Sambodhi 2004 Vol 27

Author(s): J B Shah, N M Kansara
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 56

THE VICTORS AND THE VANQUISHED
DS BAYA 'ŚREYAS
The Victors And The Vanquished -
Life, miniscule or mammoth, is a continuous battle, both - within and without. Most people are aware of the external battle, the struggle for existence that a creature has to fight to survive as it is evident and noticeable at the level of our sensory perceptions of touch, taste, hearing, sight and smell. It is the inner battle that remains un-noticed by most but the enlightened seers. It is this inner battle that interests us, the spiritually inclined, who wish and strive for spiritual emancipation.
It is this inner battle, which can be compared with a pit full of crabs in which all are trying to climb out but only a few succeed. Most fall back or are dragged back to the bottom of the pit. We can surmise that the few crabs that make it out of the pit can be called the victors and the ones that fall back or are dragged back as the vanquished.
In the spiritual parlance, too, the ultimate aim of all the living beings is to rise to the ultimate destination of spiritual liberty from where one may not return to the worldly transmigration and its attendant pain and misery. It goes without saying that in this struggle for spiritual emancipation and thence to spiritual liberation, too, only a few make it out of the worldly pit but most keep falling back for one reason or the other. Needless to say that those who rise to the ultimate destination of spiritual liberty are said to be the spiritual victors and those who fail to achieve this ultimate accomplishment as the vanquished-spiritually speaking.
This essay aims at briefly outlining the parameters of the spirit's battle against its inner enemies and the means at its command that may render it the victor. The Enemies Of The Spirit -
When we talk at the spiritual level, the enemies that bar the spirit's rise to the ultimate height of spiritual emancipation and liberation are not clearly in sight