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Jaina Acāra : Siddhanta aura Svarüpa The soul by itself is immaculate. It is passions which make it dirty. Until and unless it is cleansed and kept ever cleaner than before with the help of celibacy and the like, there is no peace and always strife :
The nature of water is cold but in contact with fire it becomes warm. The nature of chillies is pungent and that of the sugarcandy sweet. The perceptible changes are because of extraneous contact. Celibacy is the rejection of what is not its own and its good lies in being content with itself.
Sthānāngai says that the soul is one. This one is not numerical but qualitative, because the self-nature is universally valid. It is possessed of illimitable energy, consciousness and purity. The difference that you observe is because of difference between the accumulation of binding matter. The stronger and denser it is, the dirtier is the soul. The lesser it is, the purer will be the soul. You want to fight external enemies but the internal ones are ignored. The passions that you nourish, love and hate that you let in, the interest that you take in worldly affairs—all these affect your soul. It is up to you to keep it clean or let it remain dirty and dirtier still.
The other meaning of celibacy is the study of holy books. The Atharvaveda states that celibacy gives you glow, patience, energy and knowledge. The indomitable spirit of adventure in regions undiscovered and fearlessness are its products.
In the Vedic tradition the first stage was of celibacy where young students studied wholeheartedly in peaceful surroundings, far away from the glamour of cities. Sāyanācāraya, the famous explicator of the Vedas, says, "A brahmacāri is one who studies the supreme soul in the form of the Vedas. Actions that help the study of the Vedas are the collection of sacrificial firewood, begging alms and the upward raising of semen or sublimation of libido.
The first stage was laying the foundation stone. The deeper it was the stronger was the superstructure of the three subsequent stages of life. In the first stage they had to stay in an unpolluted state for twelve years. Some of them used to be such as were inspired by religious faith. The Chāndogyopanişada has referred to them. The householders alone were given freedom to copulate but that was limited to having children. No wanton sexual intercourse was allowed.
The Jaina Acārya Stanka says that truth, penance, compassion, sexual restraint and meditation on the Self are Brahmacarya. Sarvarthasiddhi says that the attachment between man and woman and the desire to associate themselves closely is 'Maithuna': Hemacandra says that it seems very pleasing but its results are deleterioas.
Modern scientists say that in a single intercourse ten crores of cells of semen are discharged and are destroyed soon The population of the Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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