Acharya Mahaprajna
5.1 āvaṃtī keāvaṃtī loyaṃsi vipparāmusaṃti, aṭṭhae aṇaṭṭhāe vā, eesu ceva vipparāmusaṃti.
Whoever entertains any violent thought in this world, with or without motive, directs it, in fact, towards the six classes of living beings.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 1
The aspirant should be free from attachment and aversion. Such freedom is the essence of the spiritual discipline. To the query about how does a person afflicted by attachment and hatred behave, the Sūtra says: people under the sway of attachment and aversion engage in various evil activities and they commit acts of violence.[1] Among them, some indulge in violence with some motive, and others even without it.[2] The act of violence is done in respect of the six classes of living beings.
5.2 guru se kāmā.
Their desires are vast.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sutra 2
The motivating factors behind the act of violence are three: satisfaction of desires, earning of fortune and religious rituals. Here the reference is to satisfaction of desires. The person whose desires are deep and intense, that is, intractable and uncontrolable,[3] indulges in violence in order to satisfy them. It has been propounded before that the desires are unsurmountable (2.121). Among the four ends of life, the two namely, satisfaction of desires and earning of fortune are related to sensuality. The other two, namely, the religious discipline and emancipation relate to supersensory perception. In the sensual world, there is the reign of attachment and aversion. In the world of supersensory perception there is the predominance of detachment. Until and unless there is the awakening of supersensuous perception, there constantly arise the thought that the desires are utmost precious and essential. In such case, there is an easy scope for violence.
5.3 tao se mārassa aṃto, jao se mārassa aṃto, tao se dūre.
A person, overwhelmed by desires, is within the domain of sexual indulgence. And due to the sway of sexual indulgence, he is far away from the true bliss (of liberation).
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 3
A person heavily laden with desires is within the realm of sexual indulgence. And on account of his being in the realm of sexual indulgence, he is overpowered by the deluding disposition of fear, grief, etc., and as such is really far away from the bliss. The idea is that desires goad the person to sexual indulgence. A person addicted to the indulgence in sexual activity does never attain pleasure that quenches his thirst. And so he is far away from immortality, liberation and means thereto.
The Sanskrit word 'māra' stands for sexual indulgence. In the Cūrṇi[4] it has been explained as karma and the cycle of birth and death. In the Vṛtti[5] it is explained as 'death' (cessation of life-span).
5.4 ṇeva se aṃto, ṇeva se dūre.
Such person is neither near the sensual objects nor far away from them.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 4
A person abandons the sensual objects when he knows them as the producer of afflictions, but on account of his immature state of detachment, his abandonment is not fruitful. In the present Sūtra the mental disposition of such person is delineated. One who has forshaken the sensual objects is not involved in them nor is he away from them because he has not forshaken the desires for them.
5.5 se pāsati phusiyamiva, kusagge paṇunnaṃ ṇivatitaṃ vāteritaṃ. evaṃ bālassa jīviyaṃ, maṃdassa avijāṇao.
He looks at life as a restless dew drop on the sharp point of the blade of kuśa grass, tossed by the breeze and fallen down. Such is the life of unrestrained person who is dull and ignorant.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 5
The person addicted to desires indeed sees the life as a drop of water at the tip of the kuśa grass, tending to fall, hanging and trembling, tossed by the breeze and blown away. But inspite of that the life of the dupe, ignorant, dull-minded, and not knowing the impermanence of life, is not successful (in achieving emancipation).
5.6 kūrāṇi kammāṇi bāle pakuwamāṇe, teṇa dukkheṇa mūḍhe vippariyāsuvei.
The ignorant person indulging in cruel acts creates his own suffering. Deluded by the suffering, he meets the reverse (that is, while expecting pleasure, he experiences pain).
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 6
The ignorant person, even though cognizant of the impermanence of life, does not really know the truth as he is beguiled by delusion. As a result, he indulges in cruel acts. The rest of the sūtra is to be interpreted like the sūtra 2.69.
5.7 moheṇa gabbhaṃ maraṇāti eti.
Through delusion he meets birth and death again and again.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 7
It was said in Sūtra 3.14: 'The deceitful and non-vigilant person takes rebirth again and again'. Here it is said that a person beguiled by delusion takes rebirth, that is, meets death and the like. The existence of the soul is not per se the cause of rebirth, but it is the delusion that is the cause of transmigration.
5.8 ettha mohe puṇo-puṇo.
Delusion arises again and again in the cycle of birth and death.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 8
In the cycle of birth and death, delusion arises again and again. This chain of birth and death can be seen from Sūtra 3.83.
5.9 saṃsayaṃ parijjāṇato, saṃsāre pariṇṇate bhavati,
saṃsayaṃ aparijāṇato, saṃsāre apariṇṇāte bhavati..
One who comprehends the doubt comprehends the world of birth and death. One who does not comprehend the doubt does not comprehend the world.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 9
The comprehension is twofold. (1) comprehension quâ knowledge - knowledge of the acceptable and the non-acceptable, (2) comprehension quâ abandonment—abandonment of the unacceptable. Doubt arises on account of delusion. Doubt stands for oscillation between the belief and disbelief about rebirth. The person who has no doubt about rebirth is capable of getting rid of the cycle of saṃsāra, considering it as worthy of rejection. He is capable of relinquishing the cause that nourishes the cycle. The person ridden with doubt about rebirth is ignorant of the nature of saṃsāra. Such person has not the will or inclination to renounce the world or realize the nature of self.[6]
5.10 je chee se sāgāriyaṃ ṇa sevae.
The conqueror of senses does not indulge in sexuality.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 10
Karmic inflow is the cause of saṃsāra. Attachment is the principal cause thereof. Sex is of the nature of attachment, and therefore it has been said that the adept does not indulge in sex.[7] People mostly incur the inflows of violence, untruth, stealing, possessiveness and the like on account of that.
The adept means irreprehensible, that is, irreproachable.[8] In the Vṛtti (patra 181), adept has been explained as an expert who has understood the nature of merit and demerit.
5.11 kaṭṭu evaṃ avijāṇao, vitiyā maṃdassa bālayā.
The person who indulges in sexuality but pleads his innocence when questioned. This is stupidity redoubled of the dull-witted person.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 11
Suppose somebody secretly indulges in sex, but does not admit to have done so when questioned.[9] On account of such denial the miserable creature is doubly guilty. In the first place, he has broken the fourth great vow of celibacy and secondly, he has transgressed the second great vow of truthfulness.
5.12 laddhā huratthā paḍilehāe āgamittā āṇavijjā āṇāsevaṇayāe—tti bemi.
The accessible sensual pleasures are external. Critically knowing this, one should admonish indulgence in them. - Thus do I say.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 12
The self-restrained person should not only reject the inaccessible sensual objects, but should ignore the accesible ones too. Such objects are external[10] (antagonistic) to the spiritual discipline.[11] Scrutinizing and appreciating this, the preceptor should admonish the disciple indulging in them. In other words, he should warn the disciple that the consequences of indulging in sensual objects are harmful. - Thus do I say.
5.13 pāsaha ege rūvesu giddhe pariṇijjamāṇe.
Look, those who are attached to the body are enticed by the sensual objects.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 13
Look at the world. Some people greedily cling to the body, that is, the material objects including the body.[12] They are duped and afflicted, tied by attachment and hatred, fastened fast to the objects, or are carried in the stream of sensual objects, or are attracted to those objects by the senses.
5.14 ettha phase puṇo-puṇo.
In this process, they meet suffering again and again.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 14
In this whirl of attachment, there is misery due to unpleasurable touch again and again.
One who is attached to the worldly things or collection of worldly objects is subject to worries for the protection and utilization of those objects; feels sorrow in their exhaustion and deprivation is pained due to the unquenched lust for enjoyment; on account of his miserable condition due to discontent he grabs greedily what is not offered to him and indulges in theft.
The cycle of misery thus never comes to an end.
5.15 āvaṃtī keāvaṃtī loyaṃsi āraṃbhajῑvῑ, eesu ceva āraṃbhajīvῑ.
Whosoever lives a life of violence, does so by indulging in violence to those objects of attachment.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 15
Men have desires. Wealth is the means to the fulfilment of desires. A man indulges in violence for wealth. It has, therefore, been said that whosoever lives on violence do so, being overcome by their attachment to the objects. There are two classes of people indulging in violence: some have few desires and others have many. People with few desires indulge in violence only to fulfil their bare necessity. But for the person with many desires, greed increases with their gains. Such persons are never contented. There is yet another class of people who are devoid of all kinds of desires. They lead their lives by avoiding all attachment to objects and consequently don't indulge in any kind of violence.
5.16 ettha vi bale paripaccamāṇe ramatipāvehiṃ kammehiṃ, 'asaraṇe saraṇaṃ 'ti maṇṇamāṇe.
An ignorant aspirant, even in his life of self-restraint, labours under the desires for sensual objects and finds pleasure in evil deeds, considering the non-shelter as the shelter.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 16
An ignorant person, even though observing self-restraint, is afflicted by desires for sensual objects and finds pleasure in sinful activities. The objects are impermanent. They cannot be a shelter. But people under delusion consider them as dependable shelter and find pleasure in sinful activities.
5.17 ihamegesiṃ egacariyā bhavati - se bahukohe bahumāṇe bahumāe bahulohe bahurae bahunaḍe bahusaḍhe bahusaṃkappe, āsavasakkī paliucchanne, uṭṭhiyavāyaṃ pavayamāṇe "mā me kei adakkhū" aṇṇāṇapamāya-doseṇaṃ, sayayaṃ mūḍhe dhammaṃ ṇābhijāṇai.
Some monks live a lonely life of spiritual discipline. Among them, there is some who under the sway of intense wrath, intense pride, intense deceit, intense greed and intense lust, behaves much like an actor or a robber, conceiving many plans, giving way to the impulses, overlaid by karma, pretending to be awakened and concealing himself lest others should cognize him. Under the sway of ignorance and carelessness, the fool never knows the law.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 17
Some monks live a solitary life of discipline. Such solitary life is not absolutely disapproved. But it is not approved for those in whom the passions of anger, pride, deceit and greed are preponderant. This is not approved also for persons who are addicted to the sensual pleasures, or who is like an actor with different roles or indulges in manifold behaviour of the wicked persons. It is also not approved for those who have many reveries, hanker after many things like food etc., or are addicted to the causes of karmic inflow. It is also not approved for the contaminated person covered by karmas. It is also not approved for a person who claims to be a monk who has renounced the world, but commits the prohibited behaviour, and is always afraid and worried that others may know him indulging in such behaviour. Such person is always deluded on account of the blemishes of ignorance and carelessness and is ignorant of the scriptural discipline and the discipline of good conduct that lead to the destruction of karma.
5.18 aṭṭā payā māṇava! kammakoviyā je aṇuvarayā, avijjāe palimokkhamāhu, āvaṭṭaṃ aṇupariyaṭṭaṃti. - tti bemi.
O man! there are people who are wretched, are adept in their work, but do not guard themselves against the inflow of karma and claim ignorance as the means to emancipation. Such people do always remain in the whirl of saṃsāra. - Thus do I say.
Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 18
The wretched is he who is overpowered by poverty, tortured by mental anguish and tormented by the sensual objects and passions. O man! this world is miserable due to their being tormented by the sensual objects and passions. People indulge in various activities to alleviate their misery and become adept[13] in their activities. The right means to alleviate the misery is desisting from the sensual objects and passions and cultivation of wisdom. Persons who are ignorant of the truth and do not desist from the causes of karmic inflow and claim ignorance[14] as the means to emancipation remain involved in the whirl of saṃsāra. - Thus do I say.
