Book Title: Heart of Jainism
Author(s): Mrs Sinclair Stevenson
Publisher: Mrs Sinclair Stevenson

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 166
________________ 140 THE NINE CATEGORIES OF sense of taste, for if that be disciplined, all the other senses can also, they say, be kept in restraint, whereas gluttony affects sight, hearing, smell and the sense of touch. The sense of touch, too, must be carefully controlled (Sparsa ābrava), or the love of touching smooth things, for example, may become such a snare that the toucher may be lulled into unconsciousness through the pleasure of it. The four Karma may enter through the four emotions (Kaşāya) 1 Wasaya. whose exercise ties the soul to the cycle of rebirth, for if anger be indulged (Krodha āśrava), it burns the soul of him who gives way to it, as well as the soul of the person he may injure, and so both are harmed. Conceit and pride (Māna āśrava) are a terrible foe to progress and open the door to all sorts of karma, besides they are the deadly enemy of courtesy, by which merit is obtained. Deceit and intrigue (Māyā āśrava) Icad to many kinds of falseness in word and deed, and thus much evil karma is accumulated; and lastly avarice (Lobha āśrava) leads first to cheating and then to actual thieving, and is opposed to self-sacrifice and selfrestraint. The Jaina say that these four evil emotions must be checked on the principle of cultivating the corresponding virtue. Thus the angry man must exercise forgiveness, the proud man humility, the deceitful frankness, and the avaricious contentment; but how this is to be done is not explained. The five Again, through not taking the five great vows evil karma Avrata. may flow in in five ways (Pañća Avrata). If a man fails to go to a guru and, standing in front of him, to proinise with folded hands that he will not kill, this simple omission to promise, without any commission, will lead to the acquisition of karma; for the Jaina hold that without the stiffening of resolution that comes through taking the vow one is more liable to do wrong; this liability leads to instability of mind, through which somne karma enters. Of course more karma See pp. 122 ff.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365