Bhagavan describes the defects/disadvantages of ‘Sneha’- affection and the means to get rid of it to overcome or win over it in this chapter.
Bhagavan describes the defects/disadvantages of ‘Sneha’- affection and the means to get rid of it to overcome or win over it in this chapter.
Nihswadi Vartman of Tyagi Sadhu.
Sri Narayanmuni said:-
‘O sage, the great enemy of Ekantika devotees is affection, which causes greater harm than others. 1.
Even when one becomes a renouncer after abandoning house, wife and children, he suffers from the affection of them and worldly life. 2.
One who at the time of death thinks, remembers about his estate, wife, children, house, his stable and unstable, movable and immovable wealth, goes to ‘Pretayoni’ after his death. 3.
Even if a man’s penis is amputated, his lust to have intercourse with a woman does not end as he would like to enjoy embracing and touching a woman. 4.
A man bound by affection never becomes free from sadness and sorrow till his death; he is always engrossed in taking care and feeding his wife, children and others throughout his life. 5.
He abandons his own parents, goes out to a distant land with his wife without knowing his people because of his affection to his wife. 6.
Even though his family members hate him frequently, he becomes neutral and can’t stay without them because of affection. 7.
When a woman’s husband and sons die and the woman’s affection also dies; Man, out of affection, looks after his people but follows violence to animals and birds. 8.
Due to affection, animals, birds and men don’t care about their own hunger; they take care of look after their dependents. 9.
It is due to deep affection for the family that men look after them even by committing theft or going abroad, crossing the sea. 10.
To look after their family, wife and children, people take the path a lies, bear hardships, take jobs below their level, give away their self-respect and try to maintain their daily life. 11.
Due to their deep affection towards their family and their dependents, people carry out works not prescribed for their castes, behave like dogs and monkeys, bear troubles and face calamities. They can’t control their attachment with their family. 12.
Even when te body weakens due to old age, their urge and affection for the family is so deep that people become partial towards their family and follow corrupt, non-religious ways to take care of the family. 13.
It is the deep affection that leads to injustice, sinful behavior. They behave partially, do injustice to others, and think sin as good and fault as virtue. 14.
Due to affection, good people turn into bad, pious into sinful and their virtues are lost due to this self-destroying attitude. 15.
Lust, anger, greed and deep desire for self-advantage capture men due to affection. 16.
Remedies to overcome Snehrup Dosh.
The ways to eradicate the defects of affection, if followed strictly, help to win over the defects though they seems difficult. 17.
A renouncer () must also observe equality in his behavior with his own men and others; he must think of others and make them happy. He must behold affection. 18.
In the past, Priyavrata, Dadhichi and others left their liking and affection for their body; they got extreme happiness and satisfaction by abandoning their own body. 19.
Man should not enter the tow, where he was born; if it becomes necessary he should not go to his own house. 20.
Clothes, books, eatables and such other things should not be given to his own people. Similarly, he should not take such things from others. 21.
He must remain neutral and passionless when he begets or loses wealth, children etc. He must also maintain the same attitude if his sons and daughters gain profit, money or they lose money. 22.
When it comes to people born into his own clan or of others, he must treat his own people and others equally. 23.
There are many kinds of beings- human beings, birds, trees, animals (Jarayuja, Andaja, Udbhijja and Swedaja); similarly there are innumerable people in his own clan. He must treat all of them equally. 24.
A must man must think of birds and beasts with the same equality accorded to oneself. He must have equal love towards all. 25.
If a renouncer who abandons home and follows the religion of renouncers tries to look after his men because of affection, he does the act which is forbidden or against religion. 26.
One who acts as per his wishes while in Grhasthasrama commits five great sins surely. The five great sins are; killing a Brahmin, drinking alcohol, stealing gold, committing adultery with wife of one’s teacher (guru) and associating with someone who has committed the above four sins. 27.
So whoever decides to follow the religion of renouncer must first think over about the bondage associated with it, think about in wide/broad/tough manner the threefold nature of it and decide finally. 28.
A renouncer should always sleep on the ground and not on a cot except when in illness; He must never take a blanket used by any woman or use a woman’s sari as a blanket. 29.
He must shave only once a month; after one month he must shave his armpits and genitals. 30.
One who follows the religion of a renouncer must never get himself shaved on fasting day or after dinner. 31.
A renouncer must invariably take a bath after getting shaved by a barber. He must also take bath if he comes in touch with a cobbler, a yavana (muslim), a sinful man or after awakening from a bad dream or nightmare. 32.
A renouncer must take bath after the death of his father, mother or teacher but not after the death of other relatives. 33.
A renouncer must always keep himself in nine fold devotion of Lord Vishnu and must never waste even a second other than devotion. 34.
A renouncer must never hear any story that is related to unfair subjects, village gossips and politics. He should never act as mediator in borrowing or lending money. 35.
He must also never take any interest in politics, on stories of victory and defeat, on stories about the beauty of robes, of the opinion of critics and so on. 36.
He (a renouncer) must show no interest in discussions of food, dinner and delicious meals, stories about agriculture, commerce and trade, domestic dealing, sculptures and communication and transport. 37.
He a renouncer must also not take interest in discussion about cattle (cows, buffalos etc) and in the discussion about trees or weapons. He must not hear or speak slang, scandalizing gossips or news. 38.
Method of expiation for regressing from vow of Nihswadi.
If a renouncer stays in his relatives’ house unknowingly, he should observe a fast for a day. 39.
If by ignorance or unknowingly, the renouncer takes dinner in his father’s, father - in - law’s, brother’s or sister’s house, he should give them food. 40.
If he takes dinner in his relative’s house, he should give them what he wears, if he uses a blanket used by women, he must observe a day’s fast separately. 41-42.
If he hears or speaks about scandals, gossips and other village news, he must repeat the five-lettered mantra of Lord for five thousand times. 43.
These are all the atonements to be followed by Mumuksus. These will certainly be fruitful by cultivating devotion to Vishnu. 44.
‘O very-intelligent, I have told you the defects of deep affection and the means to win them. Now I’ll narrate about the disadvantages of pride, honor and the means to win them. 45.
Thus ends the sixty-fifth chapter entitled ‘Narration of the defects of affection and prescriptions for overcoming it’ in the fourth Prakaran of Satsangijivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 65
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