed in the knowledge of soul and non-soul-entities, full of religious fervour, preacher of pure and true form of religion.” They are called well-versed who have properly digested the meaning and significance of the aphorisms. Such persons along with their erudition are also full of religious zeal or fervour and aversion for worldly attachments. They preach and propagate the commands of Lord Jina in their true form. Then servitude, devotion and prostrations give birth to right knowledge of the entities; and right faith also is generated and aggravated by such knowledge. Any doubt about the entities is soon dispelled by such preceptor and our right faith is perpetuated. This means that every aspirant of liberation should serve such greatmen possessed of right knowledge to his best.
All the great saints of India have equivocally proclaimed that those who do not serve the ideal-preceptor do not achieve spiritual knowledge and even the experience today also supports their contention.
You may amass any amount of knowledge from reading books but that will not be so sound and glorious as imparted by an ideal preceptor ; that is why even the learned scholars ought to serve their preceptors. You better know the consequences of not serving the preceptor after acquiring scholarship.
Third and fourth varieties are prescribed by the revered authors to see that right knowledge attained with the grace and pleasure of the preceptor is not polluted. Third variety is avoiding the company of those whose right faith is frustrated 'Vyapanna Darshani' is a person who has lost his right faith. Very often some people anyhow acquire right faith in the commands of the great lords but due to some reason that faith is frustrated. By keeping the company of such persons our right faith becomes polluted. A polluted person is worse than a really wicked person.
Fourth variety is avoiding a person with false faith who also brings about evil consequences. Slackness which we find in your righteous character is due to your contact with persons of false faith. We have drawn your attention to this fact occasionally and today we do so specifically.
