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134
VRATAS
Choice implies that the person has before him serveral ways of conduct, and that he picks out one from among them. As it is persons in the fifth stage of development that are now being spoken of, these persons are in the state of samyaktva (and not mithyatva), and this means that their selection will be a right and proper one (persons in the state of nithyatva will not choose the path of rectitude).
The choosing of a right course of conduct among many ways necessitates the exercise of the judgment and discrimination. And doing this is not following the path of least resistance, so that the exercising of the judgment in selecting a right course of conduct as distinguished from living a life where 00 such choice is made implies an effort of the will force. .
So this word vrata in its technical meaning here implies all these ideas, namely: 1. There is the actual selection of the
conduct; 2. There is the exercise of the judgiog faculty
in distinguishing right from bad courses; 3. There is the effort of the will (virya], or in
psychological language there is conation. There is no such thing as taking a vrata and not carrying it out. It is a very strict matter, requiring the exeicise of much care in the undertaking to
do.
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