Aptavani-4
163
The Essence of Religion
There are two kinds of saar (essence; substance) in the
world. Dharmasaar (essence of religion) and samaysaar
(essence of the smallest fraction of time; the Self).
What do we call religion (dharma)? If one attains the
essence of religion (dharmasaar), then one is said to have
attained religion. What is the essence of religion (dharmasaar)?
It is when one does not have any artadhyan (adverse internal
meditation that hurts the self) or raudradhyan (adverse internal
meditation that hurts the self and others). A person can eat,
drink, go out, make money or do anything else, but as long as
he has no artadhyan or raudradhyan, it is considered
dharmasaar, and marmasaar (essence of the meaning of
religion), would be liberation. The essence (saar) derived from
the meaning of religion (dharma): which is marmasaar, is called
liberation (mukti).
What is the essence of all the religions? It is to see
whether or not artadhyan and raudradhyan are dispelled. If
they have not gone, then one is not in religion. Have they
decreased? To which a person would respond ‘yes’. If they
have decreased, then maybe we can say that he is in religion
(dharma). However, if they have not decreased, but occur
more and more, it would not be right to say that he is in
religion.
What is the essence of religion (dharmasaar)? It is when
if you are provoked, you do not see fault in the other person.
What is the essence of the world (jagatsaar)? Pleasures of the
senses (vishay sukh). What is the essence of religion
(dharmasaar)? It is where artadhyan and raudradhyan do
not occur. Dharmasaar is the principal essence of the world.
Any religion where you do not attain dharmasaar is wrong.
Then regardless of whichever faith you follow, be it Jain or
Hindu, it is all wrong.