O man ! You better control and
curb your own Self ? Thus alone will you be free from all sorrows and
misery:
x x x
I beg pardon of all living
beings ; may all living beings pardon me. I bear friendship for all living
beings ; I bear no enmity to any.
x x x
Anger destorys love,
pride puts an end to modesty, deceit removes friends, while greea-destroys
everything.
x x x
(3) The Theory of Karma :
All souls are susceptible to
assimilating Karma particles, flowing from all the six quarters ; the
Karma binds the soul in all its parts, and the entire Karma-particles bind
or cover the whole soul in every way.
X x x
In this world, all living
beings suffer individually for their -deeds. For the deeds they have done,
they obtain punishment or rebirth ; none can escape the fruit of actions,
except by suffering for it.
X x x
In this world or in the next,
the sinner suffers himself what he has inflicted on others a hundred fold
or in some different form of punishment. Living beings in Samsara, i.e.
cycle of worldly existence, go on ever acquiring fresh Karma (by mind,
speech or action), and suffer for their evil deeds.
X X X
As a burglar caught in the
breach of a wall, perishes by the act he himself had performed (viz.
giving a breach in the wall), even to people, in this life and after death
(i. e. in the next life), can never escape the fruit of actions performed
by them.
x x x
A man goes according to his
Karma sometimes to the world of gods, sometimes: to hell; and. sometimes
to the Asura world (i. e. the world of demons).
x x x
The relatives of a man will not
act as relatives at, the time when the man is to reap, the fruit of his
Karma which he has done in this worldly lzfe for the sake of others, or in
common for himself along with others:
X X X
Neither his kinsmen nor his
friends, nor his sons, nor his relatives are prepared to share his pain.
He alone bears the pain himself. Karma follows invariably the doer alone.
X x x
Therefore, a wise man should
know the various subdivisions or types of these Karnias, and should also
exert himself to prevent any new Karma and to destory the past Karmas.
X X X
Just as a large tank, when its
supply of water has been stopped, gradually dries up by the consumption of
the water, and by evaporation, similarly 'the Karma of a well-controlled
monk, acquired in crores of past births, is annihilated by austerities
provided, however, that there is no further influx of bad Karma, :
x x x
Just as a dried gourd fruit,
when it is covered with layers of soft clay, becomes heavy and sinks down
in water, in the same way the soul becomes heavy because of the influx
of=Karmas, and sinks to (i. e. is born in) the lower types of births. But
the same gourd - fruit, when it is freed from the thick layers of clay
(-with the! clay - gradually being dissolved in water-) becomes light (or
attains its natural lightness), and floats on the surface of water ;'in
like manner, the souls devoid of all the Karmas,
(attain their natural state),
and go to the top of vthe world and reside there permanently.
x x x
(4) The way of salvation :
Right faith, right knowledge
and right conduct, these together constitute the path to liberation.
x x x
Liberation comes soon to those
desiring Self-advancement, when they exert ceaselessly in the threefold
path of right belief, right knowledge and right conduct:
X X X
One must by all possible means,
first attain right belief, because only on the acquisition thereof,
knowledge and conduct become right.
X X X
Right knowledge, right faith,
right conduct and austerities : Those who follow this fourfold path will
attain the best state of existence i.e. the final beatitude.
X X X
By right knowledge one knows
the true nature of things, by right faith one believes in them, by right
conduct one controls the influx of Karma, and by austerities one attains
purity.
X X X
Without right faith, there
cannot be right knowledge ; without right., knowledge,' there can be.no
right or virtuous conduct ; without virtuous conduct, there cannot be,
releasc or freedom from Karma (i.e. release from bandage) ; and without
release from Karmic bondage, there cannot be Nirvana (i. e. liberation).
X X x
