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The Path of Arhat ; A Religious Democracy
bad purposes. For instance, wealth or power both can be used for good as well as for bad purposes. If the enjoyment of these things generate the evils of pride and avarice in us the fault lies not in them but in our attitude towards them. If our attitude is changed for the better the same things which were used for bad purposes could be used for better purposes. So, the fault does not lie in the weapon but in the person who uses it. If this is so, it is no use hating the objects of the external world, One must only remove one's attachment one's 'Raga' be contained, be ‘neutral' to and 'without desire' for the objects of the world, and you will have Right conduct.
Thus we can sum up that it is not always necessary to run away from the world and to take Samnyasa to gain freedom. The attitude of detachment can be cultivated even while taking part in the worldly affairs. It may be said that the cultivation of detachment in the worldly life is more difficult than in the life of a monk who has entered a monastic order. But Jainism does not consider the monkhood as a starting point for our journey to freedom. There are a number of examples of house-holders, both male and female, of obtaining 'Mukti', i. e., liberation without renouncing the worldly life. There is an interesting and instructive episode in the life of Mahavira himself. Maha víra wanted to renounce the world even while his mother was alive. There is a tradition among the Jainas, as among other faiths in India, that one should not enter the monastic order and renounce the world without the permission of the elders of the family. So Mahāvīra asked for the permission of his mother Trisală for renouncing the world. The mother, like all other mothers, was greatly pained at the idea. She asked him not to repeat such request till she was alive. Maha vīra silently obeyed. After sometime, the mother died. Thereafter Mahavira sought the permission of his elder brother Nandivardhana, as father had died long before mother's demise. Nandivardhana also resented the idea and asked him not to cause him more pain by his loss, as the loss of mother was already unbearable. Again Mahavira obeyed
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