He should obey and serve a wise and pious teacher, such teachers as are heroes of faith, who search for the benefit of their souls, are firm in control, and subdue their senses. (33)

These men, who do not see the light, as it were, in domestic life, are the beloved of the people; these heroes, free from bondage, do not desire worldly life. (34)

They do not long for sensual pleasures, they do not engage in wrongful works. All that the heretics always talk about is opposed to the right faith. (35)

Excessive pride and deceit, all worldly vanities: all this a wise man knows and renounces, and thus brings about his final salvation. (36)

Thus I say.

Tenth Lecture

Called

Carefulness

The wise teacher having pondered on the Law proclaimed it; learn from me correctly what is carefulness. A monk who forms no resolutions and is possessed of carefulness should wander about, giving no offence to any creature; (1)

To no living beings, whether they move or not, whether above or below or on earth, by putting a strain upon them by his hands or feet. Nor should he take from householders anything that is not freely given. (2)

Having mastered the Law and got rid of carelessness, he should live on allowed food, and treat all beings as he himself would be treated; he should not expose himself to guilt by his desire for worldly life; a monk who performs austerities should not keep any store. (3)

Restraining his senses from women, a sage should wander about free from all worldly ties. See, every creature and every being suffers pain and is afflicted. (4)

Doing harm to these beings, an ignorant man becomes involved in sins. Sin is committed by injuring beings, and one sins also by employing others in such acts. (5)

He too who leads a miserable life commits sin. Therefore the righteous teachers have enjoined thorough carefulness. One should know the truth, delight in control and sound judgment, cease from injuring beings, and be of a settled mind. (6)

Looking at all people with an impartial mind, one should not do anything to please or to harm them. After a virtuous beginning some become miserable and lose heart, since they desire honour and fame. (7)

Desiring unallowed food and accepting such, the sinner, careless in his conduct, is attached to women, and tries to acquire property. (8)

Given to violent deeds he accumulates guilt; on his decease he meets with really distressing misery. Therefore a wise man considers well the Law; a sage wanders about free from all worldly ties. (9)

He should not expose himself to guilt by his desire for worldly life, but he should wander about without any attachment. Speaking after due consideration, and combating his worldly desires, he should say nothing that involves slaughter of living beings. (10)

He should not desire unallowed food, and he should not mix with people who desire such; he should mortify his flesh, thinking of his duty, and giving up his sorrows without regard to worldly interests. (11)

Try to realise that you are single and alone; thereby you will obtain salvation; mind, this is no false assertion! This salvation is not anything unreal, but the best thing. An ascetic is free from anger, and delights in the truth. (12)

Abstain from unlawful intercourse with women, do not acquire property; a man possessed of carefulness will, beyond doubt, be a saviour to others in all circumstances. (13)

A monk having conquered aversion to control and delight in sensual objects, should bear all troubles caused by pricking grass, cold, heat, and insects; he should endure pleasant and unpleasant smells. (14)

Guarding his speech and possessed of carefulness, acquiring a pure disposition, he should wander about; he should not thatch a house for himself or for others, nor behave towards other people like a householder. (15)

Questioned by somebody who maintains the unchangeable character of the soul, he should expound the true doctrine; those who engage in wrongful works and are held in worldly bondage do not know the Law which leads to salvation. (16)

Men here have various opinions; they adhere to the doctrine of the Kriyavadins and Akriyavadins. The iniquity of an unrestrained sinner, who after having been born injures the body of beings to procure his own happiness, goes on increasing. (17)

Forgetting that his life will have an end, a rash and foolish man is full of selfishness; he toils day and night, greedy of wealth, as if he never should grow old or die. (18)

Leave wealth and cattle, all relations and dear friends! A man always talks about these things, and he is infatuated with them; but other people will take away his wealth. (19)

As smaller beasts keep at a distance from a lion, being afraid of him, so a wise man keeps aloof from sin, well considering the Law. (20)

A wise man who has become awakened should turn away from sin, when he considers the evils arising from slaughter and the great dangers entailed by his cruel disposition. (21)

A sage setting out for the real good, namely salvation, should not speak untruth; this rule, they say, comprises peace and the whole of carefulness. He should not do wrongful works, nor cause others to do them, nor assent to others doing them. (22)

When he gets pure food, he should not be affected by love or hate, and he should not be too fond of such food nor long for it. A pious monk, free from bonds, should wander about desiring neither honours nor fame. (23)

A monk who has left the house and is free from desires should abandon his body, wiping out his sins; he should not desire life nor death, and walk about, having got beyond the fetter of sin. (24)

Thus I say.

Eleventh Lecture

Called

The Path

What is the Path that has been preached by the wise ascetic Mahavira, having correctly entered upon which path a man crosses the flood of this world which is difficult to pass? (1)

O monk and great sage, tell us this best path which leads to deliverance from all misery, as you know it! (2)

Tell us how we should describe that path, if somebody, whether an angel or a man, should ask us about it! (3)

If somebody, whether an angel or a man, ask you about it, tell them the truth about the path. Listen to me! (4)

The very difficult path explained by Kasyapa, following which some men from this earth have formerly passed over the flood of this world like traders over the ocean, pass over it even now, and will pass over it in future; this path which I have learned, I shall explain in due order; men, listen to me! (5, 6)

Earth-lives are individual beings, so are water-lives, fire-lives, and wind-lives; grass, trees, corn; (7)

And the remaining, namely the movable beings; thus are enumerated the six classes of living beings; these are all the living beings, there are no more besides. (8)

A wise man should study them with all means of philosophical research. All beings hate pains; therefore one should not kill them. (9)

This is the quintessence of wisdom: not to kill anything. Know this to be the legitimate conclusion from the principle of reciprocity with regard to non-killing. (10)

He should cease to injure living beings whether they move or not, on high, below, and on earth. For this has been called salvation, which consists in peace. (11)

Master of his senses and avoiding wrong, he should do no harm to anybody, neither by thoughts, nor words, nor acts. (12)

A wise man who restrains his senses and possesses great knowledge should accept such things as are freely given him, being always circumspect with regard to the accepting of alms, and abstaining from what he is forbidden to accept. (13)

A true monk should not accept such food and drink as has been especially prepared for him along with slaughter of living beings. (14)

He should not partake of a meal which contains but a particle of forbidden food: this is the Law of him who is rich in control. Whatever food a monk suspects to be impure, he may not eat. (15)

A man who guards his soul and subdues his senses should never assent to anybody killing beings. In towns and villages cases will occur which place the faithful in a dilemma. (16)

Hearing the talk of people, one should not say, "this is a good action," nor "this is a bad action." For there is an objection to either answer. (17)

He should not say that it is meritorious, because he ought to save those beings, whether they move or not, which are killed there for the sake of making a gift. (18)

Nor should he say that it is not meritorious, because he would then prevent those for whose sake the food and drink in question is prepared from getting their due. (19)

Those who praise the gift are accessory to the killing of beings; those who forbid it deprive others of the means of subsistence. (20)

Those, however, who give neither answer, that it is meritorious, or is not so, do not expose themselves to guilt, and will reach peace. (21)

Knowing that peace is the best thing as the moon is among the stars, a sage always restrained and subduing his senses brings about peace. (22)

A pious man shows an island to the beings which are carried away by the flood of this world and suffer for their deeds. This place of safety has been proclaimed by the righteous teachers. (23)

He who guards his soul, subdues his senses, puts a stop to the current of worldly desire, and is free from the influx of sin, is entitled to expound the pure, complete, unparalleled Law. (24)

Those who do not know this Law are not awakened, though they fancy themselves awakened; believing themselves awakened, they are beyond the boundary of right faith. (25)

Eating seeds and drinking cold water and what has been especially prepared for them, they enter upon meditation, but are ignorant of the truth, and do not possess carefulness. (26)

As birds of prey, herons, ospreys, cormorants, and pheasants meditate upon capturing fish, which is a sinful and very low meditation, so some heretical, unworthy ascetics contemplate the pursuit of pleasures; they are sinful and very low like herons. (27, 28)

Here some weak-minded persons, abusing the pure path, enter upon a wrong path. They thereby will go to misery and destruction. (29)

As a blind-born man getting into a leaky boat wants to reach the shore, but is drowned during the passage; so some unworthy, heretical ascetics, having got into the full current of this world, will incur great danger. (30, 31)

But knowing this Law which has been proclaimed by Kasyapa, a monk crosses the dreadful current of this world, and wanders about intent on the benefit of his soul. (32)

Indifferent to worldly objects, a man should wander about treating all creatures in the world so as he himself would be treated. (33)

A wise man knowing and renouncing excessive pride and deceit, in short giving up all causes of worldly misery, brings about his salvation. (34)

He acquires good qualities, and leaves off bad qualities; a monk who vigorously practises austerities avoids anger and pride. (35)

The enlightened teachers that were, and the enlightened teachers that will be, they, as it were, have peace as their foundation, even as all things have the earth for their foundation. (36)

And if any accidents whatever befall him who has gained that foundation, he will not be overpowered by them as a mountain by the storm. (37)

A restrained, very learned, and wise monk should accept such alms as are freely given him, being free from passions and waiting for his end. This is the doctrine of those who know the truth. (38)

Thus I say.

Twelfth Lecture

Called

The Creed

There are four heretical creeds which the disputants severally uphold: 1. the Kriyavada, 2. the Akriyavada, 3. the Vinayavada, and 4. the Agnanavada. (1)

The agnostics, though they pretend to be clever, reason incoherently, and do not get beyond the confusion of their ideas. Ignorant teachers speak to ignorant pupils, and without reflection they speak untruth. (2)

Believing truth to be untruth, and calling a bad man good, the various upholders of Vinaya, asked about it, explain their tenet. (3)

Without perceiving the truth they speak thus: this object, namely salvation, is realised by us thus, namely by discipline. The Akriyavadins, who deny the consequence of deeds, do not admit that the action of the soul is transmitted to the future moments. (4)

They become involved in contradiction in their own assertions; they falter in their speech and are unable to repeat what is said to them. This their opinion has a valiant counter-opinion, this our opinion has no valiant counter-opinion; and sin has six sources. (5)

The Akriyavadins who do not understand the truth bring forward various opinions; many men believing in them will be whirled round in endless error. (6)

"There rises no sun, nor does it set; there waxes no moon, nor does it wane; there are no rivers running, nor any winds blowing; the whole world is ascertained to be unreal." (7)

As a blind man, though he have a light, does not see colours, because he is deprived of his eyesight, so the Akriyavadin, having a perverted intellect, does not recognise the action of the soul though it does exist. (8)

Many men in this world who have studied astrology, the art of interpreting dreams, divination from diagrams, augury, divination from bodily marks, and from portents, and the eight branches of divination from omens, claim to know the future. (9)

The opponents say that some forecasts are true, and the prophecies of others prove wrong; therefore they do not study those sciences, but they profess to know the world, fools though they be. (10)

The Kriyavadins, ascetics and scholars understanding the world according to their lights, speak thus: misery is produced by one's own works, not by those of somebody else. But right knowledge and conduct lead to salvation. (11)

The righteous teachers, being, as it were, the eyes of the world and its leaders, teach the path which is salutary to men; they have declared that the world is lasting inasmuch as creatures are living in it, O ye men! (12)

The Rakshasas and the dwellers in the nether world, the troops of Asuras and Gandharvas, and the spirits that walk the air, and individual beings: they will all die and be raised again to be judged. (13)

Know this life, which is compared to the boundless flood of water, to be impassable and of very long duration on account of its repeated temptations. Men therein, seduced by their senses and by women, fall into error, both among movable and immovable beings. (14)

The sinners cannot wipe out their wrongful works by new wrongful works; the pious wipe them out by abstention from wrongful works; the wise and happy men who got rid of the effects of greed do not commit sins. (15)

They know the past, present, and future ways of the world; they are leaders of other men, but follow no leader; they are awakened, and put an end to worldly misery. (16)

Averse to injury of living beings, they do not act wrongly, nor cause others to act wrongly. Always restraining themselves, those pious men practise control, and some become heroes through their knowledge. (17)

He regards small beings and large beings, the whole world as equal to himself; he comprehends the immense world, and being awakened he controls himself among the careless. (18)

Those who have learned the truth by themselves or from others are able to save themselves and others. One should always honour a man who is like a light and makes manifest the Law after having well considered it. (19)

He who knows himself and the world; who knows where the creatures go, and whence they will not return; who knows what is lasting, and what is transient; birth and death, and the future conditions of men; (20)

He who knows the tortures of beings below, that is, in Hell; who knows the influx of sin and its stoppage; who knows misery and its removal, he is entitled to expound the Kriyavada. (21)

Being not attached to sounds and colours, indifferent to tastes and smells, not desiring life nor death, guarded by control, and exempt from worldly bondage. (22)

Thus I say.

Thirteenth Lecture

Called

The Real Truth

I shall now expound, in accordance with truth, the various qualities of men; I shall explain the virtue and peace of the good, the vices and the unrest of the wicked. (1)

Having learned the Law from men who exert themselves day and night, from the righteous teachers, they neglect the conduct in which they had been instructed, and speak rudely to their teacher. (2)

Those who explain the pure doctrine according to their individual opinion falsify it in repeating it after their teachers; those who speak untruth from pride of knowledge are not capable of many virtues. (3)

Those who on being questioned conceal the truth defraud themselves of the real good. These bad men who believe themselves good and are full of deceit will go to endless punishment. (4)

He who is of a wrathful disposition and calls everything by its true name, who renews a composed quarrel, will, like a blind man groping his way with a stick, do harm to himself, being still subject to passion and possessing evil deeds. (5)

He who is quarrelsome and talks improperly is not impartial nor beyond the reach of deceit; but he who executes the commands of his teacher and controls himself sees nothing but the truth and is exempt from deceit. (6)

He who conforms to admonitions however many he receives, is kindly spoken, subtle, manly, noble, and a well-doer; such a man is impartial and beyond the reach of deceit. (7)

He who believes himself rich in control, or inconsiderately vaunts his knowledge, or fancies himself purified by austerities, will look upon other men as shadows. (8)

He is always turned round by delusion, and has no place in the company where the vow of silence is practised, who not being awakened puts himself forward in order to gain honours through something different from control. (9)

A man of the learned class or a warrior by birth, a scion of a noble race, who enters the order eating alms given him by others, is not stuck up on account of his renowned family. (10)

His pedigree on his mother's and on his father's side will be of no use to him, nothing will but right knowledge and conduct: when after becoming a monk he acts like a householder, he will not succeed in obtaining final salvation. (11)

If a poor monk subsisting on the meanest food is attached to vanities, desires fame, and not being awakened makes his monkhood a means of subsistence, he will suffer again and again. (12)

A monk who is eloquent, speaks very well, has bright ideas, is clever, possesses a fine intellect, and has purified his soul may perhaps despise other men on account of his intellect. (13)

Thus an intelligent monk who puts himself forward has not yet realised carefulness; or rather he is a weak-minded man who elated by his success blames other men. (14)

A monk should combat pride of genius, pride of sanctity, pride of birth, and pride of good living, which is enumerated as the fourth; such a man is wise and of the right stuff. (15)

The wise leave off these kinds of pride, the pious do not cultivate them; the great sages are above all such things as family and rank, and they ascend to the place where there is no distinction of rank at all, namely to salvation. (16)

A monk who looks upon his body as on a corpse and fully understands the Law will on entering a village or a town distinguish between what may be accepted and what may not, and will not be greedy of food or drink. (17)

A monk having conquered aversion to control and delight in sensual objects, living in company with many brethren or leading a single life, should silently repeat to himself: "A man must come and go according to his deeds alone," that is, without deriving any help from others. (18)

Knowing it by intuition or having learned it from others, one should teach the Law which is a benefit to men; the pious are not given to blameable sinful practices. (19)

If a monk preaches the Law to someone whose disposition he has not ascertained, that man, not believing what he is taught, will become angry, and may wound him in a way that will shorten or end his life. When he knows their disposition, he may teach others the truth. (20)

A wise man by suppressing his evil deeds and his will should renounce his interest in everything else. For through the objects of sight, which are causes of danger, men come to harm. Knowing the truth with regard to movable and immovable beings, a monk should exert himself. (21)

Not desiring honour or fame, he should say nothing to anybody either to please or to irritate him. Avoiding all evils, a monk should without embarrassment and passion preach the Law. (22)

Well considering his duties in accordance with truth, abstaining from doing injury to living beings, not desiring life nor death, he should wander about released from worldly bondage. (23)

Thus I say.

Fourteenth Lecture

Called

The Unfettered

He who has given up all worldly ties and is instructed in our creed should practise chastity, exerting himself; obeying the commands of his teacher he should make himself well acquainted with the conduct; a clever monk should avoid carelessness. (1)

As birds of prey carry off a fluttering young bird whose wings are not yet grown, when it attempts to fly from the nest, but is not able to do so, because it is too young and its wings are not yet grown; (2)

Just as they carry off a young bird whose wings are not yet grown, so many unprincipled men will seduce a novice who has not yet mastered the Law, thinking that they can get him in their power, when they have made him leave the company. (3)

A good man should long to live with his teacher in order to perform his duties, knowing that he who does not live with his teacher will not put an end to his worldly misery. Making manifest the conduct of the virtuous, an intelligent monk should not leave the company of his teacher. (4)

A monk who complies with the rules for ascetics as regards postures, lying down, sitting, and exertion, who is thoroughly acquainted with the rules of self-restraint, should in teaching others explain each single point of conduct. (5)

Whether he hears pleasant sounds or dreadful ones, he should not allow himself to be influenced by them, and persevere in control; nor should a monk be sleepy or careless, but by every means he should get rid of doubts. (6)

If admonished by a young or an old monk, by one above him or one of equal age, he should not retort against him, being perfectly free from passion; for one who is, as it were, carried away by the stream of this world will not get to its opposite shore. (7)