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 437

432
S. B. DEO In the meantime, the owner of the residence, or the novice who was left behind, wiped the lodge clean. Then the returning monks performed 'kāyotsarga' before their guru and then recited hymns in praise of Ajitanātha and śāntinātha.
If an ācārya or any other famous monk expired then the rest of the monks went on fast that day and abstained from study. In the case of the death of ordinary monks, this rule was not necessarily followed.254
The Vidhimärgaprapā, a work belonging to the fourteenth century of the Vikrama era, gives more or less the same details about the funeral rites of the monks of the Kharatara Gaccha.255
The death of a famous monk or of one who had resorted to fast unto death (samlehaņā) is celebrated with great pomp and ceremony now-a-days, and many popular elements seem to have been included in this matter. The list of articles required for the performance of death rites of a monk, as furnished to the author by a Jaina monk, includes such material as sandalwood, camphor and various other costly and fragrant items.
MORAL DISCIPLINE AND SELF-CONTROL:
The fundamental tenets of moral discipline and self-control are to be frequently met with in the Bhāşyas and other post-canonical literature, in the same way as in the canonical texts. The following discussion embodies only the changes or otherwise in these fundamentals as revealed in the texts of this period. The details of the oft-repeated terms like the 'mula-gunas', the ‘uttara-gunas', the 'mahāvratas', the 'caranakarana', the 'guptis', the 'samitis', etc. need not be explained again.
Ahimsa :
In all his thoughts, words and acts the monk was careful regarding injury to living beings. For this purpose he avoided even an attempt that was likely to lead to that effect.
Hence he was not allowed to stand near water, occupy a residence full of living beings, or even ease nature on a place containing living beings in any form. He had to undergo various prāyaścittas for carelessness in this matter.256
254. For funeral rites of a Brāhmanical sannyāsi, see Manu, X, 55. For Buddhist: B. C. LAW, India as described in Early Buddhist and Jain texts, p. 93.
255. For its date, see Intr. page 'a'; Vidhiprapā is another name for Kharatara, Ibid. page 'a'.
256. Prayascittas for standing close to water and killing living beings; Bệh. kalp. bhā. Vol. III, 2389, 2399; Punishment for improper way of easing nature: Ibid. Vol. I, 46066: For details regarding this matter, Ibid. 430ff.