Sthaviravali

Author(s): Ratnaprabhvijay
Publisher: Jain Granth Prakashak Sabha

Page 79

58
person's mental activity about matter-which meant a very high degree of spirituality,-then commenced the under-mentioned preaching:-“ An individual devoid of the Knowledge of the true nature of the Soul and of other objects in this world is MR Ajna, Ignorant.
... An ignorant man engages himself in unprofitable occupations like a hog in foeces, while a person with superior knowledge, becomes chiefly absorbed in the acquisition of knowledge of the true nature of the Sonl, like & F Hamsa, a Swan, in in
tar Mānas sarovara, Mānasa lake-a sacred lake and place of pilgrimage on Mount Kailasa, whither the wild swans repair in the breeding season at the beginning of the monsoons.
Knowledge which is instrumental in directing one's thoughts, towards the various aspects of any Moksha-pada, the state of Final Beatitude, which alone is the causal element in becoming free from Karmas, that is to say which makes the Soul solely intent on it and identical with it, is superior knowledge and it is a knowledge producing Eternal Bliss, which the Soul failed to acquire from time immemorial.
Knowledge, however embellished with eloquent words and artful language, but devoid of the true nature of the Soul, does not at all contribute to the Happiness of the Soul, because only a very small quantity of this nectar-like knowledge, i capable of destroying the malady of endless Karmas.
· Persons intent on making the first objection to a proposi. tion for a controversy, and persons busy with raising objections to it, as well as persons believing in unascertainable objects do not fully attain the knowledge of the true nature of the Soul, like an ox walking round and round an oil-mill; because, such persons chiefly aim at defeating their adversary and obtaining victory over him and hence they consequently do not understand the true nature of objects. Besides, by depending on the un-investigated form of an object, without accurately