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168
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
starving oneself It aims at developing physical and mental powers by virtue of sitting steadfastly in suitable postures etc
Lord Mahavira's path lay beyond self-mortification as well as indulgence Certain philosophers of the day pleaded that a like effect follows a like cause Good result cannot follow an evil action and vice-versa Causing bodily pain cannot yield happiness
Other scholars held otherwise They believed 'If the present life is spent in expiration the subsequent incarnation will offer us a happy existence Mortification is followed by pleasurable rewards as a youth spent in relentless industry yields riches for a happy old age'
Mahavira supported neither of the two schools Again, he refuted neither He would not endorse nor discard any exclusive view He reconciled happiness with unhappiness
Said the Lord, 'I believe in cause and effect Happiness should result from happiness One is prone to ask "What is happiness ?" The simple answer is---"That which is desirable is happiness and that which is undesirable is unhappiness"
According to Mahavira such ones are inimical to their body, senses and mind who 1. starve in the hope of obtaining rich foods in the next
incarnation,' 2 renounce family life in the hope of being blessed with a
flourishing large family in the next incarnation; 3 give up riches in the hope of being rewarded with these
in the next life; 4. stay celibate in the hope of winning the amorous company
of divine damsels in the next incarnation; 5. renounce the pleasures of life in the hope of winning
the same thousandfold in the next incarnation, Such austerities are nothing but a torment to oneself 1
There are certain beings who give up these indulgences with a view to renounce that which does not belong to them.
1 'Bhagwai' 8/296
