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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
supreme austerities, suprenie charity, supreme non-attachment. and supreme chastity. Our effort should be towards self-improvement; induling in scandalizing others trying to pick holes in them is unhealthy and inconsistent with right attitude. Deviation from the path of righteousness can be prevented by conquest of passion: and acuisition of more knowledge
Since samyaktva forms the foundation of ethics according to! Jainism, the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra which is one of the oldest Āgamas according to the Svetāmbaras has briefly indicated the sources through which the same could be acquired and cultivated. They are ten : nisarga is spontaneous effort of the mind to comprehend the nature of the soul and the principles connected with it in mundane life. Upadeśa (advice), ājñā (precepts given in the scriptures), sūtra (study of the angas and other sacred books) bija (learning through logical inferences from what is known), abhigama (comprehension of meaning of the sacred lore), vistāra (extensive study), kriyā (practice of the rules of conduct), saṁksepa (brief exposition) and dharma (the law of religion). 9
The same subject has been dealt with in some what greater detail and with slight nodifications by Guņabhadra who has characterised samyagdarśana as of two kinds : nisargaja (intuitive) and adhigamaja (tuitive). While the former is self-born and inspired, the latter is acquired by precept, study and guidance. There is need for subsidence of Karmas and conquest of passions and pride which have already been dealt with. Then he refers to ten sources which form the springs of Right Faith : 1) ajñā is the precept of passionless saints; 2) mārga is belief in the peaceful path of eternal liberation which is free from temporal ties and attachments and which arises as a result of the subsidences of the deluding Karmas; 3) upadesa is belief which arises from the teachings of the ancient saints and from the sayings that are found in the ocean of great scriptures of right knowledge; 4) sūtra is another source of belief; it consists of rules of conduct prescribed for the ascetics and of religious discipline which when studied bring in fresh light and understanding; 5) bija is belief which arises from the knowledge of the substances
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