Essence of the World 1st Bk, 5th Lecture-6thLesson

[Anne Terri]

God's Living Bible - The Third Testament - Research Library - Jainism

Essence of the World 1st Bk, 5th Lecture
SIXTH LESSON

Some not instructed (in the true law) make (only a show) of good conduct; some, though instructed,

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have no good conduct. Let that not be your case! That is the doctrine of the clever one. Adopting the (âkârya's) views, imitating his indifference (for the outer world), making him the guide and adviser (in all one's matters), sharing his abode, conquering (sinfulness), one sees the truth; unconquered one should be one's own master, having no reliance on anything (in the world). He who is great and withdraws his mind from the outer world, should learn the teaching (of the Tîrthakaras) through the teaching (of the âkârya); by his own innate knowledge, or through the instruction of the highest 1, or having heard it from others. A wise man should not break the commandment. Examining all (wrong) doctrines from all sides and in all respects, one should clearly understand (and reject) them. 'Knowing the delight of this world 2, circumspect and restrained, one should lead the life of an ascetic.' Desiring liberation 3, a hero should, through the sacred lore, ever be victorious. Thus I say. (1)

The current (of sin) 4 is said to come from above, from below, and from the sides; these have been declared to be the currents through which, look, there is sinfulness.

'Examining the whirlpool 5, a man, versed in the sacred lore, should keep off from it.' Leaving the world to avert the current (of sin), such a great

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man, free from acts, knows and sees the truth; examining (pleasures) he does not desire them. (2) Knowing whence we come and whither we go, he leaves the road to birth and death, rejoicing in the glorious (liberation). 'All sounds recoil thence, where speculation has no room,' nor does the mind penetrate there 1. The saint 2 knows well that which is without support 3. (3)

(The liberated) is not long nor small nor round nor triangular nor quadrangular nor circular; he is not black nor blue nor red nor green nor white; neither of good nor bad smell; not bitter nor pungent nor astringent nor sweet; neither rough nor soft; neither heavy nor light; neither cold nor hot; neither harsh nor smooth; he is without body, without resurrection, without contact (of matter), he is not feminine nor masculine nor neuter; he perceives, he knows, but there is no analogy (whereby to know the nature of the liberated soul); its essence is without form; there is no condition of the unconditioned. There is no sound, no colour, no smell, no taste, no touch--nothing of that kind. Thus I say. (4)

End of the Fifth Lecture, called Essence of the World.

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Footnotes

50:1 Fool, bâla; the scholiast explains bâla as Sâkya or Pârsvastha, an outsider, or a follower of Pârsva (?).

50:2 For the same pain he has caused to others in this life, he will suffer in the life hereafter.

50:3 This means that knowledge is a modification (parinâma) of the Self, and therefore one with it, but not as a quality or action of the Self different from it.

51:1 I.e. the Tîrthakaras.

51:2 I.e. self-control.

51:3 The original has nitthiya = nishthita.

51:4 It is called the door of âsrava. The three directions mentioned in the text, are the three divisions of the universe. Objects of desire in each induce men to sin. The original is a sloka, noticed as such by the scholiast.

51:5 Of worldly desires and their objects.

52:1 It is impossible to express the nature of liberation in words, since it cannot be reached even by the mind.

52:2 Oe = oga, he who is free from love and hate.

52:3 I.e. liberation, or the state of the liberated. Support, patitthâna, is the body or karman.

The Sacred Books of the East -translated by various Oriental scholars and edited by F. Max Müller Vol. xxii
Gaina Sutras Translated from Prakrit by Hermann Jacobi in two parts -Part I -The Âkârâ?ga Sûtra
Essence of the World 1st Bk, 5th Lecture-6thLesson
God's Living Bible - The Third Testament - Research Library - Jainism
Jaina Sutras, Part I (SBE22), translated by Hermann Georg Jacob Jacobi - 1884

This text is in the public domain within the United States, because it was published prior to 1923