z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 03.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 124
124 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
II
doubts if any such strange thing as light is said to be, can ever exist at all.
“Mind is the only instrument through which light can come to man.
“But the mind of these dungeon-dwellers is by no means a perfect instrument for the purpose.
“It lets through only a little light, just enough to show to those with sight that there is such a thing as darkness.
“Thus defective in its nature, such understanding as this is.
“But know, ye, Parivrajakas ! the case of the prisoner is not as hopeless as it appears.
“For there is in man a thing called will. When the appropriate motives arise the will can be awakened and set in motion.
“With the coming of just enough light to see in what directions to guide the motions of the will, man may so guide them that they shall lead to liberty.
“Thus though man is bound, yet he may be free ; he may at any moment begin to take the first steps that will ultimately bring him to freedom.
“This is because it is possible to train the mind in whatever directions one chooses. It is mind that makes us to be prisoners in the house of life, and it is mind that keeps us so.
“But what mind has done, that mind can undo. If it has brought man to thraldom, it can also, when rightly directed, bring him to liberty.
“This is what Samma Ditti can do.”
“What is the end of Samma Ditti ?” asked the Parivrajakas. “The end of Samma Ditti,” replied the Buddha, “is the destruction of Avijja (Nescience). It is opposed to Miccha Ditti.
“And Avijja means the failure to understand the noble truths, of the existence of suffering and the removal of suffering.
“ Samma Ditti requires giving up of belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies, to have disbelief in the sanctity of the Shastras.