ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 327

Chapter XXXII titled Pramādasthāna enumerates the things one should be careful about and that he must uproot all causes of attachments. One, who has acquired the all-knowing, supreme knowledge, has conquered ignorance, delusion, attachment and hatred, alone reaches mokṣa and enjoys unobstructed happiness and bliss.14 Just as a hen is born from an egg and an egg from a hen, so also delusion springs from desire and desire from delusion.15 The seeds of karma are attachment and hatred and it springs from delusion and is the cause of birth and death and verily both birth and death are termed as misery.16 Hence there is no pain for one who has no delusion, no delusion for one who has no desire, no desire for one who is not greedy and no greed for one who possesses nothing.17 The same can be revealed as follows:
Question
Answer
What is misery?
Birth and Death
What is the cause of birth and death? Karmas
What are the seeds of Karma?
Attachment and
aversion
What causes Karma?
Delusion
Sensual pleasures and other worldly temptations allure the soul and are the root cause of delusion and bondage. The chapter reveals that a firefly meets with death due to its attraction for light, a deer due to the temptation of sound, a snake is trapped due to its attraction for smell, a fish is hooked due to the attraction for taste, a buffalo meets with death due to its liking for touch, an elephant is trapped due to its attraction for sexual pleasure. Attraction for one sensual pleasure or the other becomes the cause of misery for each creature, what then to say of man who leads a beastly life absorbed in sensual and sexual pleasures. The verses reveal that the senses and the mind are not the cause of bondage
13 Ibid 11.6-9 14 Ibid 11-10-13 15 Introduction to Uttarajihayana P.30 16 Uttaradhyayana-sutra 32.2 17 Uttarādhyayana-sūtra 32.6
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0