Bhagvana Mahavira

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

Page 75

Transvaluation
do not themselves commit the theft, but receive the stolen property, encourage others to commit theft, illegally transgress the boundaries of hostile countries and use false weights and measures, sell spurious articles after exhibiting genuine ones, and practise adulteration. These malpractices are caused by uncontrolled desires. You shall not indulge in them for the observance of the vow of non-stealing. You are interdicted to indulge in these five acts: 1. receiving stolen properties, (2) encouraging the thief, 3. transgressing the boundaries of hostile countries, 4. using false weights and measures, and 5. dishonest dealings.
"Ananda, it is true you want to take the vow of celibacy, but you know there are people who have no control over lust, and consider sexual pleasures as the be-all and end-all of life. But I have realized the truth to be contrary to this. According to me, the summum bonum of life is the ever-throbbing innate bliss in the depths of consciousness. The sex instinct makes it obscure. Do you intend to remove this obstacle ?"
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Ananda replied, "Yes, my lord !"
Bhagavan Mahāvīra said, “Ānanda, do you know how the curer of snake-bite cures the effects of poisoning? In the case of a snake-bite the poison would spread in the whole of the body. The physician would first collect it at one particular point, and then he would extract it from there. Now, on the basis of this analogy, try to understand the significance of the institution of marriage. Its aim is to centralize the allpervading sex-desires in one person. Thus, marriage means the limitation of sex relation. I have laid down a further discipline in this respect. Ananda, you have been married. Now, according to my discipline, you will be able to attain perfect celibacy by gradually withdrawing your sexual desire even from that point, (i.e., your wife).
"Ananda, if you want to practise the vow of faithfuluess