Page 19 - Shilanyas2

Jain concern for environment is well-documented in scriptures. Thus, for example, in Uttaradhayan, the six different categories of the lesyas (“soul-coloring matter”) 2 is illustrated by the following story:

 Six persons wanted to eat jamun 3 fruits. They came to a jamun tree. The tree was laden with ripe and succulent jamuns .

 The first person said: “Well, fellows, here is the Jamun tree. Let us chop down the tree and fell it to the ground. We can then eat as many jamuns as we wish.”  The second person said: “Why cut the whole tree? Let us cut the main branches of the tree.”

 The third person said: “No need to cut down the main branches; just cut the small branches.”

 The fourth person said: “Why, fellows, let us pluck out the bunches of the jamun fruit!” The fifth person said: “Let us just pick out the ripe jamuns ; that should suffice.”

 The sixth person said: “I do not agree with anyone of you. All we need are ripe

jamuns . Let us pick these from the ones that have already fallen to the ground. Why cut down anything?”

The first person who wants to chop down the whole tree is the one with Krishna- lesya (black color). The second with Nil lesya (blue); the third with Kapot lesya ; the fourth with Tejo lesya ; the fifth with Padma lesya and the sixth with Shukla lesya . The lesya relates to the coloration of the soul imparted to it by the karmik burden. As if the soul were a crystal in which the shade of the karmik burden encumbering that soul was reflected in.

The story of the six souls and the jamun tree is a story of environment. The one who destroys the environment has a dark soul. The one who preserves the environment has a pure soul.

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Which one of the six jamun fruit eaters do we wish to be?