________________
67
I am the Soul and goes about in search of only such circumstances. But now it is necessary to develop an atmosphere that can sustain the emotion of renunciation in the jiva. That is possible through good company; the proximity of noble men and thoughts. The jiva should try to seek company of noble and pious men and heed their advice. If that is not available, then to read good scriptures. If that is not possible too, then to develop a noble thinking and as a result inculcate noble behaviour. When this happens, the feeling of renunciation gains strength.
Only in those in whom the strength of the Self has blossomed, does the spirit of renunciation awaken and sustain itself. Thus it is beyond doubt that the firmness of the devices of renunciation and detachment certainly leads the jiva to the realisation of the Self.
The outlook of a jiva who has realised the Self, as regards happiness, gets drastically altered. A strong belief that the concept of happiness does not exist in the inanimate; that the happiness of the self is available within oneself, settles down in the jiva. He begins to look at external pleasures not as happiness but as the enemy that plunders the internal joy. It is for this reason that we had deliberated upon these words of Srimadji earlier -
सुख प्राप्त करतां सुख टळे छे लेश ए लक्षे लहो, In the pursuit of material pleasures of passions, the happiness of the soul is lost and as a result the jiva dies a virtual death every moment.
We have dealt with the aspect physical death earlier, now let us look at what virtual death means.
What is virtual death? The moment we hear the word 'death? we think about the separation of the jiva (life) from the body. But that is the physical death. There is another definition possible, relative to the soul. What is it?
In physical death, something that is responsible for the activity of the body goes away and the body become inactive, listless. All its external apparatus, that is the senses and the mind which looked
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
