________________ human birth for Self-elevation or demotion, is entirely dependent upon our own personal exertion, gradual advancement from the first Gunasthana to the next higher, step by step by step till we reach the fourteenth stage of final beattitude shonld be our constant endeavour. the juice of happiness produced by contact with sons and others begins to trickle down. The Jiva gets a strong desire to taste the juice. The bees that had gathered round about begin to bite the Jiva. Yet the Jiva begins wasting its time in tasting the juice thinking that it alone constitutes the happiness. A food gets addicted like this: while the wise men instead of spending their time getting absorbed in tasting such sensual pleasures, renounce the attachments and spend their time in difficult austerities, The only way of progressive enhancement of consciousness is to develop a conviction about the distinction between the soul and the body, about the futility of developing the latter at the cost of the former and about the ceaseless search for the light within. Remember the most realistic following picture of a Jiva in mundane existence as drawn by a great Jaina Acharya : These are the realities of life. Bhagavan Mahavira woke up right from his childhood and renounced all attachments, including his royal throne and its grandeur, adopted a life of stringent austerities and attained liberation. The duty of those who desire to be free from the miseries of this life is clear; Acuire Right Faith, Right Knowledge and cultiva Right Conduct and note that your salvation lies in trying to get hold of the three jewels and get light from them to guide you in life. A Jiva is wandering in the garden of mundane existence; an intoxicated angry elephant in the form of Death started running after it; the Jiva also starts running; the moment it becames exhausted by running, it hides itself in a big tree; at the root of the tree a number of creepers like gotra, low birth, etc have spread all round; just then, the Jiva is about to fall into a well but it catches hold of a creeper in the form of Ayus (life-span). Catching hold of it, it remains dangling and struggling. Just then, micc in the form of dark half and bright half of a month begin to bite that creeper, Serpants in the seven bells begin moving about with mouths open to eat away the Jiva. From the tree, Jainism is a practical way of life. It does not advise evry one to jump high because all cannot reach the highest rung of the ladder by a single jump. Life is a long pilgrimage attended with the dangers of a long journey. Those who are cautious and possess the eternal lamp shall alone be able to wade through safely to liberation or some other place of happiness. 194 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
