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President's Message
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Jai Jinendra!
Today is
the fourth day of our festival and usually we read scriptures from the Kalpa
Sutra, a scripture which recounts the life of Bhagwan Mahavir, the 14 dreams of
his mother before his birth, followed by the story of his birth, life and
liberation.
Sincerely,
Ashok Domadia
JAINA President
Chairman - JAINA BOD
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GATHA FROM JIV VICHAR
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In this stanza, the third type of sthavara jiva i.e. Teukaya jiva are defined and
explained. TEUKAYA / AGNIKAYA : Agnikaya jiva are living beings that have fire as
their own bodies, also known as fire bodies.
The possible forms of fire bodies are stated below:
1. Burning coal, flame, spark, meteor, moving comet.
2. Lightning (electricity, batteries, etc) – These forms of Teukaya jiva are to
be understood with sharp mind.
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Quote - Paryushan Day - 4
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Every soul is independent. None depends on another.
- Bhagwan Mahavir
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PARYUSHAN Day 4
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In our daily life, we have many
incidents where our ego plays an important role. Ego is the cause of
destruction. How many of us know that how true this statement is but we are
unable to help it? Even if we know the harm that ego causes to us, we are unable to
escape it. We are so obsessed
with our own social prestige that we don’t see how badly our soul
is affected and harmed in many ways.
There were two very good childhood friends. When they grew big, one friend became
a Saint and stayed alone in mountain areas to conduct his prayers and tapasaya. The
other friend became very rich like a King and would stay in his palatial house.
The saint would wear only a small piece of cloth around and the rich friend was
living a lavish life.
Once the rich friend desired to search for his friend who had opted to live a life
of a Saint. He felt restless and searched for him in every nook and corner. Finally
he located his friend, went to meet him and felt very proud that his friend has
achieved so much knowledge in short period. He has become a tapasvi. He went to
his ashram and requested him to have lunch in his house. The tapasvi friend agreed
to visit his house and have lunch with him.
The rich friend was very happy and made beautiful arrangement and decorations to
receive his dear friend. He spread costly carpets so that his friend is not hurt.
When the sanyasi friend reached his rich friend’s house, he was amused
and surprised
to see the beautiful arrangements made to greet him. When he reached the main
door, a person at the gate told him “See, your friend has intentionally made
this arrangement to make you feel low. He wants to prove to you that how much he has
attained in life and you are nothing. Hearing that the Saint got very angry and
his EGO reached the peak, he felt hurt. He thought that he was such a big Saint
and my friend wants to compare his riches with the knowledge I have gained. He went
to a nearby dirty drainage, dirtied his feet in it and then went to his friend’s
house. He spoilt the beautiful carpet with his dirty feet.
The rich friend greeted his friend
and was surprised to see dirty carpet. He shouted at his servants demanding to know who had spoilt his carpet. At this, the tapasvi
friend said that “I have spoilt your carpet to show that I have gained more than
you. You have achieved only money, but I have got spiritual knowledge, I am a Saint,
a knowledgeable person, a tapasvi". His ego knew no bounds.
The rich friend was stunned and replied very politely and apologetically “ Oh, dear
friend after sacrificing all worldly and materialistic things, being a Saint, a
knowledgeable person, your EGO is still intact, it has not gone down. I used to
respect you, honour you, used to feel jealous of your achievements, but now I feel
very sad that there is no difference between you and me. I have an ego for money
and you have an ego for sainthood, your knowledge and tapasya. You have lost all
that you have achieved.
This short story teaches us how ego doesn’t leave
anyone. Even a knowledgeable saint comes under the trap of ego and loses his
gained respect. The same happens to us. Lesser the ego, greater the life and purity of our
soul.
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