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Chapter - 9
Samayasāra 5. Nivetti-act of mental freedom from gross passions. The mind is ever hankering for sensuous pleasures and carnal desires. By this act it is controlled and trained to desist from wandering into the fields which nourish the worldly state.
6. Nindā-act of self-deprecation for past errors. This is associated with the act of pratikramana, i.e., retraction from transgressions. One must, first, recognize an error as a misdeed and then self-deprecate it.
. 7. Garhā-act of confession to an elder, generally the Ācārya. This is complementary to no. 6 above. While ninda is self-confession, garhā is confession in the presence of an elder.
8. Suddhi-act of purifying the soul by expiation. This is the final step in the series of daily routine. The guru after hearing the disciple's confession, directs him to undertake specific expiatory actions which purify the soul from the transgression.
It can be easily seen that all the above mentioned acts are religious acts and from empirical aspect, well established ones for purifying the soul and rendering it free from the guilt of tt gressions-deliberate or accidental. Why, then, does the author emphasize on the self-adoration as the only means for removing the guilt complex and at the same time brand the traditional acts as pots of poison?
Throughout the book, the learned author has depicted the empirical aspect as inferior to the transcendental one, though he has justified its adoption at appropriate stages of spiritual progress. In the above verses, the author presents a very advanced stage of spiritual purity, where the necessity for empirical disciplines are already over. What is a pot of nectar for the developing stage where empirical acts are necessary for further advancement, could be regarded as a pot of poison as such acts might degrade rather than advance the purity of the soul. Moreover from the transcendental aspect all acts and the desire for being an actor/doer (rather than a seer) are obstacles in the path of final liberation. All the eight acts enumerated in these verses are valid up to a certain stage of spiritual purification, but since, they are dependent on external props, they must be renounced and abandoned as non-self in favour of self- meditation. It should be remembered, however, that while
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