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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
can establish the identity of the man even after he has departed from the room. Dogs are used in tracing criminals because they can apprehend them with the help of their sense of smell. Scientists have developed a system of smell-analysis. This method is being applied in tracing out criminals. All this is done on the basis of the odour which the body of the criminal emits. It is said that the bodies of the tirthankaras emitted a sweet odour like that of the red lotus plant. It is supposed to be a special characteristic of the bodies of the tirthankaras. Every living body emits some odour or the other, pleasant or unpleasant. It has been mentioned in ancient works on sex that some women emit an odour similar to that of the pink lotus plant. Such women are called padminis. It has been stated that various arts can be learnt and mastered through the bodies of such women.
Odour flows from the bodies of living beings through their palms, the bottoms of their feet and through their sweat. An odour which spreads in the atmosphere gives a clue to the whereabouts of criminals. That is why burglars when they commit burglary wear hand gloves and socks to avoid detection. However, the particles of odour are so subtle that they pass through the texture of the gloves and socks and stick to the floor and walls of the room into which the burglars had entered.
One category of nama karma is what is called gandha nāma karma (smell). It is through the mechanism of smell that the odour manifests itself. Other categories of nāma karma are rasa nama karma ( taste), and sparśa nāma karma (touch), etc. We have ceased to be familiar with these concepts. Once it was believed that there is a network of näma karmas-atapa nāma karma ( heat ), udyota nāma karma (light) paraghata nama karma (stroke), śvāsocchvāsa nama karma (breath) sarira nāma karma (body-buliding ), gati näma karma (motion) etc. What was the purpose behind this elaborate classification? It may, however, be noted that all these categories of nāma karma are connected with the body. If we try to understand this classification with reference to the glands, it will cease to be mysterious. The glands perform their functions not only in the gross body but also in the
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