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(Navkar Marta from page 11 ) and deaths). Until this liberation comes, we have to go through a long cycle of reincarnations in different forms. These different forms of life are animals, insects, vegetables, amoebas, etc. Among all these, life as a human being are very rare, hence it is the most impor- tant one. This chain of incarnations is known as life-ocean, of which Moksha is the shore. In Moksha, there is no death, no sickness, no poverty, no insults, or any of the fears that we have in this world. In Moksha, there is limitless knowledge, power, peace and bliss. In order to reach this goal of Moksha, we need to pay our homages to those who have reached there, so we bow to them in the second line of Navkar Mantra.
The third, fourth and fifth line pertain to people still living with us in our society. They are all Sadhus at different levels. In the lowest level, an individual renounces family life: giving away home, money, jewelry, wealth and walking away from parents, brothers, sisters, husband or wife, children and all the other relatives. He/she takes five great vows to completely follow (1) non-violence, (2) truth, (3) non-stealing, (4) celibacy and (5) non-possession, for the rest of the life. He/she devotes all the time learning scriptures and meditating. Meditation is a state of standstillness of the mind, speech and body, and putting the whole attention on Atma. (Atma is the Indian word for soul.) He/she is called Sadhu/Sadhvi (from Sadhak, the one who is attempting). He/ she is also known as Muni, for (if) taking a vow or not (or little) talking (maun). He/she tries to
talking (maun). He/she tries to control all the senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch). His/her self-control extends to his/her body, speech and mind. He/she is very careful not even to think or desire bad for anyone. He/she always focuses on noble thoughts.
After learning a certain number of scriptures, a Sadhu may rise to become an Upadhyay. Naturally, as all students do not become pro- fessors, all Sadhus do not become Upadhyays. Every Sangh (society of male and female Sadhus and householders) has a leader sadhu as an Acharya. The characters of all the Acharyas are of highest humanly possible levels. They teach
Page 12 us from the Jain scriptures with Anekantvad, without dogmatism. Anekantvad means "many viewpoints," or in different words, "I think I am right, but you also may be right," or, in still different words, “This is the way I interpreted, but your interpretation also may be right."
So in the third, fourth and fifth lines, we bow to all the Acharyas, Upadhyays and Sadhus. They keep the messages of Tirthankars alive, and they follow them. In the absence of Tirthankars, only they can bring the messages to us. That is why we have more line (three) for them than for Arihants and Siddhas (two) in Navkar Mantra.
Altogether there are five lines for bowing to five entities. That is why the Naykar Mantra is also known as Panch Parameshthi (five supreme beings) Mantra. Because of bowing in it, it is also known as Namaskar (bowing) Mantra. Some also call it Maha (great) Mantra. The rest of the four lines are added only to clarify the significance of the above five lines, as their meaning implies.
But still one question may remain. "Why pray?" Well, first of all, the prayer links our mind to the ones who are perfect, pure and peaceful. A prayer is the most common thread among all the religions. Praying for even a single moment does not go unrewarded. It generates such a great spiritual energy, that we can ward off any unwanted evil thoughts with it. In addition, it also brings out our humility and politeness. While praying, we recognize our limitations. A prayer is an act of reverence and respect. So we should recite the Navkar Mantra every day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night.a
(Forgiveness from page) Anand on the other hand did not get angry and forgave Gautam Swami in his own heart. He viewed Gautam Swami as a very noble person with integrity, and maintaining his own humility he also begged forgiveness from Gautam Swami.
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