Why do we need to read the Scriptures ?

A question is usually asked “ Why do we need to read the Shastras ( scriptures ) ? After all we do worship, prayers fasting etc.

The answer is that if your capability of learning is not much then surely worship and  prayers are enough. Capability of learning denotes the Kshyayopasham of Gyana , i.e how much of the knowledge is unobscured by the Gyanavaraniya karma . Lesser obscuration means you can learn more. The animals ( Tiryanch) and lower life forms do not have much capability to learn hence they do not worship or pray either. However as a five sensed human being having  mind  we have a high capability to learn. The question is, when you have the capability , what do you utilize it for ? Do you use it for becoming an Einstein or an Ambani ? Will that be a suitable utilization of that capability ? If you think that  it probably is not the best utilization, then which one is ?

An example is usually quoted of Shivabhuti  Muni , wherein even without having any knowledge , he attained keval gyana and salvation. The story is that he was utterly dumb so his mother sent him to a guru  to learn . The Guru , after seeing his capability to learn did not teach him anything. He just told him to remember Ma Rush Ma Tush ( which means do not indulge in raga i.e. attachment and dwesh i.e dislike ) and sent him home. Shivabhuti kept reciting these two words to remember them but on the way , he stumbled due to which he now remembered the words as TushMash. He used to recite these without understanding its meaning. One day he saw an old woman cleaning pulses of Urad Daal. He asked her what she was doing. She answered that I am separating the Daal (Mash) from skin( Tush ). At that moment he realized the meaning of what he used to recite. Just as skin is separate from the daal , our body is different from the soul. With this understanding he immersed in himself and contemplated on the self with the result that he attained Keval gyan in due course.

When we look at this example to justify our lack of interest in shastras ,  we are observing from an external point of view of what we are able to observe. Can we say anything about his thought process ? Knowing and saying that body is different from soul is one thing , but realizing or believing it is another. The greatness of Jainism is that it is not important what we speak or know, it gives weightage to what we believe and feel internally, which is known as bhava. It is the bhava only which scores over all other external pretensions when the question of spiritual advancement is raised.

Another example can be quoted of  animals ( tiryanch) who are known to attain upto 5^th Gunasthana (5^th  level of spiritual advancement) even in that stage, while 4^th Gunasthana is the lowest level of self realization which is called as Samyak Drishti ( having right knowledge and belief). Just imagine that even the animals are able to reach 5^th level of spiritual advancement whereas we are struggling to attain 4^th !

How do they achieve it when they do not read any scriptures ? When their knowledge is so inferior to ours ! This is where the real greatness of Jainism can be realized . It does not give weightage to what we talk or pretend to be, it gives  weightage to what we feel inside and how we believe it. Even the animals without knowing the names of 6 types of dravyas and 7 types of Tatvas ( elements) may experience them and understand them for what they are. They may not talk but in their heart they may be knowing themselves as different from body with far more conviction than us . Same way they may not recite prayers but internally they may be having respect for the one who has provided them with the knowledge. With the same knowledge internally they deliberately avoid harming other animals. Hence no wonder they can also reach 5^th gunasthana !

Thus in both these examples we see that it is not what we read or talk which is important , it is the intent and our beliefs. Shivabhuti muni can attain liberation even without knowledge because he made full use of what little knowledge he had and learnt from it. Same applies for the animals.

If we do read scriptures also, we should question our own intent. Is it because I shall be called a Gyani or Pandit ? Or whether I shall attain a PhD degree with that knowledge ? If these are the objectives then even that learning is of no use. After all it was also a source of attachment / Kashaya bhava. These are no different than the objective of making money or earning fame.

In reality , be it the reading of shastras or the worshiping, the objective is to know the soul only. In fact soul also does not do anything more than knowing the self being fully incapable of doing any act of the body. Hence all our acts should lead to knowing of the self, the completeness of which is achieved when we realise the soul in nirvikalpatmak  anubhava  ( unperturbed self experience). For this objective only the efforts are directed in the vikalpatmak ( thoughtful form) in the process of reading or reciting.

So how can we know and experience the soul ? We should remember that Jainism is of the nature of Anekant i.e Pluralism which means that we know the soul totally when we know the non soul also. We cannot know the soul without detaching ourselves from the body , relatives or our own anger, greed, desire etc. Even the gender is not mine. For this purpose only the scripture in Jainism is divided  into four types namely Prathamanuyoga, Karananuyoga, Dravyanuyoga, Charananuyoga . These deal with mythology,  karma mathematics, philosophy and conduct respectively. But if we examine them deeply we find that all four aim to teach us about the soul only in one way or the other. By knowing about it only we can experience it better.

Thus so long as we are clear about our objective, we can read scripture or worship whichever we want  depending upon how much our interest remains sustained without becoming a burden on the self.

One of the role models which we can try to emulate is Shrimad Rajchandra who was spiritual guide of Mahatma Gandhi and had extensive knowledge and capability to learn. Within the life span of 34 years he had learnt most of Jain scriptures and guided others also. It can be easily said that he made full use of his life span for self realization and spiritual advancement. On the other hand we can be like an Einstein and know  all about stars without any knowledge of the self. We should wonder what use is that knowledge which does not know the self.