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301
Tattvarthasutra
Agār means household. One who is related to the household is ‘agārī.’ Agārī means householder. One who is not related to the household is ‘aṅgār’ meaning renouncer or monk. Although agārī and aṅgār have the straightforward meanings of living or not living in a household, here they are to be understood in such a way that one who possesses craving for worldly things is an agārī, and one who is liberated from worldly cravings is an aṅgār. The resultant meaning of this interpretation indicates that, despite living in a household, one who is free from worldly cravings is indeed an aṅgār; and one who leaves the household but is not free from worldly cravings is an agārī. The true and primary criteria for being agārī or aṅgār is the same, and based on that, the distinctions in ascetics are made here.
Query—How can one be called an ascetic if he is an agārī due to worldly cravings?
From the gross perspective. Just as a person remains at a certain fixed location such as his home, yet there are transactions expected of him when residing in a city, similarly, despite worldly cravings, due to a slight relationship with the vows, he can also be termed as an ascetic.
Agārī performs the following vow:
Aṇute ‘agārī.