________________ Jaina Meditation ted towards the founders of religion and worships them with reverence. It now earnestly and sincerely renders service to the preceptors and other senior ascetics. The soul now develops fear for worldly existence. It now performs great and noble deeds. It develops sympathy for the suffering multitude. The soul is now free from the envy of the meritorious. It now gets good opportunities for spiritual development. The soul is now just in front of the knot (granthi) and is undergoing the process of yathapravsttakarana." 2. Now we come to the second drsti known as tara. The enlightenment becomes a bit distinct here, and the soul is capable of some sort of self-restraint as well. It now attains some sort of steadiness in spiritual activity, and becomes inquisitive about truth It now develops steady love for the discussions in yoga and has respect for the yogins. The soul is now not so much desperate and does not indulge in evil activities so frequently. It now aspires for spiritual progress and is conscious of its shortcomings. The soul is now earnestly anxious to get rid of the worldly existence. Next we come to the drsfi called bala. Here the enlightenment becomes more distinct. There is now strong desire for hearing the truth. The evil desire automatically disappears at this stage and the soul gains control over posture.8 In the fourth drsti called dipra one gets control over breath and is free from the lapse of yoga. One has now heard about the truth but has not developed the power of understanding its subtlety. The individual at this stage regards his religion dearer than his life and is always ready to give up his life in order to save his religion. Real spiritual progress however has not yet set in. The truth has not dawned as yet. The soul is only trying to capture the image of the truth instead of the truth itself. The knowable has not yet been known. The above four drstis thus are 'not attended with the knowledge of the truth' (avedyasamvedyapada). It is only the next four drstis that are 'attended with the knowledge of the truth' (vedyasamvedyapada). The avedyasamvedyapada is to be transcended by means of the companionship of the virtuous and the study of the scriptures. One makes various conjectures about truth until one sees it face to face. This leads to a number of speculative systems based on fallacious logic (kutarka).' 1 Ibid., 22-40. See Studies in Jaina Philosophy, pp. 269-72. 2 Ibid., 41-48. 3 Ibid., 49-50. 4 lbid., 57-58. 5 Ibid., 67. 6 Ibid., 85. 7 Cf. Ibid., 90-98.
