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The Unknown Pilgrims
Madhyastha: a calm and indifferent attitude towards the wicked, those who are insulting or scornful towards the dharma.71
356
And who is the vratin? It is he (or she) who is niśśalya, without thorns, or darts, such as deceitfulness, greed for pleasure, faulty vision.72 Great importance is attached to these salyas, for how can the ascetic walk or make progress on the path while some thorn or other is buried in his flesh? He cannot go forward until he has removed these salyas. Even after pronouncing the mahāvratas, one is an ascetic only in name so long as these thorns are still there.73
We are now better positioned to understand the invisible link between the mahāvratas and the avaśyakas and how, beginning with this binding commitment, one may set forth on the path, adhering to one's original vision, that of the Three Jewels.7
74
71 Cf. TS VII, 11; YSas IV, 117-122; these bhāvanās are given in the section on dhyana, where they are called "the elixir of dhyana". Let us bear in mind that the bhāvanās are at one and the same time subjects for reflection and counsels to follow, the props, so to speak, of the mahāvratas.
72 Cf. TS VII, 18.
73 This is of prime importance and as it is always possible to allow one thorn or another to penetrate the atman, the rite of pratikramaņa should play its part in their extraction. It contains a śalya-sūtra and one of the aims of kayotsarga is to protect one from these thorns.
74 N.B. 3 of the mahāvratas: satya, brahmacarya, aparigraha belong also to the 10 śramaṇa-dharmas introduced in the following ch.
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