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I am the Soul
भक्त भगीरथ समा, भाग्यशाळी महा भव्य सौभाग्यनी, विनति थी चरोतर भूमिना, नगर नडियाद मां
qof 41 ang atit'et ............. ufadott.....
Atmasiddhi is the saviour of the fallen souls (अधम उद्धारिणी). It cleanses us of all sins and takes us towards liberation. But the question that arises here is whether we have had enough of these papa (sins). Do we desire to cleanse ourselves? It is impossible to find a being full of only sins or only punya (virtues). Both sin and virtue coexist in us and from time to time one of them gains over the other. Noble thoughts and deeds increase the virtues and ignoble thoughts and deeds increase sins. But the two streams run parallel in human life. 'Almasiddhi Shastra' is like a holy stream that will wash away all the sins tainting our soul. It will imbibe in us the strength to rise above the good and bad, and enable us settle at a higher plane of purity of thought and deed.
It is that holy water, which reflects the truth as realised by the Tirthankars, which can purify a soul only when one gets immersed in it, when one puts it into practice with conviction and devotion. Mere chanting from memory will serve no purpose, it will not absolve us of any sins. Not until we follow the path of purity indicated in the background to the 'Atmasiddhi Shastra'. Only when the soul immerses itself in the pure spiritual thoughts, the sins get washed away and the soul then emerges in its original pristine purity.
This Shastra is a gift from a noble soul whose penance in the previous birth was interrupted by time; a soul that was reborn with the specific intent of completing the penance. Such being the state of his mind, Srimadji had been able to recall his previous birth at a very early age. It is said that with the ability to look back upon previous births, unless a soul had appeared in a mindless life-form anywhere in the past, one could look back upon as many as 900 previous births. Srimadji was able to look back upon several of his previous births. 'Atmasiddhi Shastra' is the philosophical essence of this vast experience.
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