DHARAM SHIKSHA - 25 BOL (BOL 3)
Updated: Aug 12
Jai Jinendra kids!
Let us take a quick trip back to our last Dharam Shiksha class. Do you remember what we learned about the 3rd Bol - Kaya 6?
If not, don't worry! We're about to share a quick recap of this Bol along with a retelling of the super inspiring story of Atimukt Kumar!
So read on...
Bol 3 - Kaya 6
When we think of living beings, what comes to mind?
A human being? A dog? A bird? Perhaps an ant or a butterfly?
But our beautiful Jain Dharam encourages us to look much deeper.
According to Jain philosophy, life is not limited to the beings that we can see moving around us. There are Jeevs all around us - even in forms that may appear completely lifeless to our eyes.
This beautiful concept is explained through Kaya 6, the third Bol from 25 Bol.
What is Kaya?
The word Kaya means body. In our Jain Aagams, Jeevs are classified according to the kind of body they possess.
There are six Kayas:
Prithvi Kaya – Earth-bodied Jeevs
Ap Kaya – Water-bodied Jeevs
Tejas Kaya – Fire-bodied Jeevs
Vayu Kaya – Air-bodied Jeevs
Vanaspati Kaya – Plant-bodied Jeevs
Tras Kaya – Jeevs with the ability to move around
Let's understand each of them one-by-one.
1. Prithvi Kaya — Earth-bodied Jeevs
Prithvi Kaya refers to Jeevs whose body is made up of earth. It includes things like stones, diamonds, gems, salt and upto six-inch deep ordinary earth or soil.
At first, this can sound surprising. You might think - “How can a stone be alive? It doesn't walk, eat or talk!”
This is where our Jain Aagams ask us to look beyond what our eyes can observe.
According to our Dharam, the earth forms mentioned above are all Ekendriya Jeevs, meaning they possess one sense — the sense of touch.
The shape or appearance we see is simply the physical form of the bodies of uncountable Prithvi Kaya Jeevs.
2. Ap Kaya — Water-bodied Jeevs
Ap Kaya means all those Jeevs whose body forms water.
According to Jain Aagams, water itself is the body of extremely tiny Jeevs.
But this does not mean that a fish living in water is an Ap Kaya Jeev. This is because fish only lives in water, water is NOT its body.
That's an important distinction!
Even frost, dew and snow can be categorized as Ap Kaya Jeevs.
Fun Fact: Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that even a single drop of water contains 36,450 Jeevs! Now while these Jeevs are not "Ap Kaya" as their body is not water, but this does help us appreciate just how much life can exist at a microscopic level!
And who knows, the number of Jeevs inside one drop of water might be even higher than what the scientists have found out!
Now you all will understand why our elders place so much emphasis on careful use of water.
Instead of leaving a tap running unnecessarily, we can ask ourselves: “Do I really need this much water?”
3. Tejas Kaya — Fire-bodied Jeevs
Tejas Kaya refers to Jeevs whose body is fire. This means the Agni (fire) that you see is basically a group of uncountable Tejas Kaya Jeevs.
Now fire can be of different types such as:
Fire from burning embers
Flames
Smoke-free pure fire
Lightning flashes in the sky
Volcanic eruptions
One particularly interesting point is that Jain Aagams regard electricity as a form of Tejas Kaya as well!
So kids, you should not let that AC or fan or light bulb switched on for no reason at home!
4. Vayu Kaya — Air-bodied Jeevs
The fourth Kaya is Vayu Kaya - Jeevs whose body make up air.
When the wind blows against our face, we know that air is moving - even though we cannot see the air itself. This air that we feel all around us is basically a collection of uncountable Vayu Kaya Jeevs.
Even hurricanes and tornadoes fall in the category of Vayu Kaya Jeevs!
5. Vanaspati Kaya — Plant-bodied Jeevs
In simple words, Vanaspati Kaya includes the plant world.
Trees
Fruits
Flowers
Seeds
Leaves
Grass
Moss
These are all living beings - Vanaspati Kaya Jeevs.
Plants may not run, speak or jump like animals, but they are still Jeevs. Famous Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose proved years ago that there's life in plants.
Fun Fact: A scientist planted two similar plants in similar pots and kept them in two different places. Each place received the same amount of sunshine and he even watered the plants equally. But day-after-day, he kept abusing one plant while showered the other with words of praise.
The result? The plant that was praised regularly thrived beautifully but the other plant that was abused verbally wilted and slowly died.
This clearly shows that plants are living beings.
6. Tras Kaya — Jeevs with the ability to move around
Finally, we come to the sixth Kaya — Tras Kaya.
Tras Kaya includes Jeevs that are capable of movement.
Examples include different types of animals, birds, insects and human beings.
These Jeevs can have two, three, four or five senses, depending upon their Jati (remember Bol 2 - Jaati 5?)
Now the first five Kayas are generally called Sthaavar Kayas. Sthaavar means stationary or that which cannot move on its own. The sixth Kaya is Tras Kaya.
A Curious Question: “But Fire and Air Move!”
So why are they called Sthaavar Kaya?
Well, fire and air do not move on their own. They need certain external conditions (like air currents etc.) which help them move.
This is different from an animal, bird or human intentionally moving from one place to another.
STORY TIME: ATIMUKT KUMAR
Long ago, there was a beautiful city called Polaspur.
The king of Polaspur was King Vijay, and his queen was Queen Shridevi. They had a young and very lovable son named Atimukt Kumar.
Atimukt was a little boy, but he was not an ordinary child.
He was curious, kind-hearted and always eager to learn.
One day, Atimukt was outside playing happily with his friends.
Suddenly, he noticed someone walking barefoot through the streets.
It was Gautam Swami, one of the 11 gandhars of Bhagwan Mahavir.
Atimukt had never seen a person like him before.
He ran up to Gautam Swami and asked,
“Maharaj! Who are you? And why are you walking from house to house?”
Gautam Swami smiled and replied,
“I am a Jain sadhu. I am going from house to house for gochari (food).”
Atimukt immediately became interested.
“Would you please come to my house? My mother will be very happy to offer you food!”
Gautam Swami agreed.
The little boy happily took Gautam Swami home.
When Queen Shridevi saw Gautam Swami entering their home with her son, she was delighted. She respectfully bowed to Him and offered gochari.
When Gautam Swami prepared to leave, Atimukt Kumar asked,
“Maharaj, where do you live?”
Gautam Swami explained,
“I stay wherever Bhagwan Mahavir and the Jain Sangh are staying. We do not have a permanent home or possessions like householders do.”
Atimukt was fascinated.
Then he asked,
“Can I come with you and meet Bhagwan Mahavir?”
Gautam Swami replied,
“Of course.”
And so, the little prince went along with Gautam Swami to meet Bhagwan Mahavir.
When Atimukt met Bhagwan Mahavir, he respectfully bowed before him and sat quietly.
Bhagwan Mahavir gave him Dharam deshna.
The little boy listened very carefully.
Bhagwan's words touched his heart, and he said:
“Bhagwan, I want to become a sadhu.”
But Bhagwan Mahavir told him that he would need his parents' permission.
So Atimukt went back to his parents and told them about his decision.
His parents were surprised.
“But you are still so young!” they said.
They tried to explain to him that becoming a Sadhu was not easy. But Atimukt remained determined.
Finally, his parents understood that their son had truly developed Vairagya and gave him permission.
So Atimukt accepted Diksha in the presence of Bhagwan Mahavir and became Avanta Muni.
Now one day, it rained very heavily.
After the rain stopped, Avanta Muni went outside with some senior sadhus.
On the way, he saw a small stream of rainwater flowing along the ground.
Since Avanta Muni was still a young boy, his playful nature came back.
He made a small wall of mud that stopped the flowing water.
Then he took his patra (bowl) and placed it on the water.
The bowl began floating.
Avanta Muni exclaimed -
“Look! My boat is floating!”
He was enjoying himself just like any other child might enjoy playing with a toy boat.
But the senior sadhus were not happy. Can you guess why?
Well, it was because Avanta Muni had disturbed Ap Kaya Jeevs even after becoming a sadhu! Jain sadhus take oath to NEVER disturb or harm any Jeevs intentionally.
The senior sadhus became upset and went to Bhagwan Mahavir to complain.
But Bhagwan calmly told the Sadhus not to get angry at Avanta Muni.
"Avanta Muni is no ordinary child. He would attain Moksha in this very birth!" - Bhagwan said.
Hearing this, all the Sadhus were super surprised.
When Avanta Muni understood what he had done, he felt deeply sorry.
He did not say:
“I'm only a child.”
He did not say:
“It was just a game.”
Instead, he honestly accepted his mistake.
He sincerely repented and purified his thoughts.
And by doing that, Avanta Muni attained Moksha in that very lifetime!!
So kids, it is natural for us humans to make mistakes from time-to-time. But the ones who truly repent their mistakes and vow to never repeat them achieve greatness.
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