Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

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Page 348
________________ SELF BUDYIS THE पीय परम Below we shall quote a few statements from this Text to give an idea of the approach of the Jaina thinkers to life. As these sentences are faithful translations of the original, they may appear to the archaic at places, but this is their beauty that they take you back to the ethos of the original Jaina world. We are giving only a few representative sentences with the advice that the students should read the whole Text for themselves because the Text is quite handy and yet pregnant with great meaning. Let us have a taste of the original to some extant. 2.0 Suttas from the text Obeisance to all saintly persons of the world. He, who takes recourse to reality as it is, has right vision. Momentary are the pleasures of senses resulting in prolonged suffering. They obstruct liberation and are mines of all trouble. One knows the pains of birth, old age and death and yet does not leave the sensuous pleasures. Oh! How strongly tied is the knot of conceit? Attached to wealth and women, negligent in physical and vocal activities, accumulates dirt form both sides as an earth-worm accumulates mud from both the mouths. Neither the friends, nor sons, nor relatives share ones misery. He has to suffer all alone. The action invariably follows the agent. The agent is free while action, but helpless, while enjoying the fruits of his actions. Just one is free while climbing a tree but helpless while falling from it. Who else is with a wrong vision other than one who does not act according to what he preaches? Attachment and aversion are the seeds of karma, which is turn, originates from infatuation; Karma is the cause of birth and death, which are the cause of misery. STUDY NOTES version 5.0 Page 335 of 385

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