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174
THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE JAINAS.
पडिकमणं पड़िसरणं परिहरणं धारणा णियत्तीय। गिंदा गरुहा सोहिय अहविहो होदि विसकुंभो ॥ ३२७॥ प्रतिक्रमणं प्रतिसरणं परिहारो धारणा निवृत्तिश्च । निंदा गर्दा शुद्धिरष्टविधो भवति विषकुंभः ॥ ३२७ ॥
327. Repentance (of sins), pursuit (of virtue), abandonment (of love etc.), fixing of the mind, and withdrawal of the mind, Self-censure, confession of faults, purity by expiation. This is the eight-faced pitcher of poison.
Commentary.
In practice, all the eight acts mentioned above are very high and commendable engagements of ascetics. But for one who is bent solely on the realisation of the self, they are hindrances, and therefore like poison, because they produce bondage of good Karmas which keep the soul in Samsára, and stand in the way of its selfrealisation.
Self-absorption is that stage of advancement where the soul is entirely full of itself, and has no need of the non-self. Nor is it then possible for the non-self to intrude upon the sacred and absolute self-contentment, in which the soul is immersed in selfabsorption. Thus indeed, the absence of repentance, etc., may be described as undying bliss, or as immortal nectar.
This is to remove the perverse belief that pursuit of practical conduct of saints, i.e., repentance, etc., will lead to Liberation from bondage of Karmas. Where there is any concern with any thing other than one's own soul, there is some attachment whether good or bad. That thought-activity which is not pure causes bondage of Karmas. It is only absorption with true and clear knowledge and belief in self, which can remove Karmic dirt and cause realisation of true independent happiness. In practice, for those who can not follow the rules of right conduct unblemished, repentance, etc., are no doubt like pitchers of nectar, because they relieve him of bondage of bad Karmas. But as they cause bondage of good Karmas, they are like pitchers of poison in comparison to pure self-concentra. tion where there is no question of either practical duty or any bondage, Liberation is fixity of soul in its soulness without any
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