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Chapter 16: Guru's Exposition about the Path and Means of Liberation
Explanation & Discussion:
The deluding Karma is of two types. One pertains to perception, which is termed as Darshan Mohaniya; the other pertains to practice which covers character and behavior. That is termed as Chäritra Mohaniya. The perception-deluding Karma does not allow one to perceive correctly. Thereby one stays devoid of right understanding and as such he cannot exercise the discernment to make out what is right and what is wrong. That is termed as Mithyätva, which is the root cause of worldly wandering. That situation changes when one knows about the truth from a right entity. For that purpose he should be eager to know the truth, and be lucky enough to come across a true Guru. If he recognizes the importance of such a Guru, he would develop reverence and respect for him. Only in that case, he would listen to and ponder over what the Guru states. The light may thereby dawn upon him, and he may realize that what he had been thinking until then was wrong.
Such realization leads him to rightly understand that he is not the body, which is an ephemeral and ever-changing apparatus. He realizes that he is a pure, everlasting soul, imbibed with infinite knowledge and infinite perception. Such enlightenment is termed in this stanza as "Bodh". That can come only from a true Guru. The words of the Guru emanate from the soul and are capable to penetrate the heart of the aspirant. That can awaken the worldly soul from the deep slumber that he has been indulging in since time immemorial. That enables him to discern right and wrong, and such discernment itself is right perception. Thereby he overcomes perception-related deluding Karma and comes to the right path. All possible emphasis has therefore been laid in the scriptures on the necessity of gaining right perception.
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Thereafter, one has to deal with Chäritra Mohaniya, or character-deluding Karma. As explained above, perceptiondeluding Karma perverts thinking and creates delusion about the soul's own properties. The soul is inherently imbibed with infinite happiness, but the impact of the said Karma does not
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