Part 9: Sermon on layman’s dharma

After praising the Master’s qualities in these words, Hāri became silent, and the Teacher of the Three Worlds delivered a sermon.

“Verily worldly existence is worthless. Money is fickle as a moving wave. Even the body is transitory, resembling a flash of lightning. Therefore a wise man would acquire complete indifference to them and would strive for yatidharma,^[1] wishing to die on the road to emancipation. If he is not able to do that, nevertheless desirous of it, he would exert himself for the layman’s dharma, consisting of twelve parts.^[2] The layman, zealous, should pass day and night constantly in actions of mind, voice, and body that are according to dharma. He should arise at dawn, reciting praise of the Supreme Ones, recalling, ‘What are my practices? What is my family? What are my vows?’ Clean, after worshipping the god in his house with flowers, food, and hymns and after resolving not to commit faults so far as possible, he should go to a temple. After entering, he should circumambulate the Jina three times according to rule and after worshipping him with flowers, et cetera, he should praise him with the best hymns. Then, pure-minded, he should make a public resolution, in the presence of the gurus, to avoid faults, accompanied by service. Rising at the sight of him, approach at his arrival, placing the folded palms to his head, himself offering a seat, moving a seat^[3] with devotion, homage, personal service, following on his departure: this is service to a guru.

Then, having returned and gone to a suitable place, intelligent, he should think about wealth without any obstacle to dharma. Then he should make the midday pūjā and, after eating, he should study the esoteric meanings of the śāstras with people learned in them. Next, after worshipping the gods again at twilight and after performing the daily duties, he should make his best study. At the proper time, purified by thinking of gods and gurus, he should take a little sleep, generally avoiding incontinence. At the end of sleep he should think of the true nature of women's bodies, reflecting on their abandonment by, the noble munis. He should think: ‘Women, charming outside, are filled with liver, blood, impurities, phlegm, marrow, and bone, bags of skin sewed together with sinews. If there should be an exchange of the exterior and interior of a woman’s body, its lover should afford protection from vultures and jackals. If Love wishes to conquer the world with woman as a weapon, why does not he, foolish, take a small feather as a weapon! Oh! Oh! the world is deceived by Saṅkalpayoni (Kāma). Therefore, I shall dig up the root of desire for him.’ Whatever injurious fault may exist, he should meditate on an antidote for it, attaining joy among monks free from faults.

Reflecting with perseverance on the miserable condition of existence of all creatures, he should look for emancipation, which is the source of natural bliss, for them. ‘Who, whose mind is unconfused, would not trust to laymanship where there are the Jina, god, compassion, religion, gurus and sādhus? May I not become a Cakravartin, deprived of the religion of the Jina. May I be even a slave, even poor, possessed by the religion of the Jina. When shall I resort to the practices of the monks, all association abandoned, wearing old clothes, the body wet from impurities, following the habits of the bee?^[4] Abandoning evil association, touching the dust of the guru’s feet, when shall I, practicing meditation, be able to cut off existence? When will the bulls rub their shoulders against me like a pillar when I am practicing kāyotsarga outside the city at midnight? When will the old leaders of the herds of deer snuffle at my face as I am seated in the lotus-posture^[5] in the forest with a young deer on my lap? When shall I make no distinction between an enemy and friend, straw and women, gold and a stone, a jewel and mud, emancipation and existence?’ He should make such wishes, bulbs of the vine of extreme joy, to mount the series of guṇasthānas, the ladder to the house of emancipation. Observing this conduct zealously day and night, engaged in the described conduct properly, even a householder becomes pure.”

After hearing this sermon of the Lord many people became mendicants and among them were seventeen gaṇadharas, Kumbha, et cetera. At the end of the sermon of the Lord of the World, Kumbha delivered a sermon. At the end of his sermon Śakra and the others bowed to the Lord and went to their respective abodes.