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Aptavani-1
who renounces sensorial pleasures but has not acquired the
happiness of Self is caught up in a bind; he is neither here nor
there. The happiness void of the senses is ego-inebriated; it is
merely donkey-pranks! The happiness that is beyond the senses
is the infinite bliss of the Self. This happiness cannot be acquired
without knowing the Self.
There are three travelers, one enjoys the pleasure of the
senses (indriya sookh), the second is given to ego-pleasures
(nirindriya sookh) and the third remains within the realms of his
pure Self, beyond the senses (atiindriya sookh). All three
happened to spend a night at a village inn. During the night it
snows and turns very cold. None of them have any blankets.
How do they spend the night? The first one keeps crying out,
‘It’s very cold, I am going to die from this cold’, and by the
morning, sure enough he is dead.
The second traveler keeps saying, ‘Darn! It’s so cold.
The heck with it, it does not affect me, it affects the body’. This
is how he spends his night and by the morning his entire body
becomes very cold but the fellow is still breathing very slowly.
The third traveler just withdraws within the cave of the
Self, the moment it starts snowing. He remains completely
detached from his body the entire night. He lives in the infinite
bliss of the Self and by the morning he is on his way.
The person who is given to ego-pleasures remains
intoxicated by the ego. People fuss over him, calling him ‘Bapji
(master)’ ‘Bapji’ and he remains intoxicated with pride.
Ignorance : Attachment-Abhorrence
The Vedanta says that liberation is acquired once impurity-
obstructed view and ignorance are gone. The Jain scriptures
say that liberation is acquired once attachment, abhorrence and
ignorance are gone.