Acharya Mahaprajna
2.151 suhaṭṭhi lālappamāṇe saeṇa dukkheṇa mūḍhe vippariyāsamuveti.
In search of happiness he desires for it again and again. Deluded by the suffering produced by himself, he gets bewildered on attaining suffering in place of happiness.[1]
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 151
To the query: 'for what purpose does a person indulge in acts of injury'? The Sūtra answers: there are two classes of people: those engaged in the search of self, and those engaged in the search of worldly pleasures. The person who is engaged in the search of worldly pleasures indulges in injury to life. He hankers after pleasure again and again.[2] While craving for pleasure, he earns sufferings. On account of its being the cause of suffering, any kind of worldly act is in fact nothing but suffering. Being deluded on account of the suffering earned by himself, he meets adverse situations. Hankering after pleasure, he gets pain.
Delusion consists in non-discrimination between the wholesome and the unwholesome, the good act and the bad act, the worthy and the unworthy of being avoided. On account of his delusion, he is incapable of knowing whether what was done for pleasure will turn out a source of suffering. This is why he engages himself in injuring earth-bodied beings and the like for his own happiness or the happiness of others. And as a consequence, he experiences interminable suffering.[3]
2.152 saeṇa pāṇā vippamāeṇa, puḍho vayaṃ pakkuwati.
On account of his overpowering non-vigilance, he creates his own cycle of transmigration.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 152
The hankering after pleasure generates non-vigilance. On account of his own overpowering non-vigilance, he creates for himself the cycle [4] of transmigration.[5]
2.153 jaṃsime pāṇā pavvahiyā. Paḍilehāe ṇo ṇikaraṇāe.
The monk should not indulge in what involves torture of living beings and understanding this, he should avoid devising any action [6] for violence and possessiveness.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 153
The creatures undergo suffering in the cycle of transmigration created by their own non-vigilance. They subject themselves to pain on account of their physical and mental miseries. Observing and rightly comprehending this, he should not set about committing violence and acquiring possession, that are the source thereof.
2.154 esa pariṇṇā pavuccai.
"This [7] is comprehension" said the Lord.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 154
Not setting about committing violence or acquiring of possession is called comprehension.[8]
2.155 kammovasaṃtī.
Such comprehension is calming down of karma.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 155
There is tranquillization of karma due to the non-accumulation of possessions. This is the reason why not setting about doing any evil deed is also called tranquilization of karma.[9]
Tranquillization of karma means not acquiring new karma and getting rid of the old ones.
2.156 je mamāiya-matiṃ jahāti, se jahāti mamāiyaṃ.
The monk who gets rid of the mind of possessiveness abandons possessiveness.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 156
The disposition of "mine'-ness' is possessiveness. The instinct of 'mine'- ness is the inclination to 'mine'-ness. The possessiveness is in respect of animate and also inanimate objects. For instance, my mother; my father; my house; my land. The person who frees his mind of possessiveness succeeds in truly getting rid of possessive instinct in respect of animate and inanimate things.
On this topic, the Cūrṇi (p.92)[10] has given the example of Bharata Cakravartī who got rid of his instinct of 'mine'-ness when he entered the palace fitted with mirrors all round (dressing room). "I do indeed dwell in the palace", observed an ascetic but in your case the palace dwells in your mind." The implication is that unless and until the instinct of 'mine'-ness settled in the mind is not given up, the sense of possessiveness in respect of external things cannot be got rid of. It is, therefore, necessary to clean the mind at the start.[11]
Only the monk who has no passion of 'mine'-ness has seen the path.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 157
Due to 'mine'-ness, the path becomes perverse and the knowledge too. The person who is free of possessiveness has seen the path. Such monk is truly wise. On the dissolution of the knot of 'mine'-ness only, one can achieve the right intuition and knowledge. This is the implication of the Sūtra.
2.158 taṃ pariṇṇāya mehāvī.
The prudent monk should know and abandon possessiveness.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 158
The intelligent monk should understand the nature of possessions through comprehension quâ knowledge and give them up through comprehension quâ abandonment.
2.159 vidittā logaṃ, vaṃtā logasaṇṇaṃ, se matimaṃ parakkamejjāsi tti bemi.
Knowing the nature of the world, giving up the instinct of 'mine'- ness, the intelligent monk should exert himself - thus do I say.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 159
The intelligent monk should know the 'world' and give up the 'world- instinct' and strive. Thus do I say.[12] Here 'world' means greed for possession.
The 'world-instinct' means the inclination to greed or the inclination to possessiveness.
The implication of these two words is that one should know, first of all, the nature of possessions and thereafter should purge himself of the instinct, inclination or tendency thereof. This gives the complete course of achieving non-possessiveness.[13]
Acārāṅga Cūrṇi, p.91: so mūḍhattā ṇābhiyāṇati jahā appassa suhassa kāraṇa puḍhavikkāyātisa-māraṃbheṇa aṇaṃtakālaṃ saṃsāre aṇubhavati dukkham, jahā attaṭṭhā tahā paraṭṭhavi, mātāpitimādīṇaṃ kāraṇā puḍhavimādī samārabbati tato vipariyāsaṃ eti.
Etareyabrāhmaṇa, adhyaya 12, khanda 8: 'vayaḥ suvarṇā upaseduriṇdramityuttamayā paridadhāti.' Sāyaṇācāryaṇa svabhāṣye veterdhātorgatyarthasya vaya iti rupaṃ sammatam.
Ibid, p.91: vicchiṇṇo vayo asubhadīhāuyaṃ aṇegavihaṃ vā vayaṃ patteyaṃ patteyaṃ chasu jivanikāesu āuyaṃ, puṇo puṇo vā vayaṃ puḍhovayaṃ - bhisaṃ kuvvati.
(a) Ācārāṅga Cūrṇi, p.91: pariṇṇā kammovasaṃti tti vā egaṭṭhā.
(b) Man performs actions (karma). Actions in themselves have no motives. They are performed for fulfilling certain aims. There are certain necessities of life, the fulfilling of which requires actions. It is one thing to act in order to fulfil certain necessities and it is quite another thing to search for a necessity in order to act. When the mind is full of attachment, we create artificial necessities. By this, our problems multiply. The actions of one who is free from attachment get reduced to bare necessities. Simultaneously, the bondages of karma particles which are caused by actions also subside.
Acārāṅga Cūrṇi, p.92: evaṃ aṇṇesuvi vayesu āyojjaṃ. Asyādhāreṇa evaṃ racitaṃ syāt -
je pāṇāivāyamatiṃ jahāti, se jahāti pāṇāivāyaṃ.je musāvāyamatiṃ jahāti, se jahāti musāvāyaṃ.je adinnādāṇamatiṃ jahāti, se jahāti adinnādāṇaṃ.je abaṃbhaceramatiṃ jahāti, se jahāti abaṃbhaceraṃ.
