Preface
Atmanushasan has been authored by
Acharya Gunabhadra around 900 A.D. Acharya Gunabhadra is none other than the disciple
of JinaSenacharya who wrote Adipurana but could not complete it and died in
between. Acharya Gunabhadra, his disciple completed it by writing 1620 shlokas
of Adipaurana and 8000 shlokas of Uttar Purana. Subsequently he wrote
Atmanushasan which contains 270 shlokas. Basically this granth encourages the
jivas to follow the path of soul upliftment by describing the nature of sensory
pleasures and the sufferings they
cause. In this granth the shlokas are
not divided into any chapters. Each has its own heading of subject. In that
sense this granth is like the colourful flowers of a spiritual garden with each
having its own importance. Several subjects have been taken up which all tend
to inspire detachment and practice contemplation of soul. For this reason only,
these shlokas are quoted quite profusely in different shastras.
The Sanskrit commentary of this granth
was written by Acharya Prabhachandra who was none other than the author of
commentary on Ratnakarand Shravakachar. Subsequent Hindi commentary was written
by Pandit Todarmal ji.
Mangalacharan and vow to author this Granth
Shloka
1: Myself Gunabhadra, author of this Shastra, invoking
the Vardhaman Tirthankara Deva or the warrior who is capable of destroying
karma form enemies, and stationing all such Arihants in my heart who are residences of supernatural Lakshmi, I shall
narrate the shastra named as Atmanushasan.
In this way recalling his favourite
Deva in the form of Mangalacharan the author has declared intention of creating
this shastra. How is that Veer Deva? Who is of the nature of the soul, or the
residence of supernatural Lakshmi which is a temple. How is he ? Whose pap
nature has been destroyed and the indestructible nature has been revealed. In
this way the author has justified the Veer name of his favourite Deva to be
meaningful by means of these adjectives and his supreme nature is described.
Gunabhadracharya says that this
shastra is meant for attainment of Moksha for the Bhavya Jivas. In creating
this granth there is no other intention of honour, fame etc. The desire for
benefaction of own souls of the Jivas is the objective.
Preachment for destruction of Pap and
attainment of happiness
Now the fear of the disciples with
respect to the meaning of the shastras is dispelled and in this granth the narration
is as per their objectives only, this is
indicated by the sutra below:
Shloka
2: O Atman ! You are extremely scared of the
miseries and desire total happiness
hence I too shall preach your desired objective which is the happiness
producing and misery eliminating.
Meaning
: Some people disrespect the shastras with the
fear that shri guru would preach us some painful exercise and ask us to give up
happiness. But don’t disrespect the shastras out of such fear. Your objective
is to remove miseries and attain happiness, for that objective only I shall
preach the true means.
Inspiration to be fearless even with bitter
preachment
Even though the words of this preachment may appear
bitter immediately, even then do not fear them:
Shloka
3: Even though, somehow the preachment of this
shastra may appear to be bitter immediately to you, even then do not fear them.
This preachment is sweet in the long run. Just as a wise patient does not mind
bitter medicine.
Meaning: Just
as a wise patient does not fear the bitter medicine knowing that it would lead
to sweet result of health and happiness, and takes it with respect. In the same
way, you are wise worldly person, even if the preachment of this shastra may
appear somewhat unpleasant in some respect, even then knowing that it would
result in happiness , do not fear and accept it with respect.
Scarcity of true preachments
Someone may argue that there are
several preachers hence why take trouble unnecessarily ? This is answered:
Shloka
4: Those who preach false words and are proud
with meaningless greatness- such people and meaninglessly thundering- such
clouds are easily seen. However such
people or clouds are rare wherein the
people are engrossed with intellect of dharma and desire to benefit the
jivas by elimination of their miseries
and such clouds which are internally wet with rains and are capable of
benefiting the world by production of grains.
Meaning: There
are lots of preachers but those with the spirit of dharma having intent of benefitting the Jivas, such
preachers are quite few, hence our effort is not meaningless.
Form of true preacher
What are the qualities of the
preacher, this is answered below in next two shlokas:
Shloka
5: The one preaching dharma such leader of the
audience should have following qualities-
1. He should be intelligent since witless
cannot be orator.
2. he should be knowledgeable of the
secrets of all shastras since without proper knowledge of the shastras the real
meaning is not understood.
3. He should be knowledgeable of the
worldly practices, since without knowledge of worldly traditions, he would act
in opposition to them.
4. He should not be ambitious since
being ambitious he would like to entertain the listeners and not convey the
right meaning.
5. He should be bright and brilliant
since without glory his great deed would not appear graceful.
6. He should be having Upasham (subsidence)
form manifestations since a person with strong passions would be harmful for
everyone and would be a subject of condemnation.
7. He should be knowledgeable of the
answers even before questions are asked by the listeners, since by raising
question answers himself and resolving them would make the preachment sturdier
for the audience.
8. He should have tolerance for withstanding
various questions since if he gets angry upon raising questions then listeners
would not ask questions then how can their doubts be cleared?
9. He should be having supremacy since
the listeners would follow his preachment
when they realise him to be superior.
10. He should be pleasant in nature.
How can people follow someone who appears unpleasant?
11. He should be rich with qualities
since without qualities the leadership does not appear graceful.
12. He should be speaker with clear
and sweet words since without clarity people would not understand him and
without sweet words the listeners would not be interested in listening to him.
Meaning: Those
with above described qualities only are worthy of preaching shastra.
Shloka
6: The qualities of Guru suitable for preaching
others are described below:
1. He should have knowledge of
shastras without any doubts.
2. Activities of mind, speech and body
should be pure, flawless and appropriate.
3. Should have spirit of preaching
others.
4. He should be good practitioner of
practices of the Jina Marga.
5. Who is respected by the learned
people and who respects great scholarly people.
6. He should not be proud and fearful.
7. he should be knowledgeable of
worldly practices.
8. Should be soft natured.
9. Should be desire free.
10. Should be endowed with other
qualities of Yatis.
Meaning: Gurus
with above described qualities only can benefit right people. Hence it is also
our blessing that Guru with such qualities be the preacher. Nobody should have
such a preacher Guru who harms people.
Form of true listener
When preacher is such then how should
be the audience? This is answered below:
Shloka
7: The disciple worthy of listening to the
preachment of dharma should have following qualities-
1. He should be bhavya, since if his
destiny is not favourable then his listening would also not be beneficial.
2. He should have thoughts of type “ where my benefaction lies?” – since
without capability of knowing venerable or discardable, why would he listen to
preachment ?
3. He should be fearful of miseries
since those who do not fear narak etc., why would they listen to shastras
preaching renunciation of pap?
4. He should be desirous of happiness
since he who desires happiness in future only would listen to shastras which
are means for dharma.
5. He should have qualities of
intelligence like listening etc. since without them one cannot be a disciple.
These are desire for listening, hearing, accepting, retaining, specifically
contemplating, concluding with question answers, understanding of objective of
right belief.
6. He should be pleasing, charitable
having nature of accepting dharma based upon inference, Agam and contemplation;
since such dharma only is beneficial to the disciples.
7. He should be free of false
stubbornness since those with obstinacy cannot learn.
Meaning
: Jiva having the above described qualities only
is worthy of dharma preachment and he only is benefitted.
Inspiration for practicing Dharma
Disciple equipped with these qualities
should practice dharma following the preachment of Guru-
Shloka
8: “ Pap leads to unhappiness and dharma results
in happiness” – this statement is well known in the world and everyone accepts
it and tells the same. Hence those desirous of happiness should renounce pap
and always practice dharma.
Meaning: Every
one says that pap results in miseries and dharma gives happiness, hence if
desirous of happiness, abandon pap and engage in dharma.
Inspiration for veneration of Aapt
All jivas adopt dharma for attainment
of specific happiness- with such contemplation one should take recourse to
right preacher Aapt since the root cause for attainment of happiness is Aapt-
Shloka
9: It is clearly observed that all jivas desire
for true happiness immediately. The attainment of happiness can only be by
destruction of all karmas, since without destruction of karmas which are
deterrent of happiness, how can the happiness be attained? The destruction of
those karmas is attained by means of Samyak Charitra, since how can the
destruction of karma generated by bad conduct be attained without right
conduct? Such Samyak charitra is possible only with Gyan since how can the
recognition of right and wrong conduct be carried out without gyan? Such gyan
is acquired with Agam since without Agam one cannot differentiate between right
and wrong.
Agam is inscribed by revelation i.e.
the divine sound which illuminates the nature of a thing, since the creation of
Agam is possible based upon following someone. The revelation occurs by means
of real preacher Aapt only since without him preachment is not possible. Such
Aapt is free of all the flaws. These flaws are raga-dwesha etc., since under
influence of raga-dwesha, desire, anger, thirst, sleep etc. form flaws, one cannot
give the right preachment. Hence these defects are destroyers of Aapt nature.
Therefore the right people should consider very well and then take recourse to
the Aapt who is the real benefactor.
Meaning: Those
desirous of happiness should firstly decide upon the Aapt and then follow the
path preached by him.
The form of Samyak Darshan and its divisions
The Aapt has revealed the path of the
form of Samyak darshan- Samyak Gyan- Samyak Charitra- Samyak Tapa – these four
Aradhana (prayer) form for the right people. Firstly establishing the form of
Aapt now, the Sutra describing the form of Samyak Aradhana is narrated-
Shloka
10: The belief in the soul without erroneous
meaning is Samyak Darshan which is the nature of soul. This Samyak darshan is
of two kinds namely Nisargaj and Adhigamaj. The one attained without external
nimittas of preachment etc. is called Nisargaj Samyak darshan. The one attained
by means of preachment etc. external nimittas is called as Adhigamaj Samyak
darshan.
Or, otherwise Samyak Darshan is of
three types. The one attained by means of Upasham (subsidence) of Darshan Moha
is Aupashamik Samyak Darshan. The one attained by means of destruction of
Darshan Moha is Kshayik. The one attained with the Kshayopasham (destruction
cum subsidence) of Darshan Moha is Kshayopashamik Samyak Darshan.
Or otherwise Samyak darshan is of ten
types. ( this will be described later).
That Samyak Darshan is free of twenty
five defects of belief, ignorance etc. The ignorance is of three types of the
form of world, things and deva. The pride is of eight kinds of the types of
caste, family etc. Six types of Anayatan which are not states of Samyaktva.
These six are non-omniscient, state of
non omniscient, knowledge of non omniscient, people having knowledge of non
omniscience, conduct of non omniscient and people with conduct of non
omniscient. Presence of four defects doubt, desire, aversion and ignorance –
absence of four qualities protection, re-steadiness in faith, affection and
propagation – Samyak darshan is without these eight defects.
In this way without three types of
ignorance, six Anayatan , eight pride and eight defects – such twenty five
flaws, the faith is right belief.
That faith flourishes with Samveg etc.
qualities . The fear of world and being happy in observing dharma and results
of dharma is Samveg.
That belief is destroyer of the world
and purifier of three types of agyan namely Kumati, Kushruta, Vibhangawadhi.
The Gyans which were of the form of Agyan prior to Samyaktva , become Gyans after attainment of Samyaktva.
That belief decides upon the form of
nine Tattvas i.e. Jiva, Ajiva, Asrava, Bandh, Samvar, Nirjara, Moksha, Punya,
Pap or seven tattvas if Punya Pap are included in Asrava.
For the wise disciples climbing the
steps of Moksha form temple, that belief is the first step. Jiva never abandons
that Moksha temple. After such Samyaktva only other means are used. This
Samyaktva is the foremost amongst the four Aradhana. Thus Samyak Darshan is
described.
Meaning: In
this way knowing the nature and glory of Samyaktva one should adopt it. Just as
mud settles down in the water and water
gets purified, in the same way the Aupashamik Samyaktva should be known as
pure. Kshayik Samyaktva is absolutely pure like a jewel. The Kshayopashamik
Samyaktva should be known as similar to rising sun with some flaws of the
nature of raga etc. pertaining to darshan moha.
Ten divisions of Samyaktva in the form of Agya
etc.
Now ten types of samyaktva are
described below-
Shloka
11: Agya, Marg, Upadesh, Sutra, Beej, Sankshep,
Vistar and Artha constitute eight divisions. Further Avagarh and Param Avagarh
together add to make ten divisions.
Meaning: As
such Samyaktva is only one type i.e. right belief in venerable, discardable Tattvas.
However from the aspect of generation due to Agya (order) etc. it has been
divided into eight types. Further on account of its quality dependent upon the
gyan, two more divisions Avagarh and Param Avagarh have been added. Thus
together ten divisions of Samyaktva exist.
The form of Agya Marga and Upadesh Samyaktva
The form of Agya Samyaktva etc. have
been described in three shlokas below:
Shloka
12: O Bhavya ! Without studies of shastra, based
upon the order of Veetrag i.e. upon
acceptance of his words alone, the belief generated is Agya Samyaktva.
Without listening to detailed granths,
without having internal-external possessions, the faith in benefactory Moksha
Marg causing subsidence of Darshan Moha resulting in Samyaktva is described as
Marg Samyaktva.
The Samyak Gyan generated upon
listening to the preachment of Tirthankara etc. great people in Puranas is
called as Upadesh Samyaktva.
Sutra, Beej and Sankshep Samyaktva
Shloka
13: The belief generated upon listening to the
sutras of conduct describing the conduct to be followed by Munis is called as
Sutra Samyakta. The one who has belief of such nature is called as having
proper Sutra Drishti.
The belief generated upon the
knowledge of mathematics used in scriptures is called as Beej (seed) Samyaktva.
This belief is generated by the subsidence of Darshan Moha. By means of this
the knowledge of things is attained. By means of this Gyan the Bhavya Jiva who
is student of Karananuyoga develops Beej Drishti. The belief resulting by
knowing the substances in brief is known as Sankshep (Brief) Samyaktva. Such
jiva is said to have Sankshep Drishti.
The forms of Vistar, Arth, Avagarh and Param
Avagarh Samyaktva
Shloka
14: O Bhavya! The interest created by listening to
Dwadashang form speech is called as Vistar (detail)Samyaktva. Jiva having such
interest is called as Vistar Drishti.
Without listening to words of Jain
shastras, the belief generated due to nimitta of some Arth (meaning) is called
as Arth Drishti. The same is known as Arth Samyaktva.
Studies of Jain shastras of the form
of Ang and Ang Bahya results in Avagarh (strong) Drishti which is known as
Avagarh (strong/deep) Samyaktva.
The faith of the substances known by
means of Keval Gyan is called as Param Avagarh (supremely strong/deep) Drishti
which is known as Param Avagarh Samyaktva.
Thus ten types of Samyaktva were
described.
Meaning: Here
ten types of Samyaktva have been described. The faith generated upon listening
to words of Veetrag is Agya Samyaktva. The one caused by belief of the Moksha
Marg itself is Marg Samyaktva. The faith generated upon listening to Puranas of
great people is Upadesh Samyaktva. The belief caused upon listening to conduct
of Munis is Sutra Samyaktva. The faith generated on account of Karananuyoga
involving mathematics is called as Beej Samyaktva. The belief resulting in
briefly listening to the form of things is Sankshep Samykatva. The faith caused
by listening to Dwadashang is Vistar Samyaktva. The faith caused by meaning
derived from some example is known as Arth Samyaktva. The faith of Shruta
Kevali is called as Avagarh Samyaktva. The faith of Keval Gyani is known as
Param Avagarh Samyaktva.
Samyak Darshan only results in reverence of low passions, knowledge of
shastras, conduct and tapa
Amongst four types of Aradhana why
Samyaktva is worshipped first is answered below:
Shloka
15: The manifestation of soul of the form of
Upasham (subsidence) with week passions, the knowledge by means of shastras,
conduct by renunciation of paps, practice of tapa by anashan etc. form vows alone
– their importance is like that of a heavy stone i.e. not much meaningful.
However if these are accompanied with Samyaktva then it is venerable like a
great jewel i.e. it gives great benefit and is glorious.
Meaning: Just
as stone and jewel belong to same family but on account of lack of brightness
the stone does not have much value in spite of being heavy while lightweight
jewel is valued quite a lot. In the same way activities accompanied with
Mithyatva and Samyaktva belong to same family but due to difference in intent, the
activities along with Mithyatva, in spite of being heavy do not have much value
while those accompanied with Samyakta, in spite of being light have great
value.
Continued……
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