History of Jaina Monachism

SR No.: 001727
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S B Deo
Publisher: Deccan College Research Institute
Publication Year: 1956
Total Pages: 616
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Principle, & History
File Size: 12 MB

Page 362

HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
357 MORAL DISCIPLINE AND SELF-CONTROL:
The fundamentals of moral discipline consisted of the fivefold ācāra, the twenty-eight principal virtues (mūlaguņas), the subsidiary virtues (uttaraguņas), the twelve reflections (anuprekşā), the twelvefold penance (tapas), nine kinds of celibacy, ten kinds of service (vaiyāprtya), the putting up with the twenty-two troubles (parīşaha) and perfect indifference to the body.715
Fivefold Ācāra :
It consisted of ideal behaviour pertaining to 'darśana' (right faith or belief in the validity of the tenets of the Jina devoid of doubts), 'jñāna' (right way of acquiring knowledge through methodical study), 'caritra' (right behaviour) consisting of the five great vows, the abstinence from night meal (rāïbhoyaņa), the practice of three ‘guptis' and five 'samitis', the carrying out of the five great vows with all their peculiarities and implications (bhāvanā), the tapas (the twelvefold penance) and the vīrya (bravely carrying out the controlled mode of monklife).716
Twenty-eight Mülagunas :
Besides the five great vows, 'samitis' and 'guptis', the monk had to carry out, as we have already seen, the six essential duties (āvassaya), the practice of tonsuring the head (loya), nudity (accelakka), no bath (anhāņa), sleeping on the ground (khidisayaņa), non-cleaning of the teeth (adantadhamsaņa), eating food by standing (thidibhoyaņa) and one meal a day (eyabhatta).717
The Twelve Reflections (anuprekşā):
The monk reflected over the twelve qualities of worldly life so as to imbibe on his mind its real nature and the way out of it.
These 'anuprekşās' were the impermanence of all things (adhruva), the feeling of no shelter other than Jina-dharma (aśaraņa), the principle of undergoing the effects of one's own karman (ekatva), the knowledge of the separate existence of the body and of the futility of the help from others in crossing the samsāra or facing death (anyatva), the truth of the misery of worldly existence (samsāra), the philosophy which advocated the noncreation of the world (loga) by anybody, the realisation that the life in hell
715. Bhävapähuda: 78-103: UPADHYE, op. cit., III, 5-73; Intro. p. XXXIV. 716. Mül. 5, 3-222. 717. Ibid., 1, 2-3.