Jaina Sutras Part IIJainismAccepted ScripturePrakritShareUttaradhyayana Sutra 14Hermann Jacobi / SBE vol. 45 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableHermann Jacobi / SBE vol. 45LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Uttaradhyayana Sutra 1Uttaradhyayana Sutra 2Uttaradhyayana Sutra 3Uttaradhyayana Sutra 4Uttaradhyayana Sutra 5Uttaradhyayana Sutra 6Uttaradhyayana Sutra 7Uttaradhyayana Sutra 8Uttaradhyayana Sutra 9Uttaradhyayana Sutra 10Uttaradhyayana Sutra 11Uttaradhyayana Sutra 12Uttaradhyayana Sutra 13Uttaradhyayana Sutra 14Uttaradhyayana Sutra 15Uttaradhyayana Sutra 16Uttaradhyayana Sutra 17Uttaradhyayana Sutra 18Uttaradhyayana Sutra 19Uttaradhyayana Sutra 20Uttaradhyayana Sutra 21Uttaradhyayana Sutra 22Uttaradhyayana Sutra 23Uttaradhyayana Sutra 24Uttaradhyayana Sutra 25Uttaradhyayana Sutra 26Uttaradhyayana Sutra 27Uttaradhyayana Sutra 28Uttaradhyayana Sutra 29Uttaradhyayana Sutra 30Uttaradhyayana Sutra 31Uttaradhyayana Sutra 32Uttaradhyayana Sutra 33Uttaradhyayana Sutra 34Uttaradhyayana Sutra 35Uttaradhyayana Sutra 36Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.1Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.2Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.3Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.4Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.5Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.6Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.7Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.8Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.9Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.10Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.11Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.12Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.13Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.14Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.15Sutrakritanga Sutra, First Book 1.16Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.1Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.2Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.3Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.4Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.5Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.6Sutrakritanga Sutra, Second Book 2.7›Uttaradhyayana Sutra: Fourteenth Lecture - IshukaraUttaradhyayana Sutra 14ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1FOURTEENTH LECTURE. ishukAra. Having been gods in a former existence and lived in the same heavenly region, some were born (here below) in the ancient, wealthy, and famous town called IshukiraS which • is beautiful like heaven, (i) By a remnant of the merit they had acquired in their former life, they were born in noble families. Disgusted with the world and afraid of the Sawsira, they abandoned (pleasures, &c.) and took refuge in the path of the G^inas. (a) Two males remained bachelors, (the third became) the Purdliita (Bhngu), (the fourth) his wife Ya^d, (the fifth) the widely-famed king Ishukdra, and (the sixth) his wife Kamal&vati. (3) Overcome by fear of birth, old age, and death, their mind intent on pilgrimage, and hoping to escape the Wheel of Births, they examined pleasures and abandoned them. (4) Both dear sons of the Brahmanical Purdhita, who was intent on works, remembered their former birth, and the penance and self-control they had then practised. (5) Averse to human and heavenly pleasures, desiring liberation, and full of faith, they went to their father and spoke thus : (6) ‘Seeing that the lot of man is transitory and precarious, and that his life lasts not long, we take no delight in domestic life ; we bid you farewell : we shall turn monks.’ (7) In order to dissuade them from a life of aus- terities, the father replied to those (would-be) monks : 2‘ Those versed in the Vedas say that there will be no better world for men without sons. (8) ‘ My sons, after you have studied the Vddas, and fed the priests, after you have placed your own sons ’ In Prdkrrt Usuyara (or Isuyara). According to the PrSknt legend given in the commentary it was in the Kuru country. LECTURE Xrv. at the head of your house, and after you have enjoyed life together with your wives, tlien you may depart to the woods as praiseworthy sages.’ {9) The young men perceiving that the Purdhita was wholly consumed, as it were, by the fire of grief, which was fed by his individual inclinations and blown into a huge flame by the wind of delusion ; tliat he suffered much and talked a great deal in many ways ; that he tried to persuade them by decrees, and that he would even bribe them with money and with objects of desire, (spoke) these words; (lo, ii) “ The study of the V^das will npt save you ; the feeding of Brahmawas will lead you from darkness to darkness, and the birth of sons will not save you. Who will assent to what you said ? (i 2) ** Pleasures bring only a moment’s happiness, but suffering for a verj^ long time, intense suffering, but slight happiness j they are an obstacle to the liberation from existence, and are a very mine of evils. 3(13) “ While a man walks about without abandoning pleasures, and grieves da)'’ and night, while he is anxious about other people, and seeks for wealth, he comes to old age and death. (14) " I have this, and I have not tliat ; I must do this, and I 'should not do that ! While he talks in this strain, die robbers (viz. time) drag him away. What foolishness is this!” (15) ‘ Great wealth and women, a family and exquisite pleasures ; for such things people practise austerities. All this you may have for your asking.’ (16) “What avail riches for tlie practice of religion, what a family, what pleasures ? We shall become ^rama^jas, possessed of many virtues, and wander about collecting alms.” (17) ‘ As fire is produced in the Arawi-wood, as butter in milk, and oil in sesamum seed, so, my sons, is the soul ^ produced in the body ; (all these things) did not exist before, they came into existence, and then they perish ; but they are not permanent’ (18) ** (The soul) cannot be apprehended by the senses, because it possesses no corporeal form=, and since it possesses no corporeal form it is eternal. The fetter of the soul has been ascertained to be caused by its bad qualities, and this fetter is called the cause of worldly existence. 4(19) “Thus being ignorant of the Law, we formerly did sinful actions, and through our wrong-minded- ness we were kept back and retained (from entering the order). We shall not again act in the same way. (20) “ As mankind is harassed (by the one), and taken hold of (by the other), and as the unfailing ones go by, we take no delight in the life of a house- holder.” (21) ‘ Who harasses the world ? who takes hold of it ? * Satta in Uie original j it is rendered sattva by the commen- tators. Perhaps satta is the PrakrA for svatmd; at any rate, the context of the next verse proves that soul is intended. ® Amhrta. In later philosophy mhrtatva is defined as the possessing of definite and limited form (parii?^^Ainnaparima- «avattvam) or the possessing of action (kriyavattvam or vega- vattvam). Amfirta dravya are \rith the Vaireshikas : the air (akara), time, space, and Atman. These are also called nityadravya. Amfirta is here apparentlj' s^mom-mous with arfipin, formless, compare XXXVI, 4, where dbarma, adharma, akdia, and kala are enumerated as the ‘formless things without life.' LECTURE XIV. whom do you call unfailing? My sons, I am anxious to learn this.' (22) Mankind is harassed by Death ; it is taken hold of by Old Age ; the days* are called unfailing : know this, Father! (23) “The day that goes by will never return; 5the days elapse without profit to him who acts contrary to the Law. (24) “The day that goes by will never return; the days elapse with much profit to him who acts up to theXaw.” (25) ‘ Having lived together in one place, and both parties “ having acquired righteousness, we shall, O my sons, afterwards go forth (as monks) and beg alms from house to house.' (26) “He who can call Death his friend, or who can escape him, or who knows that he will not die, might perhaps decide; this shall be done to- morrow. (27) “We will even now adopt the Law, after the adoption of which we shall not be born again. The future has nothing in store for us (which we have not experienced already). Faith will enable us to put aside attachment." (28) (Bh?'/gu speaks to his wife Vdsish/^i.) Domestic * Literally, the nights. It seems to have been the custom at Uie time when the Sfitras were composed, to reckon the time by nights, though the reckoning by days is not quite unmstanced in the Sfitras. ^ ^ „ . . = This is the e.vplanation of duhafi by the commentators, vho apparently think that the parents and the sons meant I he word in question is originally an admb, but « also (cfi Thirteenth Lecture, verse 18) taken by the com „ a numeral, and rendered dvayfi//. A genitive of the dual occurs in XIX. 00. life ceases (to have attraction) for one who has lost his sons ; 6VisishMi, the time has arrived for me to turn mendicant friar. As long as a tree retains its branches, it is really a tree ; when they are lopped off, it is called a trunk. (29) ‘As a bird without its wings, as a king in battle without his followers, as a merchant on a boat with- out his goods, even so am I without my sons.' (30) “You have brought together all these objects of desire, and have collected many exquisitely pleasant things. Let us, therefore, fully enjoy the pleasures ; afterwards we shall go forth on the road of salvation.” (31) ‘We have finished enjoying pleasures, my dear; our life is drawing to its close. I do not abandon pleasures for the sake of an unholy life ; but looking with indifference on gain and loss, on happiness and suffering, I shall lead the life of a monk.' (32) “ May you not remember your brothers (when it is too late) like an old goose swimming against the current. Enjoy the pleasures together with me. A mendicant’s life is misery^” (33) ‘ My dear, as a snake casts off the slough of its body and goes along free and easy, even so have my sons abandoned pleasure. Why should I. being left alone, not follow them ? (34) ‘As the fish R6hita^ breaks through a weak net, even so wise men of exemplary character and famous for their austerities abandon pleasure and live as mendicants. 7(35) “ As the herons fly through the air and the geese too, who had rent the net, even so my sons and ' Cyprinus Rohita. LECTURE XIV. my husband depart. Why should I, being left alone, not follow them ? ” (36) When the queen had heard that the Purdhita with his wife and sons had entered the order, abandoning pleasures and all his large property, she spoke to the king: (37) ‘ A man who returns, as it were, to the vomit, is not praised ; but you want to confiscate’ the property left by the Brahmawa. (38) ‘ If the whole world and all treasures were yours, you would still not be satisfied, nor would all this be able to save you. (39) ‘ Whenever you die, O king, and leave all pleasant things behind, the Law alone, and nothing else in this world, will save you, O monarch. (40) ‘As a bird dislikes the cage, so do I (dislike the world). I shall live as a nun, without offspring, poor, upright, without desire, without love of gain, and without hatred. (41) ‘As when by a conflagration of a forest animals are burned, other beasts greatly rejoice, being under the influence of love and hate ; even so we, fools that we are, being attached to pleasure, do not perceive that the world is consumed by the fire of love and hatred. (42, 43) ‘ Those who have enjoyed pleasures, and have renounced them, move about like the wind, and go wherever they please, like the birds unchecked in their flight. 8(44) ‘ When they" are caught, and held by my hand, ’ It was considered a privilege of the king to confiscate the property of a man who had no heir ; compare Gautama » 4 ^i Vasish//;a XVII, 83-86, &c. ® This apparently refers to tlie birds mentioned in the last verse. sir, tliey struggle ; we shall be like them, if we are attached to pleasures. (45) ‘As an unbaited (bird)* sees a baited one caught in the snare, even so shall we avoid every bait and walk about, not baited by anything. (46) * Being aware that pleasures are causes for the continuance of worldly existence, as illustrated in (the above) similes of the greedy man, one should be cautious and stir as little as possible, like a snake in the presence of Suparwa. (47) ‘ Like an elephant who has broken his fetters, go to your proper destination. O great king Ishuk^ri ; this is the wholesome truth I have learned. (48) ‘ Leave )'Our large kingdom and the pleasures which are so dear to all ; abandon what pleases the senses, and what attracts; be without attachment and property ; learn thoroughly the Law and give up all amusements; then practise famous and severe penance, being of firm energy (49, 50) The commentators labour to interpret them as ‘pleasures,' but that will not make good sense. ^ Kulala in the original. Kulala in Sanskrit denotes the wild cock, Phasianus Gallus. 9The word seems to be derived from kulSya by assimilation of the y to the preceding consonant, compare salilsi for saliyd = saritd = sarit. In the sense of bird the \vord kulala seems to be used in the well-known stanza of Bhartr/hari; brahma yena kulalavan niyamito brahmSwa'abhdwifo- dare, unless here kulala is an early corruption for kuldyin. - The commentators assign these verses to the two sons of Bhr/gu; but then the verses do not construe. Besides the mention of the ‘large kingdom' in the first line seems to prove that the king, and not the Brahmans, is to be understood as the person addressed. In the last line I separate pagi^^^aha kkhfiyaw (scil. tavaz»), instead of pagi^^/;*ahakkhaya7«. It is, however, just possible that the next verse is to be connected with the preceding ones ; in that case, we must read pagi^g^fA* and interpret it in conformity with the scholiast as a gerund. LECTURE XV. In this way all (these) professors of the Law gradually obtained enlightenment, being frightened by birth and death, and seeking for the end of misery. (51) Their doubts about the true doctrine Avere dispersed, and they realised the Bhdvanis * ; in a short time they reached the end of misery. (52) The king and the queen, the Brahmanical Pur6- hita, his wife, and his sons, they all reached per- fection. (53) Thus I say. ‹Previous chapterUttaradhyayana Sutra 13Next chapterUttaradhyayana Sutra 15›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public-domain 1895 English translation