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1881
The Path of Arhat : A Religious Democracy
Krşna ( Black ), Necla (Blue ), Kapota (Ash ), 'Pita' or *Tejolesya (Orange-colour or like the colour of a rising sun ), Padma (Golden-yellow ) and Sukla ( White or pure ). First three are called bad disposition as they result from the bad intension or inclination and last three are called as good dispositions ( Leśyās ) as they result from good intension or inclination. The worst Leśyā is the black one and is sugge. stive of intensive emotions of different Kaşāyas. The second is of a lesser degree and the third is of still lesser degree. These degrees are of ascending order in last three Leśyās. The highest and the best type is Sukla which is achieved by those who are in the state of Sukla Dhyana ( last stage of meditation ).
The scriptures have explained the working of Leśyas in human life by giving the following illustration :
There were six friends who wanted to eat the fruits of a fruit tree. They went to the tree and saw that many unripe and ripe fruits were available - among ripe fruits many were hanging on the tree while many had fallen on the ground. All the six friends possessed six different types of the dispositions. The person who was possessed of Krşpa Leśya (blackdisposition) proposed that the best way to enjoy the fruits was to pull down the whole tree and pluck all the ripe fruits. The other one who possessed 'Neela Leśyā (Blue disposition ) said that instead of destroying the whole tree, it would be better to cut off the main branches which possessed the fruits. The third one who possessed 'Kapota Leśya' (Ash disposi
said it would be a waste to cut off the main branches and would be better to cut off the smaller branches which held the fruits. The fourth who possessed 'Tejolesya' said even that would result in waste and so the better way was to cut off only the bunches of hanging fruits and to take away ripe ones from these bunches. The fifth one who had 'Padma Leśya' said, “brother, even by that method you would be wasting away the unripe fruits and hence the best way was to pluck only the ripe fruits from the tree. It, he said, would not
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