Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
## Pinḍaniyukti: An Observation
**147**
**Renounced Traditions and Sectarianism**
The author mentions several renounced traditions prevalent at the time. In the context of begging, five types of Śramaṇa and five types of Vanīpaka are mentioned. The five types of Śramaṇa are: 1. Nirgrantha, 2. Śākya - Buddhist monks wearing red robes, 3. Tapas, 4. Gairuk - wandering ascetics wearing saffron robes, 5. Ājīvika - ascetics of the Gosālaka tradition.
Those who earned their livelihood through begging were called Vanīpaka. Five types of Vanīpaka are described: Śramaṇa, Brāhmaṇa, Kṛpaṇa, Atithi, and Śvāna. The author describes the characteristics of all these types under the category of Vanīpaka faults. Ascetics of one sect would criticize the ascetics of another sect out of envy. Due to sectarian bias, excellent literary works were burnt. For example, the play *Raṣṭrapāla* written by Āṣāḍhabhūti was burnt because its performance led to the renunciation of 500 Kshatriyas.
**Use of Knowledge and Mantras**
In the society of the time, there was a tradition of mastering specific knowledge and mantras and using them. Mahāvīra prohibited the use of knowledge, mantras, and other means for ascetics, but due to hypocrisy, some ascetics used them to obtain food. Ācārya Pādalipta used mantras to cure the headache of King Muruṇḍa to gain the favor of the Sangha. By using knowledge, ascetics could obtain clothes, ghee, jaggery, etc., in sufficient quantities from even a miserly person. Later, when the knowledge was withdrawn, the person would realize that his clothes, etc., had been stolen. Upon lamenting, his family members would explain that he had donated those items himself.
Some Tapas, through yogic powers, could cross rivers by walking on water. By using special knowledge, Ācārya Samita requested the Krishna River to be crossed. The two banks of the river then merged, and its width became as narrow as the length of his feet. After crossing, the river returned to its original width.
Sometimes, ascetics would change their appearance through supernatural powers and beg from the same house repeatedly. Āṣāḍhabhūti Muni, to obtain sweets from a jester, assumed the form of a deaf, hunchbacked person, and begged three times.
1. Mavṛ P. 108. 2. Pini 227. 3. Pini 227/1,2.
4. Pini 231/1, 2, Mavṛ P. 144. 5. Pini 231/4, Mavṛ P. 144.