the idea, he removed the rings from each finger, and noticing how bare each looked when stripped of all adventitious decoration, he became so strongly convinced of the truth of this reflection, that the inflow of karma was arrested, he became at once omniscient, and as in a few more years all his acquired karma also disappeared, he eventually became a Siddha.
The object of another reflection (Aśauċa bhāvanā) is to lead us to despise our bodies. To do this we must constantly remember that the body is compact of filth, and has such dirty habits that even our souls become soiled by contact with it. If we forget this reflection and become proud of our bodies, great misfortune will befall us, as the following story proves. A certain prince called Sanatkumāra was so handsome that his beauty was discussed in the assembly of the gods, two of whom were sent down in the guise of Brāhmans to discover if he were really as beautiful as he was described. Unfortunately this visit of the gods gave rise to such pride in the heart of the prince, that karma flowed rapidly into his soul; and, as a result of this karma, ill health (which, as we have seen, is always traceable to karma) beset the prince, until at last he had no less than sixteen diseases. However, he patiently endured the karma his conceit had given rise to, gradually worked it off, received initiation as a sādhu, and finally became a Siddha.
The seventh reflection (Āśrava bhāvanā) reminds us that in the worldly life karma is constantly flowing in through the various channels which our actions, passions and senses, if uncontrolled, leave open to it, and that all our sufferings come as a result of this karma. How much we may suffer, if we ourselves open the channels, we may learn from the story of King Puṇḍarika. There were once two brothers, both of whom ruled as kings, but the elder brother, Puṇḍarika, realized that this world was merely a junction of canals through which karma was continually flowing, and so decided to renounce his throne and become an ascetic. He received initiation, but
