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Soul Science: Samayasara by Jain Acarya Kundakunda
(11) Pratimā 11 or stage 11: It is called Uddiṣṭa-Ahāra-Tyāga Pratimā.
At this stage the person does not live with his family. He/she relinquishes all connections with his/her family and lives with the spiritual master with a new name. The name of this Pratima shows that he/she does not eat the food cooked for him/her; there is a well defined procedure of getting the food such that such a person neither has to ask/request nor he/she gets invitation in advance.
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Question: Is it justified for a person to undergo penance or to follow the path of renunciation with a burden on the society and family? Is it not better to utilize one's physical and mental strength to do some creative work to earn and enrich the family and society?
Answer: Similar questions can be asked for sports, fine arts, and scientific pursuits in the field of subatomic particles, cosmology, etc. If one recognizes the value of peace, non-violence, love, brotherhood, virtuous acts, reduction in ego then he/she should also recognize the value of spiritual seekers and masters.
Question; How do actions of body and mind of a SamyagDrşti be called as right conduct of soul?
Answer: At the level of soul a SamyagDrști does not become doer of any act of body and mind. Any transformation in the soul happens due to soul's own ability. However, as discussed in the annotations of stanzas 171-172, in case of a worldly enlightened persons (SamyagDrști), not in the bliss, there happens disturbance or fluctuation in the state (Paryaya) of the soul. Without such disturbance, the soul would have become omniscient and have been in the perfect blissful state. The disturbance is also evident from the fact that the soul's attention shifts from one object to another. The soul's attention shifts from the Self. Stanza 171 reveals that even by such disturbance in the soul the Kärmika bonding takes place. In case of a SamyagDrști, the new Karmika bonding depends on the magnitude of disturbance or fluctuation in the state of the soul. The spiritual vows are such that they decrease the need of sensual pleasures as well as need of controlling, harming, liking (Raga), or disliking (Dvesa) others; and such a decrease becomes an instrumental cause to a decrease in the fluctuation or disturbance, corresponding to Raga and Dveșa in the state of the soul. Question: What is beyond 11th Pratimā?
Answer: Beyond this stage the conduct of monks and nuns starts. The description of such conduct is beyond the scope of this appendix. It may be noted that the conduct of monk falls in 6th and 7th Gunasthana. The perfection in the conduct takes place in 12th Gunasthana; the omniscience starts from 13th, and the soul just before liberation is considered in 14th Gunasthāna. A liberated soul (Siddha) is beyond 14th Guṇasthāna.
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