Uttarādhyāyana Sūtra, Adhyāyana 3 (Chaturāṅgīya): four things of utmost value are difficult to obtain here by a living being.

Original (conceptual) statement:

• Four things of paramount value are difficult to obtain here by a living being: human birth, instruction in the Law, belief in it, and energy in self-control.

Arth (meaning) in Jain Dharma:

• Human birth: Being born as a human is very rare, and it is the right stage to practice spirituality.
• Instruction in the Law: Hearing or receiving the true Jain Dharma (the Law) is itself a rare opportunity.
• Belief in it: Having firm faith in the Dharma after hearing it is uncommon.
• Energy in self-control (virya/sanyāma): The sustained effort and self-discipline to practice restraint and follow the teachings is hard to maintain.

Notes on tradition:

• This formulation is standard in the Shvetāmbara presentation of Uttarādhyāyana. In Digambara texts, the core idea is similar—the combination of human birth, hearing the Dharma, faith, and steadfast practice—but wording or emphasis can vary slightly between traditions.

If you’d like, I can add more context from the sutra’s sections that follow (the path from hearing to belief to practice) and explain how these four elements lead toward liberation.