Jain Journal 1982 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 13

146
JAIN JOURNAL
Said the Lord : “Servant of the caravan, Ye Camel, in long-headed wonder at the cosmic plan, your Lord is obliged to answer the puzzles of ye rumbling thinker.”
—a Lord splendid
Said the Camel (gruff): “Why ? and a camel, ignobly stupid ?”
Lord : "Higher values there are, than intellect.”
Camel : “Compassion, dare I elect?”
Lord (apart): "How to solve this long-suffering dilemma by plain-spoken evidence of the law of karma ? Jainism must be like a lodestar, revelant to the drudgery of this desert servant... Dear Camel ! Recall the tether, keen-edged, till ye accept being bound together. Know tether as karma, the self-inflicted fate that your past, present and future lives create. 'Tis your karma, the explanation for cycle of births and deaths, your transmigration. Thus karma makes your soul dwell properly for the moment, in the body of a camel.”
Camel : “So justly a victim suffers his past-life lapse. Why? alms to succor his present-life mishaps ?"
Lord : "By certain karmic rules, the sufferer deserves the malignity of fools.” (Deep-toned) : “Yet, woe to the instrument of self-appointed karmic judgment ! Karma puts us beside the suffering pariah, and how we treat this victim defines our own futures, sun-bright or grim. Only if we give our best compassion do we take good karma for our companion." (after a pause, simply): "Soul is pure, aim of life is return to its original nature, and the Jinas' path to purity gives all living things a heartfelt charity.”