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

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 178
________________ 152 THE NINE CATEGORIES OF forgave his enemies, and, instead of getting angry and so letting karma flow into his soul, even preached to a wicked cobra which bit him. Every day, too, a monk must strive to control the arrogance which rises in his soul, for that would open the door to endless karma, and instead he must cultivate the humility (Mārdava) which subdues pride. This duty the Jaina illustrate by the story of the two sons of the first Tirthankara Rişabhadeva, which they entitle 0 Brother, come down from the Elephant of Pride'. Ķişabhadeva's younger son, so the legend runs, became a sādhu, and some time afterwards the elder son, Bāhubaļa, followed his example and became an ascetic too, renouncing, as he thought, everything to do so, but he found that there was one thing he could not renounce, and that was pride in his seniority of birth, so that he could not bow down to his younger brother, who was, of course, his senior in the religious life. For days poor Bāhubala struggled in vain alone in the forest to overcome his pride, till at last his father became aware of the spiritual conflict he was going through, and sent his daughter to help her brother. She spoke so beautifully of the glory of humility, that it cnabled him to conquer his pride; and so, becoming humble enough to receive help from a woman, he also becamc humble enough to do reverence to his younger brother and thus check the entry of karma, which would otherwise have annulled all the merit he had gained through being an ascetic, besides binding him for centuries to the cycle of rebirth. Again, by separating himself from every sort of intrigue or deceit, in speech or action, and cultivating that simplicity (Arjava) which is opposed to cunning, a monk or a layman can prevent the entry of karma. He must be careful, however, not only not to tell a direct lic, but also never to indulge in speech that could bear two meanings. A sādhu must keep himself frec from all greed (Nirlo. bhatā), possessing nothing but the oldest clothes, and

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 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