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himself from it. Once he has distanced himself from negative behaviour, bury the hatchet and forget about the wrongdoing. This is the essence of upaguuhana.
Often, the behaviour of the ascetics is taken to be a good reflector of the character of the community. Hence, the bad behaviour of one religious leader is enough to sully the name of the religion and all its followers.
One who has samyaktva considers it his duty to conduct his life in such a manner that the fair name of his religion is not sullied. Such a person ensures that false rumours and criticisms of his religion are not circulated. He takes care to ensure that his religion is projected in the right way. This quality of his is known as upaguuhana.
6. Sthitikarana {Steadying the wavering faith of a fellow practitioner}
Owing to reasons like a tremendous rise in passion, owing to keeping bad company or owing to trying circumstances like abject poverty, grave illness, gross humiliation, prolonged exposure to false belief, exposure to alleged miracles by practitioners of other faiths and other reasons, even those who have samyaktva may be momentarily engulfed by circumstances into believing false doctrines. Such people, whether monks or laymen, lose their way at times and need to be counselled discreetly and brought back on the true path. Bringing them back on the true path, in line with the teachings of the Jinaas is known as sthitikarana or sthirikarana.
It often happens that people give in to temptation and give up the true path. It is the duty of one who has samyaktva to counsel such a person wisely and help him back on the path of the Jinaas.
Also, helping fellow-practitioners of the faith whose finances are in a precarious position, or are facing some difficulties, which are forcing them to step away from the true path is also known as sthirikarana or sthitikarana.
The Digambara tradition of Jainism gives two subdivisions of sthitikarana:
A) sva-sthitikarana - ensuring that I stay on the path of the Jinaas. To explain our own self to stay on them
B) para-sthitikarana - helping others stay on the path of the Jinaas. To explain others to stay on the right direction and not to deviate from it due to any kind of attachment or momentary pleasures.
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