Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth

Author(s): Shobhachad Bharilla
Publisher: Hajarimalmuni Smruti Granth Prakashan Samiti Byavar

Page 990

पंचम अध्याय : ३७
Charitra. The self-discipline, renunciation etc., practised after the development of Samyak Charitra. The five major Vratas practised by the monks, the tenfold religious observance of the Yatis, the seventeen forms of self-discipline, the twelve Vratas enjoined upon the lay disciples-all these are included in Samyak Chāritra. Charitra is of two kinds: one is based upon a total and absolute, and the other on a partial renunciation. As I have said before, a total and unreserved renunciation is precognised for the monks, and a partial renunciation for the householders. The seventeen constituents of Samyak Chāritra are : renunciation of each of the five kinds of Asrava-violence, untruth, stealing, sexual indulgence and craving for the possession of things; detachment from each of the five sense-objects--sounds, touch, form, taste and smell; quelling of each of the four principal passions-anger, self-conceit, deceitfulness and avarice; and the threefold discipline of subduing the evil propensities of mind, speech and body. A perfect and synthetic practice of Samyak Darshana, Samyak Jnāna and Samyak Chāritra inevitably leads to liberation. These are the three priceless gems of Jainism. Samyak Darshana, Samyak Jnana and Samyak Charitra are inter-related, and depend upon each other for their perfection; that is to say, if the faith (Darshana) is not purified, there is no possibility of the development of pure knowledge; and if the faith and knowledge have not become pure, conduct cannot be pure and flawless. Any one or even any two of these three gems cannot lead to liberation. Even perfectly pure faith and knowledge, unaccompanied by pure conduct, fail to lead to liberation. It is, therefore, by a simultaneous perfection of right faith, right knowledge and right conduct that one can attain to liberation, and not otherwise. It is extremely difficult to realise anything like perfection in conduct and character on account of the perpetual seduction of the sense-objects; that is why, the religious books of the Jainas lay so much stress on the purity of conduct. Unless one practices to perfection the five major vows (Mahāvratas) --non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity and non-possession-one can never attain to a perfect purity of character and conduct. The Jaina ideal of monkhood is an unimpeachable perfection in living, that is to say, in character and conduct; and it is nonviolence that is the bed-rock of perfect conduct. Creation-Eternal and Infinite : Jainism regards the world as beginningless and eternal. It cannot conceive of a time when the world first sprang out of a Supreme Being, and when it will return to it. According to it, everything in the world is undergoing constant change, but nothing ever perishes and disappears out of existence. All objects in the world are created and destroyed as a result of the modifications of the two cardinal principles of Jiva and Ajiva (conscious soul and unconscious matter), but the essential substance remains as it si-it never vanishes out of existence. The Birth and Wanderings of the Jiva : All embodied beings are compounded of the conscious soul and unconscious matter, and so long as a total separation does not take place between the two, the beings have to wander in the worlds. The principal theme of Jainism is to propound the means by which this rupture can be effected, and the conscious soul can be liberated from the thraldom of Matter. Ahimsā (non-violence), Samyama (self-control) and Tapasyā (austerities) are the means by which every human being can advance towards his spiritual freedom.
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