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८४ :
श्रमण/अक्टूबर-दिसम्बर/१९९६
There are two kinds of people, namely Anusrotagāmi and Pratisrotagāmi. Anusrotagāmi are those who flow with the current and Pratisrotagāmi are those who either change the existing current and flow with it or flow against the current and achieve landmarks in life.
The question that arises next is what is this current in question? there is a current of water, of tradition and also of sense pleasures. Whether a person flows in the direction of the current or against it, the focus of his consciousness is this current, for example, when we are friendly or hostile to a person, that person becomes the focus of our mind. The third option is that of Upekšā i.e. indifference, where one is neither friendly nor hostile to a person but being indiffernt he witnesses only unmoved by any kind of passion. Such a person understands his true self and brings it into manifestation.
The society benefits from his search and manifestation of the self just as a ray of light pierces the darkness and spreads light everywhere. He neither accepts nor rejects the norms of society but an insight into truth and his power of discrimination forms the foundation of his life abiding which he conducts himself. And when his path is in accordance with the social traditions and customs, people call him Anuśrotagāmi and if it is against the trend, people call him Pratisrotagāmi. But the fact is that he is neither the former nor the latter but is an Antargāmi i.e. one who follows his own self.
One such personality was that of Śramaņa Mahāvīra. His life was a proclamation of revolution, a divine song of liberation, a fabricated Sūtra of Ahiṁsā and a vast laboratory of truth. His life was an experiment with truth and he knew and lived life in its totality.
The foundation of all his spiritual practices was meditation, accompanied with Kāyotsarga' i.e. firm body postures. These embellished his personality, cleansed his self and enabled him to reach the great heights of renunciation. Penances like fasting and other yogic postures inspired and complimented his spiritual practices.
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