Jaina Acara Siddhanta aur Svarupa

Author(s): Devendramuni
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 91

Jaina Acara : Siddhanta aura Swarūpa
57
Economic and libidinous satisfaction can rightly be had if the means be legitimate. Only then the final liberation becomes your claim, otherwise there is no release from thraldom. Freud says that sex is at the root of all things. The Jaina philosophers agree that the desire of sex, like hunger, food and possessiveness is natural. But sexual craving has to do with deluding karma. The fact that libido has been there from times immemorial does not necessarily mean that it is also desirable. If you are hungry, it does not mean that you are free to eat anything and everything. Similarly libido is not to be given a free rein. Its need must be controlled. Libido, if unchecked, will reduce man to the status of a beast.
The engine drives the train of the four basic ends of life; righteousness may be taken to be the engine. Liberation is its guard. In between there are compartments of economic and libidinous ends. The guard is an indispensable part of the train. Money and sex are necessary for householders but in a limited measure which should not obstruct their spiritual growth. The three must function harmoniously. Only then may be the possibility of release from the cycle of birth and death.
The nineteenth quality is the service rendered to guests. Without misspending money a lay votary should serve guests, ascetics and other poor people. In a convocation address the preceptor exhorts scholars to serve guests as gods. They can well be attended by householders alone. The Sanskrit word for guest is ‘Atithi' which means he who comes and goes and who does not stay the whole night. Manu says that the man whose stay is uncertain is an 'Atithi'. Guests, whether known or strangers, must be received with open arms. Vyāsa says that a tree gives shade to both its protector and destroyer. So also the votary should treat friends and foes alike. The Brahampurāna says that if a guest is dismissed unceremoniously, he takes away all the accumulated merits of the votary and leaves behind all his demerits. Apastamba Dharmasūtra says that a warm reception to guetsts gives the host peace of mind and heaven in the next world. It has been said in ‘Vayupurāna' that yogis and liberated souls appear in different guises for the good of humanity. A householder does not know who the guest may be. No wonder he may be some saint. As such he welcomes him, whoever he might be. In the Jaina scriptures we read how a lay votary welcomes the guest, how sweetly he speaks to him him. He feels gratified when his guest is duly honoured.
The twentieth quality is to eschew unreasoned and unreasonable insistence on any issue. An inebriated person knows not virtue or sin. So an obdurate person loses all sense of discrimination because of his being in a state of frenzy. There may be intense passion for one's sect, religion, colour etc. Muslim fundamentalists were responsible for the ruthless murder of thousands of persons. They swear by their Quran and condemn all other