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160 Harmless Souls
physical harm' - Upadhye) for the man who regulates himself according to the rules of conduct.
This gāthā has already been discussed above, 77 since it was quoted without attribution by Pūjyapāda (Devanandin) in the Sarvārthasiddhi on Tattvārtha Sūtra 7:13. It is possible that Pujyapāda was referring directly to this gāthā from the Pravacanasāra (as the Jaina Granthamālā edition of the Sarvārthasiddhi claims), but it is more likely that both 'authors' quote from some earlier, unidentified, (possibly) canonical source. And in any case, as we have already noticed, this part of the Pravacanasāra shows every sign of having been compiled from other sources rather than composed by Kundakunda himself.78
For the purposes of the present enquiry, the important thing is to examine the way this section is brought into line by the commentary with the doctrines propagated by Kundakunda in Books 1 and 2 of the Pravacanasāra. In this context, therefore, gāthā 3:17 means that as long as the śramaņa retains his internal purity, reflected externally in his adherence to the letter of the monastic rules, then he cannot do himsā or be subject to its effects (i.e. be bound), even if physical harm is caused. (Note the intentional ambiguity of himsā: it is injury done to others and therefore also to oneself.) In other words, outside the parameters set by the monastic code - which is the external reflection of internal purity - physical action and its consequences are irrelevant; it has no karmic and, therefore, no soteriological significance.
Amrtacandra introduces this gāthā (3:17) with the claim that in it Kundakunda teaches two kinds of cheda, antaranga (internal) and bahiranga (external). He defines them as follows: 'Impure upayoga is internal infringement,
77 See above, p. 53ff.
78 Upadhye (p. liiiff.) comments that this verse has 'a traditional appearance, and [it] might be traced to a tract of literature which was once the common property of Digambaras and Svetāmbaras'.
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