Bhagvana Mahavira

Author(s): Tulsi Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 49

Kaivalya (Omniscience) and the Bhagavān's Sermons
41
2. Bhagavān Mabāvīra's sermon on truth :
Truth is Supreme. Truth is the essence of the world. Seek truth and never be inclined towards falsehood. Truth is the Eternal Religion. In order to practise truth
* Don't practise falsehood even through bodily actions. * Be straight-forward and ingenuous by expressing the
same feelings which you have in your mind. * Speak the truth and don't tell a lie. * Don't be double-tongued and maintain a balance
between what you say and what you do. * Don't be prone to anger. * Don't be covetuous. * Don't be afraid. * Don't indulge in revelry. Avoid falsehood at every step. Concentrate on sat
(that which really is). Truth means meditation on sat. 3. The sermon on non-stealing :
Control your desires. One who does not do so, encroaches upon the rights and property of others. This results in conflicts and the feelings of jealousy and enmity. These give birth to passions of attachment and aversion, and they in their turn produce delusion wbich ultimately results in misery. You cannot get rid of miseries without
controlling desires. Control of desires is the Eternal Religion. In order to practise it -
* Keep your needs at the minimum and don't use things
unnecessarily. * Discriminate between what is necessary and what is
not. Avoid desires. Non-stealing consists in the control of desires.