Jaina Acara Siddhanta aur Svarupa

Author(s): Devendramuni
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 46

12
Jaina Acara : Siddhanta aura Swarūpa
mistrusts and distrusts ostentatious demonstraions. He who does not regard others different from him is saved from the cycle of transmigraion,
Pearls remain embedded in the ocean for thousands of years but they are never dissolved or spoilt, though they get easily dissolved the moment they enter the mouth of a swan. A devotee blessed with right faith is a swan who dissolves the Karma particles with as much ease. A labourer works hard the whole day and yet earns a little whereas a craftsman earns much more even though he exerts much less. So also he who is led by erroneous faith meditates for years together but to no avail, whereas a man of right faith reaches his destination much earlier. A right step in the right direction is all that is needed. The self has a vision of its own. Right or wrong vision is its modification. The result of wrong vision is being bom again and again wheras that of the right vision is emancipation. In the dark nothing is visible but when there is light, nothing can remain hidden. Right faith enables one to discriminate between the conscious and the unconscious.
A beggar begs ingratiatingly, not knowing that a hidden treasure is within his reach. Similar is the case of the man who is deluded by worldly attractions, not knowing that he himself possesses what those involved in the world can never be blessed with.
In 'Jnātasūtra' right faith has been likened to 'Cintāmani' a fabulous mythological gem supposed to grant all desires. Right faith likewise enables one to attain desired spiritual heights. Even in hell he can experience heavenly joys. His thinking has a tendency to rise upward. For him the unfavourable becomes favourable. He is the same in pleasure and in pain. To him, union and separation are equally pleasant. In a battle field the army that is in contact wich the central authority invariably wins. Those who roam about in the circumference cut a sorry figure. Those endowed with right faith never lose nerve. A lotus is in water and yet above water. Such is he detached life of a devotee possessing right vision and faith.
Hanumāna was asked by Vibhisana how he could manage to stay with the demons who are cruel and inhuman. Hanumāna replied that he stayed like the tongue poised between thirty-two teetth. A man of right faith lives in the world and yet above it. He does not let the world reside in him. Clouds may be rumbling but the sky remains unaffected. The man of right faith is like the god Siva, for he tastes the poison of sorrow and yet remains calm and composed. Whatever good or bad befalls him, he accepts it as a gift from God. No hot winds can ever scorch him.
Two rivers have been mentioned in ‘Jambudvipa Prajnapti'. One of them is 'Unmagna' and the other is 'Nimagna'. The former keeps nothing with itself. Whatever falls into it is thrown away. But the latter absorbs all that falls ino it. It attracts whatever lies near the bank. The man