________________
.... Desist deviating from faith!
The pursuit of the three-fold path is the only way of achieving the true-form of the Soul. Experiencing the true-form of the self and enjoying the bliss from that experience is the duty of the jiva. Hence it has to awaken the faith that 'I am the Soul, and I have a permanent existence as has been told in the 'Atmasiddhi Shastra? For only when there is the existence of the Soul, can there be an effort to realise it. Had there been no soul then why would we bother with this effort? Those philosophies in our country which do not accept the soul, do not have anything to say about effort - penance.
If there is Soul, there is also Karma. If there is Karma, there is also sin and virtue and if there is sin and virtue, there are also hell and heaven where their fruit is to be experienced. Once the existence of all these is proved, hell or heaven are both undesirable for the jiva. If you do not desire hell, then do not desire heaven either. For heaven is also a worldly life. Since the goal of the jiva is not worldly life, heaven is also to be avoided.
Thus a worthy jiva can stabilise itself in the absence of a Sadguru by depending upon the scriptures that prove the existence of Atma etc.,
Here in the Gatha, Srimadji has used the term 'worthy' (947). Why so? The 'Sri Nandi Sutra' says - if the best Agamas fall into the hands of an unworthy, misled jiva, they can prove damaging to it. But if the same Agamas are studied by a worthy jiva, they prove very beneficial to it. Hence, a worthy jiva alone can discover the mysteries of the Agamas. By using the term Supatra, he has indicated that the Shastra is for worthy jivas only. At another place Srimadji has said -
पात्र विना वस्तु न रहे, पात्रे आत्मिक ज्ञान; पात्र थता सेवो सदा, ब्रह्मचर्य मतिमान् ।
Jain Educationa international
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
