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KUMARAPALÁCARITA. to śrutadevi and requests her to give him proper counsel concerning his duties.
The last and eighth oanto is couched in the words of the goddess, Śrutadevi who is represented by the poet as imparting knowledge to Kumārapāla in compliance with his prayer. The substance of the advice contained in the canto is as follows:-Patient thought, freedom from anger, freedom from sinful operations, a mind devoted to absolution, righteous conduct, sharp intelligence, kindness towards the whole world, following the path of saints, making no distinction between friend and foe, looking upon all with a kind eye, speaking short 'and sweet, and the constant thought that lust and other hostile passions have to be kept always, in check, are some of the means of attaining absolution. The repetition of the prayer of Arhat and other deities, viz., what is known in the Jaina doctrine as Pañca-Parameșthi-Namaskāra, and abstaining from taking life and saving a man of whatever caste he may be; the repetition of the sacred spell, TARAFT &c, and the constant contemplation of the feet of Arhat, enable a man to be free from attachment to all objects of senses; to carry on the practice of all the particular postures recommended in Yogašāstra ; to acquire perfect acquaintance of, and control over, all the passages of the vital airs and fluids ; and to abstraot the mind from all worldly objects and to concentrate it on Brahma, which gives freedom from the fear of disease, old age and death and secures final absolution. “Save all life from destruction" is the best religious instruction that a man can confer upon man. The praise or censure coming from others should not cause one to bestow praise or censure on them. One should always secure the favour of his religious preceptor and thus attain the purity of
