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THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE JAINAS.
646. The belief which is caused by the destruction of right belief-deluding Karma (Darshana Moha and 4 errorfeeding-passions sub-classes of right-conduct-deludingKarma) is perfectly pure. It (is) destructive right-belief (Ksháyika Samyaktva so called as it destroys the causes of wrong belief entirely). (It is) eternal and (is) the cause of destruction of Karmas.
Commentary. A soul which has acquired destructive right-belief can attain liberation in the same life. But if before or after its acquisition the soul binds celestial-age-Karma, he will be born as a celestial and if before its acquisition the soul has bound hellish-age-Karma, will be reborn in the first and not in a lower hell, will thereafter be reborn as a man, and then attain liberation. A soul which has acquired destructive right-belief will thus surely attain liberation in the third life. But if before acquiring destructive right-belief he had bound a human, or sub-human age-Karma, he would be reborn in the enjoyment-region, from where he would be reborn as a celestial and then as a man in work-region and attain liberation in his 4th life. Note that destructive right-belief never leaves the soul once it has been acquired. So in hell also there are some souls with right-belief who are just waiting to attain liberation in their next birth. Raja Shrenika alias Bimbasára, father of Ajit-shatru a contemporary and a follower of Lord Mahávíra and a devout listener to the letterless speech (Anaksharí Váni) in his Samavasarana is such a soul in the first hell. Before attaining destructive rightbelief he had bound a hellish-age-Karma of the maximum kind of 33 Sagaras, on account of having put a dead snake, round the neck of Saint Yeshodhara in meditation. Then he repented and ultimately in the Samavasarana of Lord Mahavira acquired perfect rightbelief and then in the subsequent declining times (Apakarshana Kála) though he could not change the character of th age Karma he had already bound, he reduced the maximum duration of 33 Sagaras of the 7th hell to 84,000 years in the 1st hell, where the minimum is 10,000 years. Thus he has passed about 2,500 years in hell, from where he would be reborn in BharataKshetra after nearly 81,500 years as Padma Nábha, the 1st Tirthankara in the beginning of the third aeon of the next or Utsarpini 'cycle of time and attain liberation after having re-proclaimed Jainism in Bharata-kshetra. It is interesting to note that the
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