Jinamanjari 1998 09 No 18

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 59

A. No, it is not. They could be differentiated with respect to the smearing and non-smearing of karmas; the Siddha is of non-smearing category because of the devoid of all the eight karmas, and the Arihanta is of smeared category, being associated with the four karmas. Q. Who is called Acāryā ? A. He who not only practices fivefold observance of conation, knowledge, conduct, austerity and potency, but also impart the same to the disciples. He is to be proficient in eleven primary texts or at least the first primary text of Ācārānga (Book on Monastic Conduct); in the tenets of his faith and as well in other tenets; be steady like the Mount Meru and enduring like the earth; observe the six daily essential duties or dispassionation devices faultlessly; possess no internal and external attachments or possessions, and is skilled in managing and leading the fourfold sangha. Q. Who is called Upādhyāyā ? A. The mendicant who has deep interest in the study of the Purvas - fourteen pre-canons; teach and self-absorb in the Path of Purification is called Upādhyāyā. Q. Who is called Sādhūs ? A. He who practices mahavratas, indulges in the nature of soul, guards his mind, speech and body, and who observes 18000 types of šīla (good conduct) and 8400000 types of secondary restraints.
These are personages full of valour like the lion; full of selfesteem like the elephant; gentle like the bull; innocently simple like the deer; wanderers like animals; unattached like air; mighty fiery like the sun; deep like the ocean; solidly firm like the Mountain Meru; deeply calm like the moon, and enduring like the earth.
Special Note
The above benedictory prologue called Ņammokāra mantra contains two words: savva (all) and loe (world) in locative case, and employed as terminal endings. As such it makes the mantra candidly secular and universal in application without any dogma attached.
Q. How is it bowings are offered first to Arihanta with ghātiya karmas when Siddha is there, devoid of all the karmas ? A. Because Arihanta teaches true virtues, attributes of the true deity, scripture and the nobleness of life and living. He is the one who imparts a total and true knowledge about the nature of soul and its search for the eternal bliss.
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