Bhavana Bodh

Author(s): Shrimad Rajchandra
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

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O king! our soul itself is the creator of the dangerous river of our miseries; our soul itself is the cause of sharp weapon like tree of sorrows and sufferings. Our soul itself is just like Kamdhenu - the source of creating all sorts of desire fulfilment and resulting agreeable happiness and joy, our soul itself is our joyous Nandanavan garden of Eden. Our soul itself is the creator of our bondages and our soul itself is the liberator of our bondages. Our soul itself creates miseries and our soul itself creates forms of happiness, our soul itself is our closest friend and our soul itself is our direst enemy. Our soul itself performs the noble actions and our soul itself performs the lower actions. Thus in various ways Anathi Muni or the ascetic explained to King Shrenik the facts of soul and its orphan state of worldly life. On hearing the same King Shrenik, was much pleased and satisfied and then the King with both hands folded, addressed the ascetic as under :
BHAVANA BODH
O Lord! You have advised me correctly. You described the orphan state of worldly persons and yourself as it was. O great seer! you have really been one with an unfailing protector. You have real friends and relatives and you have adopted the right religion. You therefore, are the protector or saviour of all orphans. O you holy ascetic! I beg your pardon for telling you that I can be your protector. I really wish for enlightening advices from you. I was wrong in asking you, O great fortunate! for enjoyment of sense pleasures which would really be harmful to a religious person following the right path of liberation. I apologize by bowing down to you with whole being from head to toe. Thus praising this Anathi Muni, King Shrenik with full of joy and cheerness, taking circle round the ascetic in spirit of veneration and adoration, in all humility returned home.
LESSON: O fortunate souls! The teaching of Anathi Muni, who had practised penance successfully, who was an ascetic par excellence, who was possessed of a very high intellectual and spiritual insight, who was very highly famed, who was free from all worldly knots and who was well versed in best scriptural knowledge, delivered to Shrenik, the King of Magadh Desh emanating from his own suffering and experience is really helpful to one to fix his mind