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XVIII
Penance for Self - purification
Penance is the essence of asceticism. There is an inseparable relationship between the two. The ideal of Jainism is asceticism. The very word Sramana means an ascetic. It has three forms : Samana, Samana and Sramana. The first means equanimity; the second means self-control and the third means to strive. There is no spiritual upliftment without persistent and sincere efforts in the right direction. An ascetic knows that he is not the body, but that the body is his . The body need not be pampered. It should be treated as a necessary means but never an end in itself. It does not matter if the body looks weak and tired, even sick at times provided the spirit is heing strengthened. The self is primary and the body secondary, but its needs must be in proper shape so as not to obstruct the spiritual voyage. Penance is meant to transform the inferior soul into the super-soul. There must be heat in the body indicating life. The heat of penance is the life of the soul which must ever be awakened. The dying or dead soul is an indelible slur in human life. It is man's utter degradation. There is no religion without penance. It is its most significant constituent. As the sun and fire remove all excrement, penance eradicates the accumulated filth in the soul without permitting the entry of fresh Karmas. It effectively separates all rubbish from the soul without which it cannot revert to its original state. The ascetic's career starts with penance and the close study of scriptures. The Founders of Faith cannot be imagined without penance. It was a potent means of their omniscience. In the past not only the founders but also each and every ascetic, while staying in the world used to look forward to penance, knowing it to be the only benediction worth seeking. The Lord Rşabhadeva did not achieve omniscience without penance lasting not for some, but thousands of years. Lord Mahāvīra, too had practised penance for twelve years and thirteen fortnights. He had taken food only on 349 days during this long period. For most of the time he did not take even water. The one thing in his mind, to the exclusion of others, was hard penance.
Acarārga, Avašyakaniryukti, Avasyakacūrni and later books dealing with the Lord's life have given a moving description of Mahāvira's surprising austerity, surpassing other founders in its severity. He established harmony between the external and internal penances. His great contribution was especially in the sphere of penances which assumed great importance in
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