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the highest degree of excellence, in their previous life or lives:
(1) purest faith,
(2) devotion to the three-fold márga (path) and to those who follow it,
(3) observance of vows,
(4) study,
(5) constant attachment to dharma and detachment from the world,
renunciation, i. e. possession-lessness,
(6)
(7) tapas (asceticism),
(8) sådhu-samádhi (self-contemplation),
(9) service of all beings, especially of the saints and true-believers,
(10) idealatry or devotion to the Tirthamkara, (II) devotion to the acharya (head of saints), (12) devotion to spiritual teachers (upadhyayas),
(13) devotion to scripture (i, e, study of the scriptural text with great respect and veneration for the Word of God),
(14) observance of rules of conduct prescribed by the scripture,
(15) the spreading of the Truth and living up to it oneself, and
(16) affection, like that of a cow for her calf, for all those who are pursuing the right marga (path).
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