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SAMATA (EQUANIMITY) AND ITS PRACTICAL VALUE IN MODERN TIMES
By Samani Sanmati Pragya
The picture of Bhagwan Mahaveer, calm and full of glow, unmoved by the sting of a highly poisonous snake kept surfacing in my mind. The vision of white blood flowing out of his leg, and a heavenly god bowing down with folded hands kept playing in my mind. My inner self told me that there had to be a lot more to this picture than my eyes could see. I kept wondering about this picture as a child. I want to share the impression left by this picture of Bhagwan Mahaveer on me, the one that implanted the seed of spirituality in me and ultimately became my cherished dream that took me down the journey of my life.
The incident of Sage Vardhaman's encounter with the highly poisonous Chandkoushik Nag is well known to most Jains. However, the fact that this incident reflects one of the fundamental principles of Jain Philosophy is not clearly understood by many. On one hand was an angry poisonous snake attacking this human being, on the other was a sage with mere compassion in his eyes even after being attacked; on one hand was Dev Indra showering praises and showing homage to this human, on the other was the sage totally unmoved by such veneration. The sage was impervious to both situations. He had neither hatred towards the snake nor any undue affection towards the King of Heaven. He maintained his serenity and composure. After this incident, the sage simply went ahead in his journey of quest for the ultimate truth.
A year after this incident this sage was enlightened; he had realized the ultimate truth (Keval Gyan). He then proceeded to expound this truth or Dharma to others in a multifaceted and a non-absolutist manner. The bearer of this infinite vision and knowledge was Bhagwan Mahaveer. Mahaveer's subsequent teachings explain to us the relevance and significance of the above incident a lot more clearly.
Bhagwan Mahaveer practiced intense meditation prior to his attaining the omniscience. During this period he strictly followed non-violence, self-restraint, and penance. For more than twelve years Bhagwan Mahaveer struggled to achieve freedom from passions and emotions, from attachment and aversion, and with that freedom he finally liberated himself from the bondage of the physical and karmic body. The essence of Jainism, the core message of Veetrag Bhagwan, and in effect, the ultimate result of his practice of non-violence, non-possession and non-absolutism was equanimity. This has been depicted in multiple ways and in many verses of the Jain. Agams. Some of them are as follows:
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