Enlightened Vision of the Self

Author(s): Akalankadev, Devendra K Goyal
Publisher: Radiant Publishers New Delhi

Page 65

FOREWORD
any such expectation or attachment will debar him from attaining liberation.
53
person.
These instances are glaring examples of yamoha of swa. At the same time, they highlight the distorted view held by some in regard to the true meaning of ahimsa, completely ignoring and indeed violating the positive dimensions of ahimsa, viz. compassion. Ahimsa means compassion, sacrifice, and self-restraint. It means that the value or worth of others is equal to one's own. It is sometimes said that the person whose life is being saved may be asamyami (wicked or bad person). But as was the case in the first example, the person to be saved was a child about which it is not possible to say whether that child will turn out to be a good or bad Even if a person is not a child, one should not condemn a person as he may become a transformed and righteous being later on; one should condemn the sin, not the sinner. Thus, the actions of the persons in the above instances cannot be justified under any pretext whatsoever. To describe or label daya (pity, mercy, kindness, compassion or consideration for others) as sin is a gross travesty of truth. Indulging in kindness and service of others is considered in many religious works as the foundation or the basis of righteousness, piety or religion (dharmasya moolam daya or daya dharma ka mool hai). In Suryambhu Stotra, Acharya Samantabhadra speaks of Shri Shanti Jina as dayamurti (the embodiment of compassion and kindness).101
In his other work, Yuktyanushashan, Samantabhadra describes dayadama-tyaga-samadhi (kindness or compassion, self-restraint, renunciation and meditation) as the four pillars of moral and spiritual discipline that lead to self-realization (moksha). 102 In his commentary on these virtues, Vidyananda points out that compassion or ahimsa is the instrumental cause of self-restraint, self-restraint is the cause of renunciation (giving up of attachment of all kinds, including one's ego or selfishness), and renunciation, in turn, leads to meditation (dhyana or samadhi).103 It is for this reason that compassion (daya) or ahimsa is said to be the basis of dharma (piety or righteousness) and described not only as param dharma (supreme piety or morality) but also param Brahma, 104 the supreme divine quality, or spiritual principle.
Moreover, indulgence in kindness or practice of compassion is not a manifestation of attachment. On the contrary, the egoistic and