Chapter 4.4c - Tattvaśravaṇa (attentive listening to doctrinal matters )

The act of listening spiritual discourses/doctrinal matters attentively is called tattvaśravaṇa [tattva-śravaṇa]. It is the result of desire to listening to doctrinal matters (śuśrūṣā)^[1] . Haribhadrasūri says that the dīprā dṛṣṭi beholder practices bhāvarecaka etc. and performs yogic practices without any internal/mental interruption. Such subject in question is endowed with the quality of attentive hearing of spiritual discourses.

Haribhadrasūri compares it with the sweet water. A seed starts growing when assimilated with sweet water. Just like it the beholder of dīprā dṛṣṭi achieves spiritual elevation by listening to the doctrinal matters attentively^[2] . Here Haribhadrasūri further elaborates this simile by saying that it is not the salty water but the sweet water that causes growth of the seed. Similarly it is not the salty water like worldly existence/transmigration but the sweet water like attentive hearing that yields the fruit of spiritual growth to the subject in question^[3] . During the course of narration Haribhadrasūri brings forth the most subtle element of this simile. He says that the seed does not acknowledge the sweet or salty nature of the water however, it clearly experiences that this type of water (i.e. sweet water) is appropriate for growth and not the other type of water (i.e. the salty one). Thus, the seed starts growing automatically when poured sweet water to it. Similarly the dīprā dṛṣṭi holder is incapable of having multidimensional perception of an object with subtlety. That is he does not possess subtle understanding. Even though it is absent in him, he grows spiritually by merely listening the spiritual discourses attentively. It is so because, as Haribhadrasūri says that, the attentive listening [i.e., tattvaśravaṇa] itself is capable of making possible the spiritual growth of the subject in question^[4] . Hence, even though he is destitute of subtle understanding, he can achieve his spiritual growth caused by attentive hearing of doctrinal matters.

At this stage the beholder of dīprā dṛṣṭi possesses high regards for the preceptor who delivers spiritual discourses to him. It is so because he considers the preceptor to be the root cause of his spiritual welfare. Hence he worships the preceptor whole heartedly by serving him and also by obeying his commands/orders^[5] . His devoutness for the preceptor invariably proves to be beneficial to him in this life as well as the lives beyond.^[6] . The subject in question accumulates lots of auspicious karmans by worshipping the preceptor. Due to their fruition and with the grace of the preceptor the dīprā dṛṣṭi beholder has direct vision of a tīrthaṅkara through meditative trance^[7] . This is how the preceptor worship turns out to be beneficial to him in this birth/in this world. Such a vision/perception of the tīrthaṅkara is a sure means of attaining liberation. Thus, the preceptor worship yields spiritual welfare in the next birth/the world beyond too^[8] .