follows the same rule as his fellow monks; sometimes, however, his little sitting-board is raised slightly higher from the ground than those of the other monks.
It must not be thought that the ordinary sādhu must gain the rank of Instructor and Superior to go to mokṣa, a simple ascetic can do that; but it is generally easier for the higher ranks of ascetics to attain deliverance than for the lower, because their office helps them to develop the necessary qualities. An Āċārya should, of course, observe with special attention all the usual ascetic discipline.
A Māgadhī śloka describes the ideal Āċārya as possessing thirty-six qualities: he controls the five senses; he is chaste in the nine ways; he keeps the three gupti; he is free from the four kaṣāya; he keeps the five great vows; he observes the five rules of conduct; and he maintains the five samiti: such are the thirty-six qualities of an Āċārya.
Tīrthaṅ-
kara or
Arihanta.The goal of every monk is to become at last an Arihanta or Tīrthaṅkara, the Being who has attained perfection of knowledge, perfection of speech, perfection of worship, and absolute security, for no danger or disease can ever come where he is. Having become a Tīrthaṅkara, the jīva is at length freed from the dread that overshadows every Jaina, the fear in this life of suffering or sorrow, which has to be borne with no Friend at hand to strengthen and comfort, and the dreary expectation after death of the endless cycle of rebirth.
A meaning often given to the word Tīrthaṅkara is that of one who finds a ford (tīrtha) through this world (saṁsāra) to mokṣa, or one who attains a landing on the other side. But many Jaina say it denotes one who forms four communities (tīrtha) of monks and nuns and male and female lay-followers. When a new Tīrthaṅkara arises, the followers of the preceding one follow him, as the followers of Pārśvanātha followed Mahāvīra.
We have noticed[1] the eight glories which surround a
- ↑ p. 191.
