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I am the Soul
renunciation and restraint will have naturally occupied the life of a person who has already reached the goal. That person will not need to further enforce the vows of restraint. But a person who has not reached the goal cannot afford to let go of even one means. If he does so without realising, his state will worsen.
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You are travelling to Mumbai from Chennai on a train. If you get carried away by the niscaya naya concept and feel that means are not essential, and so you alight from the train in the middle of the night in a forest, what would be your state? Well! Train is passable, but if you were in a plane and flying, and if you were to misunderstand that niscaya naya asks you to abandon means, and so you plan to give up the means that very minute and jump from the plane, would you reach the goal? Perhaps after that pall-bearers would be inconsequential!
Think, Brothers! In practical life means are to be given up only when a determined goal has been reached. You are attending a wedding. You are bedecked with jewels and adorned with beautiful clothes. How long would you retain those? Only as long as you are in the wedding hall! So the moment you are out of the hall, would you remove everything or wait till you reached home? There are several such situations in life and our understanding works very well in them.
Well, similarly in the spiritual field, unless the goal is reached no activity can be left out. Of the twenty-four Tirthankars, several had attained kevaljnana within two-three-four months of entering the ascetic order. They would have been aware of the imminence of kevaljnana at a certain time, then where was the need to give up their home and family and become ascetics? The superior atma in the superior body would have come with a great preparedness, yet they accepted the austere conduct. They went through the panchamushti locha - the pulling out of hair. They observed the mahavratas. They observed the activities of a Sadhu - travel etc. They did not miss out even one activity. Then how
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