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

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Page 258
________________ Samyaktva awakens the qualities of gunaanuraaga {appreciating the good qualities of others and gunadarshana {perceiving the good qualities of others in the soul. One who has samyaktva always perceives others with gunadrishti {ability to appreciate the good qualities of others). Hence, he has no attachment or aversion towards anyone or anything. To add to this, samyaktva exerts its influence on his ability to perceive his own true nature. This is why, all his acts lead to nirjaraa (shedding of karmas from the soul). Karmayogi Krishna had attained samyaktva. He never saw bad qualities and only saw the good qualities in others. Once while he was passing through the streets of Dvarika atop his elephant, a demigod (deva) who wanted to test the firmness of his samyaktva placed the rotting corpse of a dog in his path. The corpse was stinking terribly. Krishna's bodyguards and other soldiers were unable to tolerate the stench of the rotting body and placed a cloth over their noses and crossed the body in a huff. Upon seeing the corpse of the dog (inspite of rotting body and intolerable smell), Krishna reflected that the teeth of the dead dog were beautifully white and even. Everyone was amazed on seeing Krishna's guna-darshana-vritti ability to genuinely appreciate the good in another. The demigod (deva) who had chosen to test Krishna's samyaktva saw that Krishna had passed his test with flying colours. He appeared in front of Krishna and apologised to him for having questioned his samyaktva. Thus, the samyakdrishti finds something good and admirable in every flaw. The samyakdrishti also has to struggle. He struggles not with a person but with his negative quality. ‘Hate the sin, not the sinner' is a teaching given by Lord Mahavira. Mahatma Gandhi fought the battle for independence on the basis of this teaching. He always maintained that he had no hatred or anger towards the British. He said that they were like his friends, and would help them if needed. His struggle was with the exploitative, unfair imperialistic policies of the British, not with the British themselves. He unequivocally fought against the policies of the British imperialists but did not feel any attachment or aversion towards individual Britishers. He was clear that his quarrel was with the policies, not with individuals and he stuck to this attitude throughout. That he succeeded in the end is a tribute to the gunagraahii {appreciating good qualities in others) approach, which is a characteristic of the samyakdrishti. This approach believes in ‘Je saaruu e maaruu' {what is right shall be my choice) rather than “Je maaruu e saaruu' {what is my choice is always right). Various religions and sects insist that their teachings and their scriptures describe the highest truth. When Lord Mahavira was asked which among the beliefs and scriptures of the world was the right one and which ones were wrong, he replied that, “Rather than assessing the truth and falsehood in the various religions, consider the point of view of the person. If the person's perspective is pure, draws life from samyaktva (true perception), is uncoloured by the spectacles of attachment, aversion, arrogance and passion and is unbiased, impartial and generous, for him any scripture or belief is samyak. On the other hand, if a person's perspective is impure and is coloured by the 255

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