Book Title: Samkit Faith Practice Liberation
Author(s): Amit B Bhansali
Publisher: Amit B Bhansali

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 253
________________ The Jain faith perceives the light of the transcendental soul in the poorest and most downtrodden of people, irrespective of their caste and creed. From the nishchaya naya {transcendental viewpoint}, each soul is intrinsically pure. There is not a single soul, which attained samyaktva through its own efforts and then failed to reach exalted status. This is corroborated by the Bhagavadgita in the following verse: "vidyaavinayasampanne braahmane gavi hastini. Shuni chaiva shvapaake cha panditaah samadarshinah.” -Shrimad Bhagavadgita, Verses 5.18 (Page 98, Author: Vaishyamuni, Publisher: Geeta Press, Gorukhpur, (UP) year V.S.2063, 13th edition) The wise one does not discriminate between the learned and humble Brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog and a chandaal cemetery worker. Seen from the viewpoint of the soul's own nature, all souls in the world are similar. But from the spiritual viewpoint, the soul, which breaks the bondage of false belief, ignorance and delusion and attains samyaktva begins its upward journey (which culminates in liberation) and the soul which remains stuck in the darkness of false belief, ignorance and delusion begins its downward journey (and remains stuck in the web of transmigration). A chandaal (cemetery worker) who attains samyaktva is worshipped by the demigods (deva) and a monk who lacks samyaktva is considered to merely be a dravya saadhu (a monk who follows the external vows but is bereft of the spiritual realisation that leads to liberation) Here is a story that appears in the Aradhana Katha Kosha, volume 1, story 24: The chandaal cemetery worker called Yamapaala attained samyaktva on seeing the monk Sarvaushadhi. He realised the true nature of the soul and took the lifetime vow of abstaining from all violence on the 14th day of each month. Behaviour during adversity is the truest indicator of how strong a person's commitment to his vows is. Yamapaala also had to face adversities. He was asked by his King Paakashaasana to hang a wealthy merchant called Dharma who was extremely violent and cruel, on the 14th day of the month. Since Yamapaala had taken a vow to commit no violence on the 14th day of the month, he refused to obey the King's order. Angered by his refusal, the King decided to punish him and decreed that Yamapaala, along with the merchant Dharma were to be dropped in a crocodile-infested pool. The crocodile immediately devoured the sinful merchant. But Yamapaala's samyaktva and the steadfastness with which he had held on to his vow impressed many celestial beings who rescued him from the crocodile infested waters, placed him on a throne and bathed him with consecrated water. After ritual anointment, they worshiped him with gold and jewels, clothed him in divine clothes and stood before front of him with folded hands and sang his praises. 250

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447