Jaina Philosophy and Religion

SR No.: 001604
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nyayavijay
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 500
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Epistemology
File Size: 12 MB

Page 87

Jaina Path of Purification (Liberation)
59
like going for a walk for fresh air, doing proper bodily exercises which are conducive to health are as useful and good to body and mind as are proper food and drinks; these could not be brought under the head of purposeless harmful activities. To remain clean, to maintain cleanliness, to undergo proper treatment for the cure of a disease and to do any act within proper limit and under decorum for the innocent entertainment and joy could not be regarded as purposeless harmful activities. To remain unclean and to make and keep surroundings dirty is to give way to violence, because by doing so one unnecessarily breeds too many insects.
It will be proper to point out at this juncture that one can maintain one's body well by vegetarian diet. So, to eat meat for relish and bodily growth is surely a purposeless harmful activity. Not only that, but it is also a form of intentional violence (sankalpi hirsā) which a householder should avoid completely and at all cost.
Vow of Remaining Completely Equanimous for a Fixed Period of Time (Sāmāyika) This vow consists in sitting at one place and on one seat for 48 consecutive minutes in a peaceful mental state, not allowing the passions of attachment and aversion to rise in the mind. For this period of time, the vower contemplates on the nature of self, examines as to how much purity of life he has attained, reads the true religious works showing the path of self-development and spiritual evolution and concentrates on the supreme (i.e., liberated) soul. Vow of Reducing for a Limited Period of Time the Limits of the Area Set Forth in the Sixth Vow (Deśāvakāśikavrata) This vow means to reduce for a day or for a fixed period of time the limits of the area set forth by the vower himself in the sixth vow for the unvirtuous activities, and similarly to suppress or contract the concessions he himself has kept while taking other vows. The objective of the present vow is to increase the refrainment from the unvirtuous activities.
Vow of Observing Fast and Living Like a Monk for Certain Days (Poşadhavrata) The term 'posadha' is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root 'pus' meaning 'to nourish, to foster, to support, to cause to grow, to develop'. So, the