Early Jainism

SR No.: 001520
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: K K Dixit
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1978
Total Pages: 120
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Agam, Canon, & Philosophy
File Size: 7 MB

Page 53

Early Jainism
future birth resulting in a corresponding future birth-the tenth
case being that of a desire for no future birch resulting in mokşa. Thus strictly speaking, Dasă is found to touch upon the problems of monastic discipline only in its chapters I, JI, III, IV, VII and VIII (iii). Of these too, only chapters VII and vill (iii) adopt a style of composition that is in line with that of the other Chedasūtras while the rest are esse. ntially of the form of a cataloguing of cardinal points done for the benefit of the beginner. As a matter of fact, it can easily be seen that here chapters I -III have drawn inspiration from Uttarādhyayana chapter XVII which is of the form of an elementary popular exposition of the qualities of a bad monk; what is peculiar to these chapters is the attribution of a fixed number to the concerned sets of qualities and it is as thus enumera. ted that these sets became familiar to the later generations who were not interested in the question of their historical origins. With a view to better approciating the poiot it is necessary to take special note of the style of composition characteristic of the three Chedasūtras Kalpa, Vyayahāra and Niśitba.
In connection with various problems faced by a monk in the course of his everyday career injunctions and prohibitions have been laid down in Kalpa, Vyavabāra and Nisitha. Of these Niśitha takes within its purvi most comprehensive mass of problems - which means that it takes within its purview the problems of a primary importance as well as those of a secondary importance; as contrasted to it, Kalpa and Vyayabăra take up only such problems as are considered by them to be of a primary importance. Then there is another point of contrast between Niśitha on the one hand and Kalpa and Vyayahāra on the other. Thus Njśitha is of the form of a huge compilation of prohibitions whose non-observance on the part of a monk results in his incurring a punishment of one of the four types that might be called
(i) beavy one-month exclusion (ii) light one-month exclusion (iii) heavy four-month exclusion (iv) light four-month exclusion
The prohibitions related to the first type of punishment are enumerated in chapter I, those related to the second type in chapters II-V, those related to the third type in chapters VI-X1, those related to the fourth type in chapters XII-XIX; (chapter XX is concerned with certain general problems arising in connection with the award of punishment particularly the problem of adding a new punishment to the running one.) The procedure of Kalpa and