14
Trimantra
Questioner : But these acharyas of today are called
acharyas based on their exposition of knowledge in scriptures.
Dadashri : People may call them acharya but a real
acharya is Self realized.
The Acharya Is The Reason For Liberation
How are Tirthankars beneficial to us? Doing their darshan
(seeing; to look upon with reverence) gives great benefit and so
does listening to them. The time to listen to them is when they
give deshna (divine speech), otherwise the benefit is just from
their darshan. The darshan of the Tirthankar is needed for
liberation. Just by the mere darshan of the Tirthankar one can
become absolutely enlightened. This is only for those who have
reached such a level of spirituality.
Such beings are those who have acquired the knowledge
of proper conduct from an acharya and have reached a very
high level of spirituality that all that is left for them is just the
mere darshan of a Tirthankar Lord.
So the final preparation is the role of the acharya. He
helps one in the maturation process of liberation. Even the
Tirthankar Lord considers the acharya to be the highest state of
all.
Questioner : But why would the Tirthanakar say that?
Dadashri : The Tirthankara is endowed with 108 gunas
(virtues or positive attributes) and acharya has 1008 gunas!
Acharya is regarded as embodiment of highest virtues. He is
like a lion. When he raises his voice, everything around him
trembles. Just as at the mere look and sight of a lion, a fox
would throw up the meat it just ate, such is the power of the
presence of an acharya. A person would spew out in confession
all the sins he has committed in the presence of an acharya.
Even the Tirthankars admit that they have acquired their state of