________________
NON-ABSOLUTISTIC ATTITUDE OF THE JAINAS
[CH.
One who knows one thing knows all things, and one who knows all things knows one thing. The unmindful apprehends danger from all sides. The mindful has no danger from any quarter. He does not hanker after life.1 The wise, always mindful and cautious, exerts himself day and night."
20
What acts as cause of bondage (asava) in the case of one can act as the cause of release (parissava) for another and vice versa.3 It is our attitude that counts. The path of the brave is thorny (duranucaro). It involves mortification of the flesh. Desires prove heavy on the soul. They lead one to death. To go near death means to recede back from freedom. To the wise life is like a water-drop on the tip of a tossing leaf. It is the stupid who do cruel acts and keep tied to the cycle of births and deaths.5 One should not let one's strength remain concealed (no ninhavejja viriyaṁ). Easy life is no life for a spiritual aspirant. For him dhamma (Law) means equanimity. 'What thou knowest to be equanimity (sammam), know that to be sagedom monam). What thou knowest to be sagedom, know that to be equanimity. It is inaccessible to the weak, sinning, sensual, illconducted and house-inhabiting men." The mind of a sage is like a calm and quiet lake full to the brim and lying on an even plane and free from all dust. Meditation is impossible for a wavering mind." Knowledge of the self and the world is necessary for release. The knower is the self. The self is that by which we know. The world is a whirlpool. 'The current (of sin) is said to come from above, from below, and from the sides; these have been declared to be the currents through which, look, there is sinfulness.'9 Liberation means freedom from the influence of these currents. It cannot be described by words. 'All sounds recoil thence. Where speculation has no room, the mind cannot penetrate there.'1o The liberated soul has no shape, no colour, no smell, no taste, no weight, no touch, no rebirth, no attachment. It is neither male, nor female, nor otherwise. There is no analogy. It is formless existence, arūvi sattā.11
The Jainas, like other exponents of asceticism, endorse suicide in case the body fails to fulfil the demands of the spirit. Of course, 'suicide' is a misnomer for this kind of death. It is only an abandonment of the body unable to help the spirit in its progress. It is not under the pressure of passions that the death is to be courted. Freedom from passions is the prerequisite of this kind of voluntary death. Complete absence of ill will towards every living creature, and good will for all inspire the life and activities of a true ascetic. He
1 Ibid., I. 3. 4.
4 Ibid., I. 4. 4. 7 Ibid., I. 5. 5.
Jain Education International
10 Ibid.
2 Ibid., I. 4. I.
5 Ibid., I. 5. I.
8 Ibid., I. 5. 5.
11 Ibid.
For Private & Personal Use Only
3 Ibid., I. 4. 2.
6 Ibid., I. 5. 3. 9 Ibid., I. 5. 6.
www.jainelibrary.org
