Jain Stories 01

Author(s): Mahendramuni, K C Lalwani
Publisher: A B Jain Shwetambar Terapanth Samaj

Page 16

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(loka) which is liberation. Karmo takes the soul through the cycle of birth and death, and birth again. When a bad karma fructifies, a human soul suffers untold misery ; when a good karma fructifies, it has pleasant cxperience, wealth, prosperity, power and fame As one karma is exhausted through fructification, others are rushing in all the time, so that there is at no time a vacuum In fact, not a single karma lasts for ever For there's nothing permanent in the natural order Bright day dawas as a bad harma is cshausted through fructification, making room for a softer one Given right endeavour, a human soul can earn its own liberation from the clutches of karma
Some stories tend to illustrate the efficacy of namokara which is simultaneously a form of obeisance and a mantra to be repeated on the beads A hero or a heroine in a story utters the nanokara under a difficult situation and is at once protected by the 'five well-wishers' It is a matter of faith of the believer Some stories illustrate the efficacy of observing the vows, five by the monks, viz, non-violence, non-lie, non-theft, non-accumulation and non-sex, and the same five for the followers, albeit in a less rigorous form, plus seven more to supplement for the latter It has been demonstrated in many stories how by sincerely observing the vorrs, many have been liberated in the past or at least improved the quality of their life, the moral being that many more may still do the same provided they sincerely observe them Some stories illustrate the outcome when a monk or a follower slips from the right path due to non-observance of vows, which serves as a severe warning
A careful perusal of these stories gives an idea of the social, political, economic and cultural conditions of the time in which they were written Kings were the heads of the state and they had ministers to aid and advise them in running the administration. Sresthis or merchants constituted the most affluent section of the society. They had