Charlotte Krause her Life and Literature

SR No.: 001785
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1999
Total Pages: 674
Language: English, Hindi, Gujarati
Classification: Book_English, Biography, & Articles
File Size: 11 MB

Page 98

An Interpretation of Jaina Ethics
attract fresh Karmas. He who keeps all such precautions in mind, while endeavouring for Sakäma Nirjarā, can be said to practise genuine austerity, in the true sense of the Jina.
The Jaina scriptures distinguish twelve kinds of austerities, as the expedients of Nirjarā, grouped together under the two headings of 'Exterior Austerities' and 'Interior Austerities'.
[ a ] Exterior Austerities
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Exterior Austerities are the following:
(i) Anaśana, i.e., complete abstinence from all kinds of food, for a period fixed by the individual beforehand. There are various forms of this austerity, from abstention for several hours upto fasts of more than a month's duration, during which latter, the fasting person generally reserves to himself the right of drinking boiled water during day time.
People who are hopelessly sick, or on the verge of the grave for any other reason, sometimes take the vow of lifelong abstinence from food. This form of dying is called 'Samlekhana' or ( Sallekhanā ). This used to be more frequently resorted to in the heroic olden times, when, according to Jaina tradition, Sadhus, taking the great determination, placed themselves upright, motionless, assuming some special posture, in some lonely place in the jungles, vowing not to stir voluntarily, but to hold out, till exhaustion would throw them to the ground, and death put an end. This mode of dying is known under the name of 'Pādapopagamana', i.e., 'assuming the state of a tree'.
(ii) Ūṇodarikā Tapa, i.e., reduction of one's food below the quantity required, for an optional number of meals.
(iii) Vṛttisankṣepa, i.e., renunciation of certain kinds of food, or of food available in certain localities, or at certain times, or under certain circumstances, for an optional period. This form of renunciation is only of small practical value for the layman, who can arrange for his own meals, their time, place etc., whereas it plays a considerable part in the life of the ascetic, who is completely