________________
164
JAINISM AND WORLD PROBLEMS
the soul and take part in imparting form and shape to the bodily limbs. The type of the body is determined by the type of the will, and because the will itself is the product of Karmas, therefore, the future incarnation (form etc.) of the soul is determined by Karma, in the final analysis.
We must, then, destroy the body completely, if we are to attain to Godhood. But the body is the effect of the activity of the will, and will be formed again and again so long as the will itself is in existence, to manufacture a body and bodily limbs. The will has, then, to be killed out before the body can be expected to leave the soul alone.
How is the will to be killed out? By complete detachment from the body, since the will is only interested in the body and bodily concerns. Disregard the body, and the will is got rid of, which, in its turn, will speedily put an end to the body itself.
The ignorant man looks upon himself as if he were only the body, and nothing more or other than the body. The enlightened householder (layman) believes himself to be a soul, as defined above, and separate and distinct from the body of matter. But he is still involved in the intoxicating delusions of the senses, and regards the body as an instrument of (sensual) pleasure. The saint looks upon the body as his sole enemy in the world, and does his best to destroy it. Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct, taken together, constitute the path to Freedom and Bliss and the Fulness of Knowledge, i.e., Omniscience!
The narrow space of an article like this will not admit of my going into the rules of conduct that are destructive of the will and the body. Suffice it to say that severe Tapascharana (asceticism) is needed to accomplish that highly desirable end. The layman just tries to observe certain minor vows; but the saint's vows are strictly austere, and fully calculated to establish his control over all the three channels of activity, namely, the mind, speech and the body..
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
