Samvar, (Detachment) in Practical Day to Day Life

Samvar is a very important concept in Jainism. It means detaching yourself from everything external.

Jainism : Interesting links for E-books & PDFs [ Collection of Links June 2020 ]

Here is a collection of links related to Jain Dharma for easy & quick access :

• Hindi : Jain Itihas ki Prerak Kathayein
• Hindi : Jain Itihas ki Prasiddh Kathayein
• In English : The Heart of Jainism
• https://s3.amazonaws.com/jainworldwp/jainbooks/handbook/hbkindex.htm
• https://s3.amazonaws.com/jainworldwp/jainbooks/nvoilence/nvolindex.htm
• Jain E-Library : https://jainelibrary.org

Obituary note in memory of Nanisa, Baiji

Nanisa, Baiji she was fondly known as. When you say Baiji is no more, that is not entirely correct. Baiji lives on, in not just our memories, but also us, mamas, masis, their children. She has left us all a legacy of love, a legacy of compassion. She has taught us what true selfless love & caring are. When Ma was not well, she travelled all the way to Jaipur, to Surat, just to be with her, even though she herself was not well. That, my friends, is caring. Words cannot fill the space she has left, but let us strive to be more loving, more caring, better humans so that we carry on the legacy she has left us, a legacy of love & compassion.


Best regards
Sambhav Karnawat
IIT Kanpur Alumnus
+91-9828012999

TRAI decides in favor of Net Neutrality, bans Airtel Zero!

TRAI has decided in favor of net neutrality! In a bold & righteous move, TRAI has supported Net Neutrality in India & banned differential pricing by telecom operators.

Be like the Ocean, not the Lake

Recently, I was on the beach & the pool. I had long walks on the beach and learnt something. The sea is ever-changing, yet remains the same. Every wave of the ocean is new, it brings something new, yet  somethings very old with it. Every wave of the ocean bring with it, a piece of history of millions of years that the oceans have witnessed.

If you throw a stone into the ocean, they remain unperturbed on a whole, whereas if you throw a stone into a lake, the ripples flow throughout the lake.

Don't let small things perturb you.

Be like the ocean, not the lake.

Why are Tech Giants not accepting Amex in India?

I recently got a Amex card, primarily because it has no pre-set limit & I spend a lot for my startup Jewelove. However, it seems that taking the card has proven futile at the moment.

The main purpose, every month all of my visa & master cards hit their limits with my spend on adwords & other online marketing. I have talked to banks several times to raise limits but even the raised limits are not sufficient to fuel my growing business. & that results in an abrupt halt every couple of weeks for my advertising.

I had thought Amex with no pre-set limit would be the ideal solution.

But it so turned out that Google Adwords, Godaddy etc. are not even accepting Amex cards for billing addresses within India! 

I recently posted a quora question on the same topic. http://qr.ae/RHCZ6V 

Will update this post with relevant replies.

Jain Santhara : what it really means?

Jain Santhara, has become a big issue. Apparently the court has a put a restriction on it & this has enraged the Jain community. There is a India-wide strike today & a peace rally to protest the restriction & make the court lift the imposed restriction.

All that is okay, but I believe that the Jain community has really forgotten what Santhara really means. Santhara is not a way of dying, but a way of living.

What the general community thinks Santhara means?

What the general Jain community thinks Santhara means, little movement, no eating food & water & removing all possessions to be one with the Universe in peace.

This would be pretty right, except that the Santhara does not come from leaving things, but real Santhara comes from leaving the attachment to things.

It is the attachment that is the real cause of karma-bandhan (paap). For example, an ascetic has no possessions, but neither does a beggar. Then why do we revere ascetics & not beggars? Both have them have no possessions! Because the difference is not in not-owning-possessions, but the real difference is, in not having attachment (aasakti) to them.

Even if a beggar has nothing & lives by the roadside, he wants everything, from bungalows to cars. Whereas, an ascetic has voluntarily left all his possessions, along with, more importantly his or we attachment to those possessions. If an ascetic wants worldly things even after deeksha (sanyaas) then he is no more than a beggar in reality.

And that is the difference that the Jain community seems to have forgotten these days. We have started believing in leaving things rather than leaving our attachment to things. We are today  changing just our clothes for Samayik & not our thoughts, our way of thinking, our attitude towards life.

Santhara in truth is freedom from all worldly possessions & the attachment to them. & that is the real way of Jain living, not just dying. & none but we ourselves are responsible for living truly free from all attachments & there is no one, no law that can stop us from living free. But first we need to realise the difference.

It is just as, the real meaning of Christmas gifting is to help someone in dire need & not just gift to your own loved ones. The real sacrifice on Eid should be of the thing that is the most dear to you because these are the real sacrifices that free us & freedom is all that we really want.

P. S. : this post is based on my personal opinion & understanding of the world. No offence intended.