Ācārya Guņabhadra’s Ātmānuśāsana – Precept on the Soul

By Jain, Vijay, K.

Book Id: WPLBN0100302071
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 13.44 MB
Reproduction Date: 9/23/2019

Title:	Ācārya Guņabhadra’s Ātmānuśāsana – Precept on the Soul
Author:	Jain, Vijay, K.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Religion, Jainism
Collections:	Religion, Authors Community
Historic Publication Date:	2019
Publisher:	Vikalp Printers

Member Page:	Vijay K. Jain
Citation APA MLA Chicago K. Jai, B. V. (2019). Ācārya Guņabhadra’s Ātmānuśāsana – Precept on the Soul. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.cc/

Description
English Translation: Vijay K. Jain; Editor: Vijay K. Jain Divine Blessings: Ācārya 108 Vidyānanda Muni Main Author: Ācārya Guņabhadra Other Author: Vijay K. Jain Foreword: Dr. Chakravarthi Nainar Devakumar Publisher: Dehradun : Vikalp Printers, September 2019 Subjects: Jainism – Doctrines – Early works to 1800 Jaina Philosophy – Early works to 1800 Faith, Knowledge, Conduct, Austerity, Liberation Description: xlvi + 240 p. ; 24 cm x 17 cm ISBN: 9788193272640 Format: Book; Hard-bound Language Note: In Sanskrit; translation in Hindi and English; explanatory notes and prefatory matter in English. Keywords: three-jewels (ratnatraya), right faith (samyagdarśana), right knowledge (samyagjñāna), right conduct (samyakcāritra), extroverted-soul (bahirātmā), introverted-soul (antarātmā), pure-soul (paramātmā), austerities (tapa), omniscience (kevalajñāna), liberation (mokşa)

Summary
Ātmānuśāsana (commonly spelled as Atmanushasan) by Ācārya Guņabhadra presents profound concepts of the Jaina Doctrine in a form that is easily understood. Remarkable for its poetry and meaning, it expounds that right faith (samyagdarśana) is the cause of merit, and wrong faith of demerit. To have belief in the true nature of substances is right faith. Dharma is the man’s most excellent possession. The conduct that leads to merit is dharma and it results in happiness after destroying misery. Whether happy or miserable, dharma should be the only pursuit of man. True happiness is not the momentary sprinkling of the pleasures of the senses. Long-life, wealth and sound body are obtained from the previously earned merit (puņya). Under the spell of sinful karmas, the man experiences misery. Excellent men with discrimination work hard, incessantly and cheerfully, for the sake of their future lives. The happiness attained through austerity (tapa) can never be attained by craving for wealth. No dust of disgrace ever touches the feet of the man fortified by austerity. The ascetic goes on to perform austerity while protecting his body, for a very long time. Through the power of austerity he vanquishes his natural enemies, like the passions of anger, etc. In the after-life, he automatically and speedily attains liberation as the culmination of his human effort.

Excerpt
It is well-known that demerit (pāpa) begets suffering and merit (dharma, punya) begets happiness. Therefore, the potential (bhavya) soul seeking happiness must refrain from demerit and follow incessantly the conduct that leads to merit (dharma).