Istopadesa The Golden Discourse

Author(s): Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

Page 85

Iṣṭopadeśa - The Golden Discourse
soul's association with right faith. What causes the comprehension of reality otherwise is wrong faith. Wrong faith irrigates the garden of karmas and extends transmigration. The Self overwhelmed by wrong faith considers the true nature of a substance as a wrong one, falters in his assessment of the reality, and engages in conduct that is harmful to spiritual progress. Just as an inebriated man loses his power of discrimination, wrong faith distorts ocular perception. Those who do not understand the difference between the soul and the non-soul become blind to discrimination between the beneficial and the non-beneficial and yearn for the pleasures of the present alone.
The very first requisite for self-exertion that leads to removal of the veils of karmic matter from the soul is right faith, since people live up to their beliefs. The most malignant passions (kaṣāya) prevent the acquisition of right faith and, as a consequence, right knowledge. Without right faith and right knowledge, conduct cannot be thought of as 'right'.
It is thus mandatory to venerate and adore right faith which is like a beacon light to guide the barge of life. Right faith involves an unwavering mental assent and belief in the nature of substances, soul and non-soul, as per the teachings of Lord Jina. Only through the devotion to the Ideal, and not through fanatical doting on a chimerical idol, can one ever hope to acquire right faith. The Tirthankaras, who not only have Themselves achieved the divine status of omniscience and supreme bliss but also shown the world the right path to reach to the same status, are just the right Ideals to receive our devotion and daily adoration. Right faith needs to be reinforced by right knowledge derived from study, meditation and listening to the discourses of the true saints.
Acarya Amitagati, in Yogasāra Prabhṛta, has emphasized the importance of proper discrimination between the right and the wrong while acquiring knowledge:
68