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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
159
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
the ocean of samsara and are being drowned in it." In the Uttaradhyāyana Sūtra it is said, "For the jivas (living beings) that are floating on the impetuous waves of old age and death, dharma is like a beacon-light, a giver of direction and the best refuge. In the same grantha (sacred book) elsewhere, Lord Mahāvir has given this commandment: "Oh King! Dharma is the only strength and refuge for all living beings."According to the Vaisheshika Philosophy, dharma brings us both materialistic and spiritual felicity and prosperity. Dharma is that by which we attain both external or physical and internal or spiritual felicity. If we attain materialistic prosperity by means of honesty and moral uprightness, there is dharma in it. In the same manner, it is dharma that enables us to discard our passions and attachments and to attain internal, spiritual excellence. Dharma is purity of the mind.
A cow may be black or brown or white or red but its milk is white. In the same manner, dharma is the same in all the different religions. We should not be led away by the outward labels; we should care for the quality of the article. Many people preach dharma which is shallow like skimmed milk and naturally it does not bring us peace or felicity. If we drink skimmed milk, we will have only the psychological satisfaction of having drunk milk, but we do not derive energy from it. Therefore, when we drink milk, we should test it and see whether it is fit to drink or not; whether it can give us strength or not. In the same manner, we should test dharma also, before we accept it. In the Uttaradyayana Sutra, Lord Mahavira has described the method of testing the soundness of dharma. He says, "Only the intelligence can test the dharma, analyse it and find out its soundness or otherwise."
Common people do not have time to use their intelligence. Therefore, they blindly accept whatever is given to them in the name of shastras and are deceived. For thousands of years, in India in the name of shastras, yagnas (sacrifices of animals at rituals) have been taking place. The pandits (scholars) who liked to eat meat killed
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