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THE WAY OF LIFE
were no Dharmashastras but they decided to approach Bhagwan Rishabhdev and to act according to his opinion. The ninety eight brothers went to Bhagwan Rishabhdev. They saluted him with reverence and narrated to him the entire story. Bhagwan Rishabhdev heard what they narrated and said :
HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP FIGHTING THUS ?
"You believe that Bharat is your enemy because he desires to establish his supremacy over your Kingdoms and you are ready to fight against him. But you think of the future. Let us suppose that you defeat Bharat. Will not some other enemy emerge ? Would you fight against him also ? If you defeat him also, would not some other enemy appear ? How long would you keep fighting thus ? For what purpose would you fight thus ? Do you think that the Kingdoms for which you want to fight will accompany you to the other world? The Kingdoms will remain here. You will have to go carrying countless sins. Sins bring sorrow and anguish. You will experience endless misery.
In this universe no jiva is an enemy of any other jiva. The enemies of the jivatma are within himself. They are lust, anger, avarice etc. Recognise your inner enemies. As long as these inner enemies abide in you, you will entertain thoughts of hostility in this world. All calamities are caused by the inner enemies. As long as the inner enemies hold the jivatma in their power and keep exercising their power over the jivatma, the jivatma has to wander about in Samsar experiencing countless agonies. The jivatma has to be experiencing sorrows, desperations and agonies. Therefore, I exhort you to fight against your inner enemies. You can fight against them and achieve a victory over them only in this state of human life. You achieve such a victory that you will never again have to face a defeat. You will attain by that victory such an imperishable and invaluable wealth that you will never desire to acquire any other kind of wealth.
You fight against your inner enemies and if you attain a victory in this fight, you will attain perfection".
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