Tenth Lecture. The Leaf of the Tree

Jaina Sutras, Part II (SBE45), tr. by Hermann Jacobi, [1895], at sacred-texts.com

TENTH LECTURE ².

THE LEAF OF THE TREE.

As the fallow leaf of the tree falls to the ground, when its days are gone, even so the life of men (will

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come to its close); Gautama, be careful all the while! (1)

As a dew-drop dangling on the top of a blade of Kusa-grass lasts but a short time, even so the life of men; Gautama, be careful all the while! (2)

As life is so fleet and existence so precarious, wipe off the sins you ever committed; Gautama, &c. (3)

A rare chance, in the long course of time, is human birth for a living being; hard are the consequences of actions; Gautama, &c. (4)

When the soul has once got into an earth-body ¹, it may remain in the same state as long as an Asamkhya ²; Gautama, &c. (5)

When the soul has once got into a water-body, &c. (all as in verse 5). (6)

When a soul has once got into a fire-body, &c. (all as in verse 5). (7)

When the soul has once got into a wind-body, &c. (all as in verse 5). (8)

When the soul has once got into a vegetable-body, it remains long in that state, for an endless time, after which its lot is not much bettered ³; Gautama, &c. (9)

When the soul has once got into a body of a Dvîndriya (i.e. a being possessing two organs of

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sense), it may remain in the same state as long as a period called samkhyêya ¹; Gautama, &c. (10)

When the soul has once got into a body of a Trîndriya (i.e. a being possessing three organs of sense), it, &c. (all as in verse 10). (11)

When the soul has once got into a body of a Katurindriya (i.e. a being possessing four organs of sense), it, &c. (all as in verse 10). (12)

When the soul has once got into a body of a Pañkêndriya (i.e. a being possessing five organs of sense), it may remain in the same state as long as seven or eight births; Gautama, &c. (13)

When the soul has once got into the body of a god or of a denizen of hell, it may remain in that state one whole life; Gautama, &c. (14)

Thus the soul which suffers for its carelessness, is driven about in the Samsâra by its good and bad Karman; Gautama, &c. (15)

Though one be born as a man, it is a rare chance to become an Ârya; for many are the Dasyus and Mlêkkhas; Gautama, &c. (16)

Though one be born as an Ârya, it is a rare chance to possess all five organs of sense; for we see many who lack one organ or other; Gautama, &c. (17)

Though he may possess all five organs of sense, still it is a rare chance to be instructed in the best Law; for people follow heretical teachers; Gautama, &c. (18)

Though he may have been instructed in the right Law, still it is a rare chance to believe in it; for many people are heretics; Gautama, &c. (19)

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Though one believe in the Law, he will rarely practise it; for people are engrossed by pleasures; Gautama, &c. (20)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, the power of your ears decreases; Gautama, &c. (21)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, the power of your eyes decreases; Gautama, &c. (22)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, the power of your nose decreases. (23)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, the power of your tongue decreases. (24)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, the power of your touch decreases. (25)

When your body grows old, and your hair turns white, all your powers decrease. (26)

Despondency, the king's evil, cholera, mortal diseases of many kinds befall you; your body wastes and decays; Gautama, &c. (27)

Cast aside from you all attachments, as the (leaves of) a lotus let drop off the autumnal ¹ water, exempt from every attachment, Gautama, be careful all the while! (28)

Give up your wealth and your wife; you have entered the state of the houseless; do not, as it were, return to your vomit; Gautama, &c. (29)

Leave your friends and relations, the large fortune you have amassed; do not desire them a second time; Gautama, &c. (30)

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There is now no Gina ¹, but there is a highly esteemed guide to show the way; now being on the right path, Gautama, be careful all the while! (31)

Now you have entered on the path from which the thorns have been cleared, the great path; walk in the right path; Gautama, &c. (32)

Do not get into an uneven road like a weak burden-bearer; for you will repent of it afterwards; Gautama, &c. (33)

You have crossed the great ocean; why do you halt so near the shore? make haste to get on the other side; Gautama, &c. (34)

Going through the same religious practices as perfected saints ², you will reach the world of perfection, Gautama, where there is safety and perfect happiness; Gautama, &c. (35)

The enlightened ³ and liberated monk should control himself, whether he be in a village or a town, and he should preach to all ⁴ the road of peace; Gautama, &c. (36)

Having heard the Buddha's ⁵ well-delivered

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sermon, adorned by illustrations, Gautama cut off love and hatred and reached perfection. (37) Thus I say.

Footnotes

41:2 This is a sermon delivered by Mahâvîra to his disciple Indrabhûti, who belonged to the Gôtama Gôtra. In the commentary a lengthy legend is given how Gautama came to want this instruction. As it is not necessary for understanding the contents of this lecture, I may pass it over.

42:1 Verses 5-9 treat of the êkêndriyas or beings which possess but one organ of sense, that of touch. A full description of them as well as of the dvîndriyas, &c. is given in the last lecture.

42:2 The periods called asamkhya are measured by utsarpinîs and avasarpinîs which correspond to the kalpas of the Hindus, but greatly exaggerated. An asamkhya is the longest time (ukkôsam = utkarsham) which a soul may be doomed to live in earth-bodies; see below, XXXVI, 81 ff.

42:3 This is, according to the commentary, the meaning of duranta.

43:1 A samkhigga, i.e. samkhyêya, is a period which can be measured by thousands of years.

44:1 This attribute is here given to 'water,' because in autumn the water becomes pure, and even the purest water has no hold upon the leaves of a lotus; thus a saint should give up even the best and dearest attachment.

45:1 As this assertion cannot be put in the mouth of Mahâvîra, this verse must be set down as a later addition--or perhaps as a blunder of the poet similar to that noted before, in IX, 42.

45:2 This seems, according to the commentary, to be the meaning of the phrase akalêvarasênim ûsiyâ. Akalêvarasrênî is said to mean as much as kshapakasrênî.

45:3 Buddha.

45:4 Bûhaê = vrimhayêt; literally, propagate.

45:5 Here the word b u d d h a is used as a title; but its use is very restricted, scarcely going beyond that of a common epithet. This is just what we otherwise should have to assume in order to explain the use by the Bauddhas of that word to denote the founder of their sect. In the Sûtrakritâṅga II, 6, 28 Buddha, in the plural, actually denotes the prophets of the Buddhists.