________________
Ätmasiddhi
XV
had not sent Ätmasiddhi. I get delight in reading it and thereby I am able to survive. After reading Ätmasiddhi, nothing remains to be asked. Everything becomes clear."
Laghuräjswämi also was very pleased to get Ätmasiddhi. Since he was asked to read it alone, he used to go away from the residential area and read it in the wilderness. He wrote, "By reading that and reciting some of its stanzas, my soul was overjoyed. I felt that there is unprecedented significance in every line of it. The regular study of Ätmasiddhi Shästra and its contemplation led to internal peace. It stayed in my mind, while talking with any one or while undertaking any other activity." He noted that its reading was helpful to every spiritual aspirant and after setting up Räjchandra Ashram at Agäs, he laid down its reciting as a regular feature for its resident aspirants.
The subject matter of Ätmasiddhi is the soul and it deals with soul's existence, everlastingness, acquisition of Karmas, bearing the consequences, liberation therefrom and the way of attaining liberation. The subject has been carefully and adequately presented. Nothing worthwhile has been left out. Every stanza is full of significance and some of them are the most precious jewels of the spiritual realm. In composing Ätmasiddhi, Shrimad has virtually contained the sea of spiritual science within the bowl of the book. If one wants to realize the Self, studying that text and putting its precepts into practice would suffice and one need not look for any other source.
The known religious philosophies can be grouped within the six ideologies known as Shaddarshan, which used to form a part of the scholastic curriculum in India. Ätmasiddhi Shästra is the gist of all of them and hence, it is the essence of all spiritual sciences. The religious philosophies generally contain intricate terms and their technicalities are hard to understand. But Ätmasiddhi Shästra is presented in easy to understand language. Even a layman can make out its basic concepts. Moreover, except for a few terms, it contains no terminology that can be considered exclusively Jain. This makes it acceptable to people of all faiths. In that connection, Revered Brahmachäriji observed as under.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
