Essence of Jainism Part 01

Author(s): Kushalchandravijay
Publisher: 108 jain Tirth Darshan Trust

Page 89

the scriptures enjoinon us to avoid twenty-two non-eatable foods as they make us Tamashi (haughty) by temperament. Lack of control over senses makes us unhappy. Therefore, we should observe vows for controlling five senses. Control over senses gives us happiness. Many have lost thier lives as a result of lack of self control even in respect of a single organ of sense. What to talk of lack of control over all the five senses? Let us dwell a little more on this point.
1. Sense of Touch (Sparsha)
2. Sense of Test (Tongue)
3. Sense of Smell (Nose)
4. Sense of Sight (Eye)
:
: We know that a big pit is dug in the forest to catch a wild elephant and to get ivory. The pit is covered with leaves and an artificial she-elephant is placed on the pit. The elephant rushes to touch the she-elephant and to embrace her but falls into the pit and meets his end.
:
5. Sense of hearing : (Ear)
We find fisher-men offering baits of flour in the form of small gobules to fishes in the river. Poor fish, attracted by these gobules of flour, lose their lives.
Bees and serpants are attracted by the frangrance of flowers. They fall a prey and lose their lives.
: We find moths and butterflies hovering round a burning lamp on account of the infatuation of light. They fall in to the flame and die.
Music is played upon by hunters in order to catch deer moving in the forest. They are caught in the net and lose their lives in the end.
Many people do not eat non-eatable food like meat, roots, tubers or drink liquor and yet they are involved in sin. Why? They have still avirati (attachment). They have not taken a vow to give up these things because of their latent desires. Hence, the sin will be in store for them. There are sentient beings possessing one, two or three or four senses, who though not being capable of sinning, they acquire sins, because they are subject to avirati (attachment), as their desires have not died down. We find every Tiryanch (birds and beasts) always eating something. But the Tiryanchas are not independent to give up the inborn habits, while we human beings
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