________________
tortures, or forced by some special royal decree, or by their own sweet will, discard the nude state as that of Lord Jinendra and still observe the vows meant for the house-holders, are called 'by' (fully devoted) celibates.
(v) Who are called the 'neshtik' (dedicated or having perfect faith in the omniscient lord, the scriptures and the holy teachers) celibates?
A. The persons, who can be distinguished by the tuft of hair on their head at the time of meditation. Their chest is adorned with the sacred threads. Their loincloth of red or white color is always tied round their waist. They always subsist on alms; which are learned in scriptures and observe all vows of ascetics; and who are always engaged in prayer and worship of Lord Jinendra, are called 'neshtik' (dedicated) celibates.
Sukh Deva was a life long celibate by birth. It is said that as soon as he grew young he went away to the forest to perform penance. At the time of his departure, his father Vyas Deva gave him counsel and spoke, "My son! The name and fame of our grandfather has survived as a result of the noble deeds of our father, and our father's glory has survived due to our good deeds. Likewise, our fame and glory will remain immortal in the world owing to your virtuous deeds. But alas! The name of our family will be extinct on your becoming an ascetic. If you are bent upon doing penance, first enter into wed-lock like your ancestors and then perform penance in the company of your spouse."
But Sukh Deva turned a deaf ear to his father's appeal and spoke, "Dear father! You are mistaken to think that a son makes his father's name immortal. The name and fame of a person depends on his or her virtuous deeds. The fame and glory of the truthful, religious minded persons and celibates alone shines in the world for ever like that of the sun and the moon, even if they do not have sons and grandsons."
Saying so Sukh Deva set out for the forest. The great sage Viase followed him to bring him back. On the way the queens, princesses and ladies of the royal family of the historic city were bathing in the river Narmada. These ladies did not put on veils and go in seclusion on seeing the young Sukh Deva. But later on when the old sage Viase passed by that side, all these ladies at once put on veils out of the feeling of shame. Seeing this sage Viase was amazed and he asked the ladies, "My daughters! What is the reason that on seeing me you covered yourselves, but went on bathing unperturbed naked in the river despite seeing the nude young Sukh Deva passing from here?" In reply the females said, "O great sage! You are fully aware of all secrets of a woman and you yourself were a victim to sexual desires. That is why on seeing you we covered ourselves. But Sukh Deva is totally ignorant about sexology. Therefore, we did not deem it proper to put on veils on seeing the innocent nude Sukh Deva." On hearing this eye opening word, sage Viase returned to his hermitage.
Bhartrahari writes about celibacy in the following lines:
Krishna kanr khaj shrawanrahit puchvikli
Create PDF with PDF4U. If you wish to remove this line, please click here to purchase the full version
