Shri Uttaradhyayan Adhyayan 15 - True Renunciation Pravachan 2 English Summary (16.08.2020)

Please Note: This is an English summary of the pravachan by a seeker, Rimaben Dhanky from Dubai and has been uploaded here for the benefit of the English reader.

Stanza 1: “Accepting the religious life I will practice the monk-order - the full vows of a monk' - with this solemn resolve who lives with other sages (and having a firm belief in right knowledge- faith- conduct) acts sincerely, renounces the desire of volition-covetousness, abandons the acquaintance of worldly and domestic relatives, has no wish for sensual pleasures, seeks for faultless alms, without giving an introduction of own caste and clan, from unknown families and wanders unobstructed, he is a true mendicant.”

In Yogdrashti Samucchay, we have seen a beautiful example. A traveller stays somewhere at night and becomes fresh in the morning to travel ahead. In the same way, you have done satsang in every birth, you have collected knowledge from a lot of satsangs, you cannot afford to go back to zero now. You have to go ahead.

When Pujya Gurudevshri was young, a book fell on His head and He had the darshan of Param Krupalu Dev (Prabhu). He felt that Prabhu was His Guru since many births. He was connected with the spiritual pursuit of many births. The more He was connected, the more purity He experienced, His spiritual pursuit and studies of the scriptures increased, etc. You have the instincts of desires as well as dispassion both, it depends on you, what you want to strengthen. You have desired since eternity to go within and you are not even aware of it.

One incident of the transience of life is seen and a person feels, ‘This is it, enough, I am becoming an ascetic.’ The ascetic feels that he would practice only the monk-order, which becomes his work, entertainment, and rest. He feels that with all these other sages, he will also proceed on the path. But this is a superficial meaning. The deeper meaning is that he is ready to become an ascetic with the right faith (samyag darshan). He has the conviction and experience within to embrace initiation. He is not influenced by someone else, he knows that it is his conviction.

The ascetic listens to the words of Bhagwan and he acts sincerely. The mind keeps going ahead with Bhagwan’s words. He has tears in his eyes. He is ready to go ahead and follow Bhagwan’s words. Sulsa got prasad- the grace of Bhagwan ’s words, “Dharmalaabh” (May you have the benevolence of , usually spoken by Jain ascetics). Bhagwan just remembered her and she must be such a Pure Soul that she had tears in her eyes, She choked because of the intense emotions and body was thrilled. She kept thinking, ‘Wow! Bhagwan remembered this insignificant person. When will I repay Your grace?’ If you are not eligible, you would think, ‘Does my Guru like me or not?’ You should only remember that your Guru has done infinite benevolences on you and you have to repay it with bhakti. Whether He is angry or happy with you, you have to do bhakti. You have expectations from the Guru, whereas Sulsa had no expectations. She was beyond the mind and had no ego in bhakti. This is true love and only such people can go on to be a Tirthankar. Sulsa had a cyclone of emotions and felt that her love and faith which were invested in Bhagwan Mahavira grew a million times more. When water of Swati Nakshetra drops in the oyster shell, it starts becoming a pearl.

The ascetic does not have any thorn of deceit, within or he has no thorn of expectations of future or the next birth. He does not have thorns of false beliefs in him. He is very humble, straightforward, simple, and kind. Those who have many desires will have to get into various deceits. His straightforwardness can be seen on the face. His bliss can be seen on the face. He has no desire for any sensual pleasures. He wants bhakti. He only wants bhakti.

The ascetic is leaving the relatives and family. He feels that he is not getting benefited because of them. He does not have to think about someone not keeping well or having financial losses. He does not want any external thoughts, he wants to stabilise within. The other person is ignorant and he keeps changing at every moment. This person’s knowledge has to keep clicking the photographs of these changes. He does not want so many thoughts, so he leaves the worldly endeavours. He wants to run on the path of Bhagwan Mahavira. The seeker or the ascetic knows that he cannot enter the other’s territory, and others cannot enter his territory, so he wants to remain within all the time. He does not want to be a doer or an enjoyer. He wants to move in an unobstructed way.

The ascetic does not want or like anything except the soul. He only wants to attain liberation. He has no other desires at all.

King Kumarpal was denouncing Himself in the scripture called ‘Dwatrinshika’. He is saying, “Oh, Lord, when will I not even have the desire for liberation?” King Kumarpal wanted pure equanimity prevailing irrespective of whether He was embodied or in the liberated state.

The ascetic has stabilised in the soul and when you do his darshan, millions of your karma are shed. A girl attained initiation in Surat. Since childhood, she went to school after doing pratikraman and worshipping the Lord. She would not drink a drop of water before Navkarshi. She insisted on her mother packing her food for her breakfast. The mother was surprised, so the girl said that she would not eat anything without Guru’s darshan. While going to school, she used to go to the upashray first, bow down to Guru Bhagwan, and then went to the school. She ate in the school compound. Such a girl would never get married, she would certainly go on to be initiated.

Dhanpal went even further in King Kumarpal’s thoughts. He says, “Oh, Lord! It is okay if I attain liberation, but I won’t get Your seva there, so I do not want to get liberated.” Just look at this devotion!

The ascetic accepts alms without giving an introduction of own caste and clan, from unknown families. He does not go anywhere with the invitation. He is satisfied with what he gets. The ascetic keeps his spiritual pursuit or austerity also secret. After 30 days of fasting, he goes to get food on the 31st day. If he gets some food, it is fine, if he does not get it, he is fine with that too. He does not let others know about his austerity. This is a true mendicant of Bhagwan Mahavira.

The ascetic is engrossed in the soul and even if he is with his group of ascetics, he remains within. He is always engrossed in the soul. Even when he gives discourses, he worries about the disciple’s welfare and security, but he does not forget himself and remains within the soul.

If the last step is liberation, the first step is yearning for liberation. When the yearning for liberation increases, the seeker decides to become an ascetic. The one who is a mendicant has certain virtues. In , the word ‘Bhikshu’ is not very famous. In Jainism, words like ‘nirgranth’, ‘arya or aryaa’, ‘sadhu-sadhvi’ have come up. ‘Sabhikshu’ means that ascetic.

When the ascetic follows the right religious ceremonies without any defaults, he develops seven virtues within.

Stanza 2: “Who is disinterested to the attachment (renouncer of night eating), practices the sage-conduct as prescribed, disinclined towards unrestrained, well-versed in scriptures, ready for soul (self) protection, wise and witty, victor of troubles and attachment-detachment, believe that all living beings are as (equal to) me, does not indulge in anything; he is a true mendicant.”

By following the right religious ceremonies and conduct, the ascetic attains seven virtues. His inner journey and external journey in the form of restraints starts happening. He has true conduct. Under the influence of false beliefs, we call the prescribed conduct, “Rules and regulations” but when this influence weakens, we call the same thing, “Right religious practices or good conduct.” Your false belief can be seen in your words. Do you feel that you are pressurised or do you feel that you are getting pleasure?

Conduct is compared with the river. The river flows between the two banks continuously. These two banks let the water flow smoothly and reach its destination. In spiritual life, two banks are vows and regulations. These are the banks of dos and don’ts. They let the spiritual life flow smoothly to manifest pure awareness. This ascetic does not fall in any situation or does not get influenced by people. Lord Mahavira’s mendicant will not get attached anywhere. He follows right conduct, he does not need any efforts, stress, and thoughts; everything is natural. His yog (mind, speech, and body) and upayog (awareness) have become separate, so his upayog goes within.

His consciousness might go out in the external factors due to past instincts, but it won’t get established anywhere. The ascetic renounces eating after the sunset or travelling before the sunrise. If the ascetic has to go out at night, he has to put his woolen shawl on his head to make sure that no insects fall on his head and die. The shawl can save these insects. He cannot remain self-willed. He does not go to the city. He does not go to the devotee’s house. He likes to go to families who are not following Jainism to test himself more and more. He assesses his spiritual pursuit. He has no likes or dislikes, he has no attachments and aversions, and follows the path of restraint.

The worldly soul has the biggest trouble. He becomes one with the body wherever he takes birth. He gets attached to that body, he becomes a doer and the enjoyer of the same. If you look at the dung-hill, you feel disgusted. But in the next birth, if you become a pig or a rat, the same dung-hill becomes a Disneyland for you. If you are into any of the seven addictions or you have had them before, you cannot become a celestial being or human being in the next birth. The one who is following the vows, he becomes a celestial being in the next birth. The one who is not following the vows, but if he has no addictions, he becomes a human being in the next birth. If he is or was into the addictions, he goes into the plant or animal being. If he has very strong addictions, he goes into the hellish being. This path is not the path of saying sorry. With your sorry, you won’t do it next time, but you won’t dissociate the past karma. Dissociation of karma can be done only with atonement.

You take atonement and within an hour, you start fooling around. Pujyashri Juthabhai was in so much repentance because of one lapse in seva, that he fell sick and left the mortal body. He did not forget his flaw till the last moment.

In one body, the soul is neglecting something and in the other body, the same soul is expecting that same thing. This shows oneness with the body. Prabhu’s daughter’s name was Kashi. When Prabhu was talking to her, He said, “You are not Kashi, you are the soul.” Kashiben said, “No, I am Kashi.” Prabhu felt, ‘She is just six years old and she has oneness with the body and name.”

As the hair and nails grow on the mother’s body, so does the offspring. If she cuts her nail or hair, nothing happens to her. But she interferes with everything when it comes to her child. This is only doership and attachment.

The ascetic puts a full stop on the extroverted behaviour. He has a strong attraction to the Lord’s virtues. He remains away from sinful activities. All the energy of the mind is diverted in the thoughts of Bhagwan only. When a bullet comes out from a gun, it goes through the wall and if you throw the same bullet when it is lying on the ground, it does not break even the plaster. The bullet is just the same, but the impetus has made a difference. If the right type of force is there, it is called samveg (the impetus for liberation). You should feel blissful while doing religious practices. Bhagwan’s path is not filled with miseries or pains, it is filled with happiness and bliss.

In the path of bhakti, the Lord or Guru should be kept in the first place and then you follow in the queue. In the worldly path, you go first and then keep others behind you. Keep smiling if you are on the path of the Lord. On the path of the Lord, there is peace, bliss, and inward focus only. The ascetic gets rid of the sins by running towards the Lord and following good conduct. He accepts 5 great vows and gets rid of 18 sources of sins. He has to think when was the last time he blamed someone. There is a lot of subtleness in great vows.

The ascetic knows the scriptures and Agam. He remains engrossed in the scriptures till he attains self-realisation. Then there is a phase where he reads the scriptures and knows a bit of the soul. In the last phase, he only remains engrossed in the soul. So long as he does not have the strength to remain within, he keeps studying various scriptures. He is engrossed in the scriptures.

When the seeker reads any scriptures, he feels that the Lord is coming at his doorstep. He feels that the Lord is picking him up with love. He has the inner elevation and his subtleness increases. He understands the ajna of the scriptures. Because he knows the scriptures, he knows the soul, he attains self-realisation.

The ascetic protects the virtues of his soul. The mind is so much engrossed in the Lord that it becomes the amulet to save him. The rules and regulations do not save him. Love towards the Lord becomes his amulet. His aura becomes extremely peaceful and powerful and the sins do not want to go near him.

The one who gets into sins after meeting Sadguru is the lowest laid person and none of his bhakti is right. Otherwise, your aura is so pure that no sins come around you. This happens only if you are engrossed in the soul. He saves himself from going to the lower life forms. He saves his soul and remains in inner awareness constantly.

The ascetic has a subtle intellect. When his intellect and knowledge are connected with the Lord’s knowledge, his intellect becomes subtle. In a subtle intellect, the person has the discretion of what he should abandon and what he should accept. He knows what is right and accepts appropriate things and acts accordingly in every situation. Mendicant is the one who has the subtle intellect and is connected with the Lord. His knowledge is connected with the knowledge of the Lord. He thinks according to those thoughts.

The ascetic wins over the attachments and aversions during favourable and unfavourable situations. He looks for a chance to shed karma. His world has changed with the subtle intellect. His interpretations of the world have changed with the subtle intellect. He chooses troubles and afflictions to dissociate karma.

The ascetic looks at everyone with equanimity. He is a true mendicant.