________________
619
till death or of a house-holder who does not observe any VOW or religious rites throughout his life, but who dies very calmy after taking a vow of remaining without food and drink till death?
Sthavira-Such deaths are praise-worthy.
Indrabhūti Gautama :-Persons dying with such a death are born as trasa ( moving ) living beings and such trasa living beings become the subject-matter of a house-holder's vow of abstinence from killing of trasa living beings. A large majority of people in this world, are very avaracious, engaged in undertakings involving the destruction of thousands of living beings, and much inclined towards hoarding of wealth and belongings, and they, being devoid of a leaning towards righteous conduct, are invariably born in existences of life full of miseries and torments owing to their evil Karmans of previous lives. Intellingent Sädhus who always keep themselves aloof from such sinful undertakings, and house-holders who try to carefully avoid sinful acts, are born after death, as celestial beings or as happy human beings. Tāpasas ( hermits ) such as Āranyakas ( hermits living in forests) Āvasathikas (hermits living near cities and towns), Oräma-niyantrikas ( hermits confined to villages ) and Tapasas of other kinds are born as Astras ( demi-gods ) after death, and after remaining as asûras (demi-gods ) for their individual period of time, they are again born as deaf or dumb-mutes during their next existence as human beings. Also living beings with very long periods of age-limit, living beings with an age-limit of a middling nature, and living beings with a very small period of age-limit, are all born as trasa living beings after death Living beings of the above-named trasa varieties are trasa living beings during their present existence and after death they will again be born as trasa living beings. All such trasa living beings are fit to be the subject-matter for a house-holder's vow of abstinence from killing trasa living beings.
Some house-liolders are not able to observe all the Partial
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
