Jain Journal 1995 07

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

Page 18

LALITHA SELF, SIN AND KARMA IN THE SUTRAKṚTĀŃGA
7
becomes demeritorious. Sinful acts concerning pride29 is that when a person endowed with pride of caste, family, beauty, piety, knowledge, success, power, intelligence etc., and consequently slights, blames, abuses, reviles and despises others due to self-praise. The sinful deed of ill-treatment of one's friends30 is that when a person punishes any of his family members even for their smallest offence his people feel unhappy when he is near and rejoice when he is far away.
A sin committed through deceitful deeds31 means concealing one's thoughts, using unworthy speech, claiming himself different from what one really is, when asked responds improperly to others endowed with unworthy speech a person blames and reviles those deceived by oneself, by selfpraise rejoices, without desisting from the vile practices one conceals the wrong deeds done to others. Committing sin through greedy acts32 means being uncontrolled without abstaining from slaying all sorts of living beings, using true as well as false speech and by enjoying sensual pleasures. Sinful deeds concerning one's own religious life33, it is meant that a person who does not possesses different components of pious religious life such as devoid of control over himself, harming living creatures in different postures of sitting, standing, walking etc., who does not avoid the forty-two faults while receiving alms, why does not perform different operations of nature in isolated places, who never guards his mind, speech and body, does not care to protect his soul from passions etc., who improperly keeps his mouth-cloth, alms, bowl, blanket, broom etc., and consequently accumulates evil karma.
Thus the above study of the concept of sins in the Sutrakṛtānga reveals the fact that co-ordination between the mind and body is considered necessary for the practice of non-violence. This should be accompanied also by proper speech emanting from the heart from which springs only but universal love. This paper further clarifies that in order to eschew from sins the principle of ahimsa which implies absolute purity of thought, word and deed should be practised, because sympathetic love towards all living beings, howsoever they are in the scale of evolution enables a true spiritual aspirant of the Jaina Path of purification to attain liberation from samsara.
29. Ibid., p. 361. 30. Ibid., p. 361. 31. Ibid., p. 362. 31. Ibid., p. 362. 32. Ibid., p. 363. 33. Ibid., p. 364.