Page 80 - Desire to Disaster

Love of the Auspicious makes Love Auspicious

Love for dharma will make the person further inclined towards
dharma and motivate him to attain dharma more fully, love
for auspicious subjects like dharma is auspicious.
Also, one should ensure that one’s motives are auspicious.
If the motive is wrong, then even love for the auspicious
can lead to painful consequences. For instance, one loves the
Tīrthañkara, but only for the purpose of worldly gains. Such
a person will think that, “My Tīrthañkara is very good. If I
worship him, I shall get wealth.” If he worships the Jina for
getting wealth, his love is inauspicious. Because in reality,
the driving force behind his bhakti is money, not an abiding
devotion towards the Jina. Hence, such love, even though
towards the Jina, is inauspicious love.

If you wish to save yourself from the poison of attachment
and aversion, do two things :
1. Give up asañyama {lack of self-control, hedonistic
behaviour} and take up sañyama {the path of self-
control}

2. Develop great respect for auspicious love (praśastarāga)

Sādhvī Sunanda’s Discourse to the Elephant
Sādhvī Sunanda spoke to the elephant, “Wake up Rupsen,
wake up! Wake up Rupsen! Why are you so crazy about my
beauty? What is the big deal about my looks? Remember,
how you were a high born youth called Rupsen, and how you
fell from grace through your ill-conceived actions. Your lust
for me drove you into several births, each more painful than
the other. As Rupsen, you died a painful and unnatural death
when you were crushed underneath a wall. You were then
reborn as a fetus in my womb. You died when I aborted you.
You were then reborn as a snake, a crow, a swan and a deer.
Each life was brief and full of fear and pain. And you died

80 Desire to Disaster