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THE PRACTICAL PATH.
all kinds of karmic impurities and bonds which had hitherto held him in captivity. No longer subject to the de-pressing influence of matter, He rises up immediately to the topmost part of the universe to reside there, for ever, in the enjoyment of all those divine attributes which many of us have never even dreamt of. A conqueror in the true sense of the word, He now enjoys, to the full, the fruit of His unflinching fight with His own lower nature. Pure intelligence in essence, He now becomes an embodiment of knowledge by bursting His bonds. Thus, what some people consider to be a stultification of character is really the acquisition of such godly qualities as perfect discernment or faith, infinite knowledge, inexhaustible power and pure unabating joy. The Ideal of absolute Perfection, the Siddha becomes the object of worship for all the bhâvya (those who have the potentiality to attain nirvana) jivas in the three worlds; and what language can describe the glory of that siddhâtman the mere contemplation of whose worshipful feet is sufficient to destroy all kinds of karmas of His bhaktas (devotees)?
To revert to the subject under consideration, it will be observed that the arrangement of the gunasthậnas is based not upon any artificial division of the 'path, but upon the natural effects observable in the being who takes himself scientifically in hand to control his destiny. No serious student of religion stands in need of being told that of all kinds of tapa the antaranga is the principali cause of emancipation, though the physical control of the bodily functions and organs is also necessary for bringing the wandering manas (the organ of desires)
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