Way of Life Part 2

Author(s): Bhadraguptasuri
Publisher: Vishvakalyan Prakashan Trust Mehsana

Page 97

DISCOURSE 30
85
graced and condemned. People will not trust Sadhus. The Sadhus and Sadhvis of Jain Dharma will find it hard and difficult to carry on their life of austerity. A terrible disaster will come about".
A SACRIFICE TO THE JIN SHASAN
Kalikasuriji thought deeply and seriously about the situation, "People do not know Vinayaratna. They know only Kalikasuriji. All people know that the King was performing Paushad under my guidance. No one has come from outside. The guards guarding the palace will bear witness to this fact; and they will confirm it. The blame will surely fall on me. On account of that accusation, the Jineshwar and the Jinshasan will be stained and reproached. Such a thing should not occur!"
"The Jin Shasan should not be blamed and condemned". The Acharya thought about this point deeply. There was only one method by which he could save the Jin Shasan from being condemned and blamed, and that was to kill himself and to offer himself as a sacrifice to save the honour of the Jin Shasan.
"If I kill myself with this dagger, the Jin Shasan would be saved from being blamed and condemned. People will think that some treacherous man has killed the acharya and the king".
The acharya had no attachment for his body; and he had no interest in it; or any concern for it. He took up the dagger and with one stroke, he stabbed himself to instant death. He thus sacrificed his life to save the Dharma Shasan from being stained.
The history of the Jain tradition tells us about such great acharyas. The acharyas possess the ability to carry out their great responsibilities. They do not have any attachment for the body; they do not have interest in it. They are absolutely selfless and detached. If Kalikasuriji had any attachment for his body, what would he have done? The history of a great sacrifice would not have been written. If he had any attachment for the body, he would have thought thus; "What shall I do now? What had to occur, has occurred! Vinayaratna has treacherously betrayed the trust and confidence which I reposed in him.