Concepts on Parisaha and Tapa in Jainism

Author(s): Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Z_Hajarimalmuni_Smruti_Granth_012040.pdf

Page 11

पंचम अध्याय: ५५
places which are inhabited by the vicious, hypocrites, and the acutely perverted persons, and by gamblers, drunkards, harlots etc. and should also avoid those place which may be otherwise disturbing.121 He should choose those places which are associated with the names of holdy Tirthankaras and saints.122 A bank of a river, a summit of a mountain, an Island, and a cave and other places of seclusion and inspiration, should be chosen for practising spiritual concentration.123 As regards the posture for Dhyana, for the people of this age who are generally deficient in energy, Paryanka or Padma and Kayotsarga postures are especially recommended.121 For him, every porture, every place and every time is fit for meditation, whose mind is immaculate, stable, enduring, controlled and detached.125 A place may be secluded or crowded, the saint may be properly or improperly seated, the stability of saints' mind is the proper time for meditation.123 Śubhacandra very beautifully protrays the mental and the physical picture of a saint preparing for meditation. The mind of the saint should be purified by the waves of the ocean of discriminatory enlightenment, be destitute of passions, be like an unfathomable occean, be undeviating like a mountain, and should be without all sorts of doubts and delusions. Besides, the posture of the saint should be such as to arouse suspicion in the mind of a wise man regarding his being a stone-status or apainted figure.127 The Yogi who attains sturdiness and steadfastness in posture does not get perturbed by being confronted with the extremes of cold and heat and by being harassed by furious animals.12 (7) The saint who has controlled his mind and purged it of perversion and passions may be said to have attained initial mental enquipoise by virtue of which he is not seduced by the sentient and non-sentient, the pleasant and unpleasant objects.123 The consequence of this is that his desires vanish, ignorance disappears, and his mind is calmed. And above all he can sweep away the filth of Karman within a twinkle of an eye. 130 The great Acarya Subhacandra is so much overwhelmed by the importance of this sort of mental poise that he pronounces this as the Dhyana of the best order.131 Thus mental enqanimity precedes Dhyana.
Process of Dhyana
After dealing with the pre-requisites of Dhyana, we now propose to discuss the process of Dhyana. For the control of the mind, and for the successful performance of Dhyana the process of breath-control (Pranayama) may be necessary, but it being painful engenders Artadhyana which consequently deflects the saint from his desired path.132 Besides, the process of breath-control develops diverse supernormal powers which serve as hinderances to the healthiest developments of the spirit.133 Hence the better method is to withdraw the senses from the sensual objects and the mind from the senses, and to concentrate the mind on the forehead (Lalata). 134 This proces is called Pratyāhāra. The ten places in the body have been enumerated for mental concentration, namely the two eyes, the two ears, the foremost point of the nose, the forehead, the mouth, the navel, the head, the heart, the palate, the place between the two eye-brows. 135 The Yogi should contemplate his original underived potency of the self, and compare his present state with the non-manifested nature of the self. He should regard ignorance and Sensual indulgence as the causes of the fall. Then, he should be determined to end the obstructions to the manifestation of the transcendental self by dint of the sword of meditation. He should express his resolution by affirming that he is neither a hellish being, nor an animal, nor a man, and nor a celestial being, but a transcendental being devoid of these mundane transformations which result from the Karmic association.136 And again, being
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