________________
deceit destroys amity and greed destroys everything. Unless passions are conquered, men have to be borne and to die again and again and their moving will not completely end, even in eternity. One who desires the welfare of his self should renounce these four flaws. If a person controls his passion, he can conquer the whole world." Spirituality means full control on mind. The four passions: anger, conceit, deceit and greed are awake, they are even on the lookout for anyone whom they can entrap and devour. One must therefore be always awake and alert, must always discriminate between right and wrong. One has to be very sharp and focused to see what one is doing and thinking, and how one's thoughts and actions affect one's life, the lives of others, and the whole world.
Mahavira said, “An aspirant, who is vigilant in all his activities, he remains uncontaminated like the lotus in water and not bound by evil karmas”. Any action committed knowingly or unknowingly, has karmic repercussions. Injury or harm caused by carelessness is as reprehensible as harm caused by deliberate action. One automatically accumulates bad karma if he accidentally eats meat from his begging bowl. If an act produces violence, then the person is guilty of it, whether or not he had an intention to commit. Accidental physical harm may not count as violence if there was no violent intention, but lack of compassion or care may be a sufficiently violent intention. He is responsible for his ignorance and carelessness. His very ignorance and carelessness constitute an act to do violence and hence entail his guilt.
Mahavira said, “Indolent and incompetent persons will keep themselves away from self-restraints
216
