Treasure Of Qualities Introduction to Inspiring Life of Acharya Vijaydharmsuri Maharaj

Author(s): Prashamratnavijay
Publisher: Dharmkrupa Trust

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A Principled Saint... Offers a principle preference to his principles...
In the morning, probably at 8, two gentlemen, one elder and one younger, approached me in the silent upaashray, to perform the obeisance as they would do daily. The upaashray was mute as there was no one except me, to make it noisy and even I was lost in my studies, till the moment, this pair created a disturbance in my concentration. After performing the Guruvandan, a disciplined ritual signified by the scriptures, they both folded their legs on the ground, obviously seeming in a mood to have a chat with me. Mostly, Shravak don't take such positions in front of me and surely, if they do like such, I get scared, as I can seriously imbibe nothing useful for myself from their talks and the time gets wasted! But as soon as they took their seat, the elder - most human from the both appealed, “Sahebji, As you know, tomorrow I'm completing my Maasakshaman (30 fasts continuously) and I wish that in my gift, he (pointing towards the younger individual accompanying him) must at least accept 2 vows to be followed for the span of an year :
• Not consuming anything after midnight • Observing Chauvihar at least for 5 days per month.
That person's face grew more and more serious, as he proceeded further, manifesting his desire!
But such cases are not so new for us. Regularly elders arrive and complain that their descendants don't follow religious principles and rituals, and easily absorb the bad virtues from their friend circle. Even we experience a boredom hearing their typical claims every now and then. But in my early years, I use to have a great enthusiasm in inducing and even forcing the youngsters to follow the religious ethics and activities, where as inductively now, I have stopped practicing such unnecessary toil. I have arrived to the conclusion that religion is not a thing to make someone observe forcefully, as at last, only the good or bad emotions of an individual will make him lay himself open to good or bad Karma. Jain religion is like a GPS, if you approach, it will guide you the right way, and if you don't waste your valuable time and
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