Book Title: Rushibhashit Sutra
Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy
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Ramaputta was a revered Acharya of Shraman tradition, senior to Mahavir and Buddha. Also, that Ramaputta of Rishibhashit, Sutrakritang and Pali Tripitak are one person. He has also been named as Uddak Ramaputta.
24. HARIGIRI
The twentyfourth chapter of Rishibhashit 191 contains the preachings of Harigiri. We do not find any information about Harigiri from any source other than Rishibhashit. As such it is difficult to say much about his personality. As regards his preachings, the first thing he says is that earlier all was Bhavya (decided or preordained) but now every thing is Abhavya (undecided or not pre-ordained). The meaning of this statement is that as long as an individual is ignorant (illusioned) his present is dependent on bondage of the earlier (previous life) karma or decided or pre-ordained. But on getting knowledge he becomes the maker of his destiny and so his future depends on his endeavour or is undecided or not pre-ordained. Or in other words, past is the maker of our present but we ourselves are also the makers of our future. As such the past is Bhavya (pre-ordained) and future is Abhavya (not pre-ordained). Infact, his preaching is that the present is dependent on the past and pre-ordained but the future can be made through endeavour and knowledge. As such the future of a proficient mendicant is not pre-ordained or is Abhavya. In fact this matter of pre-ordained and not pre-ordained is connected with the Karma principle. According to the Karma principle our present is result of our Karma in the past, but we can become the moulders of our future. This capacity of being or not the moulder of the future has been discussed in this chapter.
The Karma principle and its importance has been detailed in this chapter. Which is similar to other chapters. After detailing the Karma principle, attachment or ignorance have been discussed as the root causes of bondage of karma. It has been explained that how under the influence of attachment a person enters the bondage of Karma. In this context it has also been explained that an individual enters the bondage and can come out of it on his own. As such an ascetic should properly understand the complex
188 इसिभासियाई सुत्ताई
