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THE PRACTICAL DHARMA
ness, though a saint will not even use unguents or tooth-powder to beautify his person and teeth. If the new-comer is not clean enough in respect of his caste or occupation and has thus far been following dirty or filthy occupations, let him lead a life of strict purity for the period of one year, as enjoined in the Adi Purāņa, after which he will be entitled to admission into society and have a purer occupation allotted to him. We must avoid narrow-mindedness and stunting pride at any cost.
The Jaina layman should be a pattern of goodness. He should live in the world, and mix with his fellow-men, striving always to set an example to them by his own nobleness of character in philanthropy, sympathy, respect for life and moderation in all things. He should be just, and should aspire to cultivate, to the highest excellence, integrity, probity and impartiality. He should make no distinction between friend and foe in his treatment of or dealings with men. In this way he should live in the world, filled with fear for the future safety of his soul, and should gradually withdraw himself, about the commencement of old age, from worldly life, to take the shaping of his destiny actively in his hands. He will be materially assisted in this by the early moulding of character, if he has spent his childhood in the acquisition of the truth and the dharmic (religious) impress. In this way he will be able to enter into the stage of retirement, and finally also into sannyāsa (sainthood), with ease and in the natural course of things.
Strenuous uphill work will now have to be done; but there are no prizes in nature which one may secure without sweating. Nothing that is really worth the having can be obtained by pious wishes, or by a mere movement of the lips, in prayer or supplication. There is none who can grant knowledge and life and goodness from the outside; for these are the very attributes of the substance of the soul and are enjoyed by the Perfect Ones in nitrāna!
