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DISCOURSE 18
303
THE VIEW BORN OUT OF SHASTRAS IS ESSENTIAL
"We perform spiritual austerities; but we do not get any felicity from them". "You complain thus; do not you? This complaint can be kept away. Have the aim of performing spiritual austerities in the manner prescribed in the Shastras; and keep experiencing the lofty emotions of amity, etc. Every day, cultivate those emotions. For this, you have to extend the area of contemplation. The fourteen Rajyalokas in the entire Universe should become the area of your contemplation. You have to visualize and think about the countless jivas that are wandering eternally about in the Urdhwalok, (the upper world); the Adholok (the nether world); and the Madhyalok (the middle world); Yes, you need Shastradrishti or the view born out of scriptural studies. Without this kind of vision, you cannot know which jivas are passing through the phases of birth and death in the various spheres of existence. It is only by such a vision born out of Shastras that you can realise how full of sorrow Samsar is.
By means of Shastradrishti, you can see the actual nature of Samsar; you can visualize how man on account of his sinful Karmas goes to Naraka (hell) or is born as a member of the brute-creation and also what kinds of sorrows he experiences. When you visualize these things, boundless compassion will surge out from your heart. WHO IS A THIRTANKAR?
It is only by means of a visualization of the entire Samsar that boundless compassion springs in the souls of the greatest men of the world. "Oh, how many kinds of wicked actions do the poor Jivas do, blinded by the dreadful darkness of their ignorance? They will surely fall into spiritual ruin, and will experience inordinate agony and anguish. I will give them the light of true knowledge. I will save them from their anguish and I will show them the path of supreme bliss and the path of supreme peace". It is this kind of compassion that will make a man worthy of attaining the status of a Thirtankar. Only those who possess this kind of compassion can attain the state of a Thirtankar.
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