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Jaina Acāra : Siddhānta aura Svarūpa. 155 Passionlessness and desirelessness pave the way not only to such miraculous achievements but even to emancipation.
The Aupapātikasūtra says that the spiritual powers can make all things handy. If it occurs to an omniscient that instead of rainfall there should be the fall of gold and silver from the sky, it is willed and instantly accomplished too. Patanjali's Yogadarsana talks of eight achievements like assuming a tiny form, as also infinitesimal form, mastery, control, wishfulfilment and the like. They are not unlike Jaina achievements.
Penances are not meant to acquire miraculous powers. The aim is the purity of soul. Such powers may emanate from an immaculate soul, but they are not to be exhibited. All show is for fame, honour or some other desire. They are all binding. They shall degrade the soul. If sometime it becomes very necessary to exhibit such power, it should be done with full consciousness and discrimination, otherwise he will not only lose them but they will also prove fatal to his ascetic career. Penance should be for penance, not for achieving even a noble or auspicious thing since both merit and demerit bind the soul.
Penances in Bauddha literature have not been classified as Jainism has done. The Buddha's emphasis was on the purity of soul. Jainism advocates penance as the effective means of purifying soul. The Buddha advocated the Middle Path and denounced mortification of flesh. The Jaina details of what and when to eat or not to eat, find hardly any place in Buddhism. It advises food only once a day with no attachment to the menu. The Buddha too had undergone severe penances for six years. He had plucked his hair too. His body was emaciated but all this gave him no peace of mind. He prohibited hard penances to the extent of riduculing the Jaina extremism, but this does not mean that he was opposed to penance as such. Penance finds the prime place in four benedictions of his. He said, "I plant the seed of faith which is watered by penance." He once told Bimbasāra that he was going out for penance, since his mind stays quiet therein. He was of the opinion that if penances did somebody good, he should pursue them, otherwise not. Dr. Radhakrishnan writes," The Buddha has found fault with severe penance, but it is surprising that the Buddha ascetics' discipline is no less severe than any others related in Brāhmana literature. From the doctrinal stand the Buddna held that emancipation is possible without penance but on the practical plane it is otherwise. Sanyuktanikāya holds that penance and chastity are an internal bath without water. They wash away the filth attached to the soul and make it clean."
The Vedic literature also has talked of penance in many books. Penance makes man imposing and brilliant. The Satpatha Brahmana says that penance ensures the highest victory. Krsna Yajurveda Taittirīya Brāhmana says that the god presiding over creation felt that there is no heaven, no earth
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