Outlines of Jainism

Author(s): J L Jaini, F W Thomas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Page 95

METAPHYSICS : XIII. LEŚYĀS
The other leśyās are meritorious. Coming to these is like dealing with the last three periods of the ascending era (utsarpini) in Jainism, when intense demerit is over, and a gradual elevation to merit and happiness is in sight.
Orange-red. The man here wishes to achieve his end with as little harm to others as possible. But he is still rather careless and illogical: e.g. the man who only cuts off small branches of the mango-laden tree.
Lotus-pink. This is a brighter hue. A man with this is careful not to injure others even for his own good. The mango-eater merely plucks mangoes from the tree.
White. This is the colour of the best-thoughted persons. It indicates purity, compassion, and a life in volving no loss or pain to others. The mango-eater merely picks up ripe fruit that has dropped to the foot of the tree. The man of the world who is near to this leśyā is the one who has mild and necessary enjoyment of sense-objects, but without hurting others in the least and without losing his çrip upon his own right belief and conduct.
It may be that the six leśyās are the colours of the aura of the human body in occult Jainism. The theosophical view of the colours of the aura may be compared : the aura of the saint is ethereal--bluish, like the shimmering blue of pure-white ice; that of the angry man is red, that of the wicked and sinful man black, and so on.
1 The six colours of the leśyās affect all embodied souls. The doctrine is treated by Jaina writers with their usual wealth of details