Drushtant Kathao

Author(s): Shrimad Rajchandra, Dinubhai M Patel
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

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Bhavnabodh - Nivrutti Bodh
eating the fruit of a poisonous tree is not giving any pleasure or happiness, similarly the result of enjoying worldly pleasures is also not yielding any joy or
happiness. Just as a traveller in a long journey would suffer hunger and thirst if he does not arrange to take with him food and water, one while departing from this life for adoption of another birth, would experience much pain by not following a soul-saving religion, he may again suffer the cycles of birth, oldage and death. Thus when a traveller makes his long journey light and enjoyable when he takes wholesome food and water and does not experience hunger and thirst; similarly a follower of soul-saving religion meets with happiness on his journey from this life to the other one; he might lighten his burden of bad deeds, he may have to answer for very few deeds he was forced to engage in, while leading the life of strict religious discipline; he would be free from experiencing the painful results of bad deeds which he has refrained from doing. O you, my respected elders ! Just as a householder, when his house is ablaze, takes up his valuables with him and leaves the house and his old tattered clothes and belongings to their fate, I shall save my precious soul from this burning worldly life, leaving oldage and death like old tattered clothers as soon as you permit me to do so."
Hearing these words of Mrugaputra, his parents were stricken with deep sorrow and they addressed; - "O you son! What are you saying? It is very difficult to follow the ascetic's discipline. The ascetic has to adopt forgiveness and many good saintly qualities and discipline, not only he has to adopt them but also he has to maintain them through thick and thin; he has to behave very carefully for keeping these noble qualities firm in his behaviour; the ascetic has to adopt equanimity of mind towards friend and foe; he has to treat equally, his soul and those of other living beings or in other words he has to adopt equable attitude to all living beings on earth. This is called Pranatipat Virati, the first vow and it is difficult to observe it throughout the rest of life. In second very difficult vow, the ascetic has to carefully talk and vigilantly keep away from falsehood, and he has to talk only that which is beneficial to the hearer. The third vow which is also difficult to be adopted is not taking anything which is not properly given to him such as not taking even a small stick of grass for cleaning his teeth unless given to him, to beg and accept food that is pure, innocent, harmless and fleshless only. The fourth vow is to abandon all the sensual pleasures and profligate life and to adopt strict celibacy. The fifth vow of non-possessiveness is still more difficult to adopt for an ascetic than the previous four vows and that is abandonment of all wealth, servants, avoidance of all possessions, of all sense of mineness, renunciation of all worldly purposive actions. Besides these five vows, the ascetic has to abstain from eating at night, has not to keep ghee (clarified butter) and such other eatables overnight - all this is very difficult."
"O son ! you should know what an ascetic life is ! Is there anything more troublesome than observing an ascetic life? It is to suffer troubles and pangs of hunger and thirst, to bear extreme cold and heat with a bare body; to bear the stings of bugs and mosquitoes, to suffer the listening of abusive words, to suffer crudities of the Upashraya or halting places in the ascetic's movements from place to place, to suffer the bites of shrubs and brambles, to suffer the evil effects of dirt collected on the ascetic's body due to non-bathing. O son ! Know it for certain that such a life is very difficult to lead. To suffer someone's hurt or killing is very difficult to endure, the troubles from being shackled are difficult to obviate, even to beg for food from anybody, is very difficult and still more difficult is when the ascetic begs for food and does not receive from anybody. Also plucking of own hair of the head which is one of the ascetic's discipline is a very painful process and very unbearable and capable of tearing tha heart of a cowardly man. You
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