Jainism and Democracy

Author(s): Indra Chandra Shastri
Publisher: I A S S Jain Conference New Delhi

Page 86

THE WAY OF INNER DEVELOPMENT
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eighth stage in case he wins the struggle and finds himself fully equipped to subdue the remaining portion of passions. It is known as Apūrva because the soul gets such purification as was never achieved before. Here, he aims at the complete victory over passions for the first time.
Two Sreņis-This complete victory is effected in two ways. Some aspirants have their passions and complexes subsided and feel perfect tranquillity on the surface. The subsided complexes lie in subconscious mind waiting for provocation to come to surface. There are others who destroy the very root of those complexes leaving no more a chance for their rise. The first type is known as Upasama sreņi and the second as Kṣapaka sreņi. Upasama means subsidance and Kṣapaka means destruction. They are compared with two methods of water purification. The dirt in water can either be removed for ever through filtering process or can be subsided in the bottom through chemical process. In latter case the slightest disturbance is sufficient to make the dirt reappear while in the first case the purification is permanent. Similarly, passions and complexes can either be removed for ever or subsided in the bottom. In first case the aspirant is without any danger of falling down. In second case the complexes lie dormant in the subconscious mind waiting for provocation, when they rise again and the aspirant falls down. The stories of great yogins falling down from the peak of high spiritual attainments confirm the above fact.
Upto the seventh stage the aspirant adopted mainly For Private & Personal Use Only