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## The Nature of the Five Great Vows of the Ratnatray
**Yoga Shastra, First Light, Verses 19-22**
**Without knowledge and faith, conduct is not called right conduct. Here, the word "all" is used to distinguish it from the conduct of the worldly. Conduct has been divided into two parts - original qualities and subsequent qualities. One should adopt the five great vows from the conduct of the original qualities.** ||18||
**Now, the five great vows, the original qualities of conduct, are described.** ||19||
**Non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-possession: these are the five great vows. Each of these five great vows is endowed with five attitudes. These attitudes are (helpful) for liberation.** ||19||
**Explanation:** - There are five attitudes for each of the five great vows of non-violence, etc. Therefore, it is said that if the attitude is constantly awakened, the seeker can attain liberation from it. ||19||
**Now, the nature of the first great vow of non-violence is described.** ||20||
**That vow of non-violence is considered to be:** ||20||
**Not to kill any living being, whether mobile or immobile, through carelessness.** ||20||
**Explanation:** - Carelessness means ignorance, doubt, delusion, attachment, aversion, loss of memory, and acting contrary to the yogas of mind, speech, and body, and disrespecting dharma. Thus, carelessness is said to be of eight types. To kill any mobile (two-sensed, three-sensed, four-sensed, and five-sensed) or immobile (earth, water, fire, air, and plant) being through the above-mentioned carelessness is violence. And the prohibition of violence or the protection of living beings is called the first vow of non-violence. ||20||
**Now, the nature of the second great vow is described.** ||21||
**Speaking words that are pleasant, beneficial, and truthful is called the vow of truthfulness. But that which is truthful, yet unpleasant or harmful, is not called truthful speech.** ||21||
**Explanation:** - Truthful speech, which is free from falsehood, is called the vow of truthfulness. That which gives joy merely by hearing it is pleasant speech, and that which is beneficial in the future is beneficial speech. To speak of a thing as it is, that is truth, that is truthful speech. Here, truth is an attribute of the vow of truthfulness. There is a doubt here: what is the purpose of mentioning these attributes of pleasant and beneficial along with truth? In answer to this, it is said that, "Many times, even though it is truthful in practice, to call a thief a thief or a leper a leper, etc., is unpleasant (shocking) speech, and therefore it is not called truth. Similarly, even if something is truthful, if it is harmful, it is not called truth. A hunter asks a truthful person in the forest, "Which way did the deer go? Did you see it?" If the truthful person says at that time, "Yes, I saw the deer going this way," then there is a possibility of animal cruelty in such a statement. Therefore, such speech, being harmful to animals, cannot be called truth even though it is truthful speech, because it is not beneficial (beneficial) to animals.
**The conclusion is that truthful speech that causes pain to others and is harmful in its consequences is not truth; rather, truthful speech that is pleasant and beneficial is the real truth.** ||21||
**Now, the third great vow is described.** ||22||
**Not taking what is not given is called the vow of non-stealing. The external life and wealth of people are theirs; those who take them are like those who kill them.** ||22||