Way of Life Part 4

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

Page 26

16
THE WAY OF LIFE
Just as you go on pilgrimages to holy places (Thirthayatra); just as you carry out Rathayatra (the chariot-procession of the Lord) and the Padyatra (traversing on foot) in the same manner, you have to carry on your lokayatra or the pilgrimage of your life. You go on a pilgrimage once or twice in a year. You celebrate a chariot-procession twice or thrice in a year and you traverse on foot off and on.
LEARN TO CARRY OUT THE PILGRIMAGE OF YOUR LIFE
When you carry out a pilgrimage remembering the Paramatma with devotion you may not get an immediate miraculous power. If you carry out either a chariot-procession or a travel on foot improperly, no undesirable reaction may be seen immediately but if you commit even the smallest mistake in your lokyatra or in the pilgrimage of your life, there will be an immediate reaction. You have to carry out the pilgrimage of your life with the greatest caution and care.
You can carry out a pilgrimage to holy places or a chariotprocession or a travel on foot, when you want to. These things depend upon your desire or wish. But the pilgrimage of your life has to be carried out whether you like it or not. If you know how to carry on the pilgrimage of your life, you will surely get the richest fruits from it. This is an ordinary principle but in real life it is not an ordinary principle; it is an extraordinary one. Its importance is very great in life.
In carrying out the pilgrimage of life, man has to be sensible and vigilant. It requires intelligence. People devoid of intelligence fail in carrying out the pilgrimage of life, because in this pilgrimage you have to know the thoughts and mental propensities of others around you. You have to know the opinions of the people around you. You must safeguard and maintain the respect for yourself and for your noble observances and conduct, in the Sangh, in the society and in the city in which you happen to be living. Just as a house, clothes, food, a family, friends etc. are necessary, in the life of a householder respect from others also is necessary. It is very essential that no one should disrespect you and your observances and prac