Brahmadutt reached Ashok Park and got down from his elephant. Along with Pingal, he went to the place where Acharyaji was present. Many citizens had also followed them upto the park. Brahmadutt bowed down to Acharyaji. Acharaji gave blessings saying ‘Dharmlabh.’
Shikhi saw his father. He got up and greeted him. Brahmadutt and Pingal sat humbly in front of Acharyaji. But their moist eyes were continuously staring Shikhi. Shikhi came and sat next to Brahmadutt.
He said to Brahmadutt, “Father, till today, you have never refused to any of my requests. Then please fulfill this one request of mine.”
Brahmadutt said, “Yes. Tell me! What shall I do for you? My life is only for you!”
Shikhi said, “Father, You clearly know the reality of this world and you have experienced it as well. So, I don’t want to go deep into it. But whatever I have felt and understood, I’ll tell you that!
First - This human life is extremely rare! Just as difficult as aiming a bird’s eye! And when I have attained birth as a human, I want to make the best of it by following the true conduct!
Second - Relation with beloved ones is temporary like birds sitting on the branch of a tree in the evening. Just the union of one night and next morning, all the birds fly away in their own direction. Likewise, sitting on the branch of life, we also get separated as soon as our life span is over.
Third - Money and wealth is fickle like the flash of lightning. Moreover, it is the cause of many mishaps! I have realised all this by listening to the story of Acharyaji’s previous lives. Getting attached to wealth is not at all worth it!
Fourth – Young age is short-lived just like a flower. Flowers blossom in the morning and wither by evening. Young age also blossoms and fades away like this. Old age traps youth.
Fifth thing - Drooling over enjoyment spoils our future. Sensory pleasures are like poison.
Sixth - The sword of death is hanging above our head. It cannot be predicted when that sword will fall on our head.
Lastly - This physical world and life cycle of birth and death is full of sorrow.
So, please give me permission to accept monkhood as preached by the enlightened and make the most of this life!”
Brahmadutt patiently listened to Shikhi and said, “Son, this not the right time for you to renounce!”
“Father, is any time inappropriate for death? Likewise, there is no inappropriate time for renunciation!”
***
Brahmadutt remained silent.
Pingal said, “Shikhi, it looks like you have been trapped in illusions by listening to someone! Firstly, there is no afterlife. Do you even know how beings originate? They originate from soil and go back into the soil. Afterlife is a false imagination. It is said that, ‘This man has died.’ This means that he has returned to soil. Do you believe that beings move to another lives just like birds fly away from one branch and go elsewhere? No, not at all. There is nothing like afterlife. All this is nonsense. Remove the theory of afterlife from your mind! Don’t make the mistake of sacrificing current pleasures for future happiness.”
With a calm and balanced mind, Shikhi said, “Whatever you said is totally wrong. I would explain you about wrong illusions but my Gurudev is sitting here. It’s not appropriate for me to answer in front him! Gurudev himself will clear your misunderstanding.”
Pingal said, “Okay. If you wish, I’ll have a discussion with Acharyaji and make him understand the correctness of my point.”
Acharyaji said, “You told Shikhi that someone has brainwashed him? But I think you're still unware of his inner capabilities. After a lot of efforts in various lives, the feeling of self-upliftment has emerged in him. His karmic bondage has reduced! Listening to teachings of Tirthankar, his deluding karmas have shed! That’s why he has received the right knowledge about the reality of the physical world and has become detached. Neither has anyone brainwashed him nor trapped him.
Second thing - You said there is nothing called afterlife. No creature takes rebirth. It emerges from the five elements and again submerges into it.
This belief of yours is incomplete and faulty. Because earth, water, fire, air and sky, these five elements are completely unconscious! They are non-living entities. A living entity cannot arise from the combination of these five lifeless elements. Only a living entity can do activities like moving and remaining static. You have the knowledge of this principle that if one element doesn’t possess characteristics individually, then it’s group cannot possess those features either. For example, if there is no oil in one particle of sand, then oil cannot be extracted from a pile of sand either.
If you say that there is life in earth, water etc. then you have accepted our point itself. A human is a collection of many lives. There is consciousness is one, two, three-sensed beings etc. but pot, clothes etc. are lifeless. Therefore, living beings are totally different from the five elements. And beings go to the afterlife. Just like birds fly off the branches of trees, beings leave their bodies and move to next birth.”
Pingal said, “Acharyaji, if you say that the body is different from the soul, then please explain.”
Acharyaji said, “The soul is never seen different from the body because soul is such an entity that cannot be seen with our eyes. Soul is invisible to naked eyes but enlightened beings can see the soul.”
Pingal said, “Acharyaji, I feel your statement is irrelevant. All actions are not always in accordance with reason. There might be different reason behind different actions. Like bows are made of horns.
Secondly, atoms are invisible. But a pot created from a group of atoms is visible. This way, although the five elements are lifeless, living soul can emerge from it. What’s the big deal in that?”
Acharyaji said, “A bow is made of horn, but that is not against the cause. Arrows can also be made out of wood, iron, copper and other materials. The material can be different, but purpose is the same.
Your second point is against the facts. Atoms are not completely invisible. They’re invisible to naked eyes but can be seen by enlightened beings. Visible objects like pots are created from groups of visible atoms. There is no big deal in this!”
Pingal said, “Do the qualities of five elements not make up the living entity?”
“No. The non-living is completely separate from the living.”
“This means that living entities are separate from the five elements. These living beings die and go to afterlife. If this is your belief, then I have a question. My grandfather, Madhuping used to kill many beings. According to your belief, he might have reincarnated in hell. He had immense affection for me. He used to stop people from doing inappropriate acts. This was his nature. Then why doesn’t he come here from hell and tell me that he is suffering the painful results of violence, and ask me to practise non-violence.”
Acharyaji said, “I’ll tell you the reason behind this. If a terrific criminal has been imprisoned and put behind bars, his body has been tied with iron chains, he’s kept in a dark room, he is unable to meet his beloved ones or see them. Then how can he even think of preaching?
The same way, beings of hell are tied by demons with iron chains. They rot in the darkness of horrendous hell. They are completely trapped. How can they even come to you or preach you? They cannot come out of hell without completing their life span.”
Pingal said, “Alright! I agree with you. A living being from hell cannot come here, but what about heaven? My father must have gone to heaven because he was very afraid of afterlife. He had given up on sins like violence and ill-feelings to a great extent. In his last days, he had taken the vows of monkhood and then attained death. I was very dear to him. I also told him before death to come to preach me. Still, he has not come yet. Heavenly beings are independent, aren’t they?”
Acharyaji said, “There is a reason behind this. I’ll explain you with an example. A poor and ugly person from low caste, learned various arts, gained knowledge and went abroad. With the help of his knowledge, he got a lot of prosperity in the foreign country. He also married many beautiful women and became the father of good-looking children. He drowned in the ocean of pleasures. He did not even remember his quarrelsome wife and handicapped children in his village.
Similarly, heavenly beings consider the human world to be filthy and full of foul smell.
They get immersed in endless pleasures and love of heavenly goddesses. They get drooled in joy & splendour. They do not even remember their previous life. Then how will your father come here from heaven to preach you? Immersed in divine luxuries and engrossed in sensory pleasures, heavenly beings do not come to the human world.”
Pingal said, “Okay, agreed! Now let me talk about an experiment. In this city, a thief robbed the state treasury. He was caught with the stolen goods and was presented in front of the king. The king sentenced him to death!
The thief was put in an iron cell and the lid was closed from above. All the holes were also sealed with hot lead. Soldiers gathered all around. The thief died inside. If there was a soul, then it would come out, wouldn’t it? And if it would have come out, then even a small hole would occur. But there was no hole in the entire cell. This proves that living entity is not different from the five elements.”
Acharyaji said with a smile, “Okay, let me also tell you an incident. There was a shell artist in a town. He was proficient in the art of blowing conch shells. He always stood at the city gate to blow the conch. All the citizens used to listen to it.
Once the king asked his servant, “Where does this artist blow the conch from?”
The servant replied, “He stands at the city gate to blow the conch.”
The king replied with amaze, “The door of my room is always closed. Then how am I able to hear the sound? How does the sound enter through closed doors?”
The servant replied, “Your Majesty, sound doesn’t stop like this, it can travel anywhere!”
For his satisfaction, the king locked a shell artist in one of his rooms. He also sealed the cracks and holes of the door and shut it. The artist blew the conch. The king and his subjects heard his voice.
Just like no hole could be seen when sound came out of the room, similarly, no hole was visible when the soul came out of the body.”
Pingal said, “On my order, once my friend weighed a thief on a weighing scale. Then he killed him and weighed his dead body. The weight turned out to be the same. If soul exits from the body, then the weight should reduce, right? But it didn't. Hence it has to be believed that soul is not separate from the body!”
Acharyaji said, “Now, listen to me. A man weighed a balloon filled with air. Then he burst it and weighed it. But the weight was the same. Now tell me, is the balloon and air one or separate? The weight should have reduced on removing the air, right?”
Pingal thought for a while and said, “Let me talk about another experiment. A thief was caught. He was sentenced to death. My friend searched the soul of the thief by moving his body all around. But no soul was found. He even tore his body apart but the soul was still not found. If soul is there, then why can’t it be found?”
Acharyaji said, “A man shook a piece of wood looking for fire in it. But even after moving it all around, he couldn’t find fire in it. He chopped the wood into pieces, but fire was still not found. So should the presence of fire in wood be denied? Fire does arise from it, doesn’t it?”
Pingal no longer had an answer.
His capacity to debate and argue was over.
Acharyaji said with affection, “Have you ever seen air that moves the branches of trees? Likewise, we cannot see the soul! We believe air to be present by seeing the movement of the branches. Similarly, beings move, eat, drink and perform various actions on the basis of which we can believe that soul is present.
You’re a Brahmin. You’re intelligent. You know that if a word like soul exists, it means that the entity does exist!
• In all the three tenses, ‘I was, I am and I will be,’ that ‘I’ means soul!
• In this world, many people recollect their previous lives. 'I was a heavenly being, human or animal in previous birth,' such knowledge and understanding is possible only when there is a soul! Lifeless objects do not have such knowledge!
• By going to the Samavasaran of Tirthankars, you will see that heavenly beings are really present there. So, never have any doubt in afterlife. The fruits of good or bad deeds committed in the present life cannot be fully attained in this life. To get their results, we have to experience more lives.
Brahmadutt and Shikhi were enchanted by Acharyaji’s wisdom. Their hearts were overwhelmed.
