Light Of Life

Author(s): Padmasagarsuri
Publisher: Arunoday Foundation

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is of no use ; on the contrary, it causes spiritual ruin. We should have the right aspiration : It must be accompanied with self-restraint and propriety. This kind of aspiration is essential because without such a lofty aspiration how can there be any spiritual attainment ?
WHY IS OCHRE-DRESS SYMBOLIC OF RENUNCIATION IN BHARATH ?
in Bharath, ochre-dress has been considered symbolic of renunciation. This dress has various kinds of significance. Since, it is a symbol of a spirit of detachment and since our attitudes are conditioned by it, it serves the purpose of suppressing or even removing our sexual cravings. It suppresses it mental and emotional distortions. From the psychological point of view our dress has its own imperceptible impact on our mental and emotional propensities. If you put on an excellent suit and tie and spray some fine scent upon your dress, at once your latent and dormant sensual desires become patent and potent. As soon as an opportunity or a provocation appears, your latent sensual desires wake up and grow intense. If you take a bath without scenting the water and wear plain white dress like us or ochrous dress, all your sensual desires and thoughts become suppressed. It is for this reason that one day I narrated an incident from the life of Ravan.
Ravan abducted Sita and brought her to Lanka. He tried repeatedly to win her favour but she was absolutely averse to him. His friends gave him the advice, "You are a Vidyadhar and you are capable of assuming any form. You have that power. Therefore, assume Rama's form and features; put on ochrous dress like Rama and Sita will at once accept your amorous advances".
Ravan replied, "I tried that method also several times, but whenever I assumed the form of Rama and put on
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