Prakash Sancheti
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Text:
O'God, My mind, body and heart should be poised in all situations as in sorrow and pleasure; union and separation, in friendship and enmity, in a palace and forest and by giving up all attachments!
Let us understand the Navkar Mantra
Mantra means the shortest - as short as possible. As seeds are very small but have great capacity to grow into trees, a mantra contains a few words but has a deep meaning like a tiny ocean in a bucket. The Navkar Mantra describes nine designations (Nav Pads). They are as follows:
- Arihant
- Siddha
- Acharya
- Upadhaya
- Sadhu
- Right Vision
- Right Knowledge
- Right Conduct
- Right Penance
These nine 'padas' contain the essence of all Jain scriptures. The Navkar Mantra contains the extract of fourteen purvas, which means an extract of all the spiritual knowledge before Lord Mahaveer. Its greatness cannot be described even in infinite words. It has 68 letters which are equal to 68 places of pilgrimage. It is worth remembering in sorrow or pleasure, while living or dying and at all times.
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Text:
We also call it the Namaskar Mantra because all Jains bow to all the padas mentioned above with mind, body and speech and honour it highly.
The Mantra has
- two Lords: - Arihantas and Siddhas,
- three Gurus:- Acharya, Upadhyaya and Sadhu.
These five, collectively known as the five excellent Souls make up the five padas.
The four virtues:
- Right Vision, Right Knowledge, Right Conduct and Right Penance
make up the rest four padas. Thus, there is a total of nine padas in the Mahamantra.
