Jain Funeral Procedures

Author(s): Tansukh J Salgia
Publisher: Tansukh J Salgia

Page 31

The mother, father, brother, son, wife - this cluster of relations bears no relationship to the Soul. They all exist, motivated for their own sake. The distinctness of the Soul from all the extraneous mundane affinities is emphasized in this verse. Here the Acharya draws attention to the myth of all kinds of worldly relationships. Neither one's parents nor any of the most intimate kith and kin are in any way related to the Soul It is clear that all our sentiments of attachment to the mother, father, brothers and sisters, the wife and to other members of the family are mere delusions and fantasies of fancy. They all bear relationship to oneself only in flesh and blood but are in no way related to the Soul that remains an entity distinct by itself. Detached contemplation on the reality of mundane existence makes it clear that the sentiment of physical kinship is actually rooted in sensual desires. All the affinities of relationship in their entire range of the son to the mother or father, of the husband to the wife and vice versa, are based on the sentiment of desire. They have nothing to do with the Soul, which truly is the real self. The circle of relations is similar to a flock of birds which perch together on a tree at night only to disperse at day-break in different directions. A discreet person, therefore, looks upon his relations as different individuals who come together and then depart, each according to his or her bondage of karmas." (pp. 26-27]
"Because of delusion the individual Soul grieves for other. Under the delusion that 'He is mine, He is my lord', one grieves for the other. But while sinking down into the ocean of mundane existence he fails to grieve about himself. Mundane life abounds in myths and unreal attachments to those considered as near and dear to oneself. We see people being plunged into grief on the demise of relation; like one's husband, wife, son or brother. They do not realize that death implies only a transition in the course of transmigration to yet another existence in the revolving cycle. Similarly, futile is remorse over the loss of those for whom one owes allegiance like that of a wife for the death of her husband. Those who mourn the loss fail to grasp the reality that death is only a stage in the age-karma (Ayu) and that with death the Soul migrates to another form of existence. People deceive themselves by harboring feelings of attachment to their kith and kin. Such futile thoughts harm one's real self. They only drown the Soul deeper into the quagmire of worldly woes. Instead of grieving for others one should really feel sorry that through such misplaced grief his/her Soul gets entangled in the coils of worldly existence. A wise person, therefore, should ponder over the fact that his physical body is distinct from his Soul. There can thus be no real relationship with those whom he considers his kith and kin. Such unreal feelings arise from illusory sensual sentiments. An aspirant treading the path of spiritual advance remains unattached in life like the lotus that remains unimpressed in the water on which it grows. But the true Self, though temporarily encased in the physical body, is eternal and not liable to decay or dissolution. (Consciousness, happiness and energy) are its attributes. These innate and inseparable attributes of the Soul are not to be confused with the limbs of the physical body - its sensory feelings or with any other extraneous matter." (pp. 27-29]
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