Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
It is also a great offense to disregard the Sangha and the Sangha Nayak. One Jainacharya has even written that when the Tirthankara is in Samavasarana, he salutes the Sangha by saying "Namo Sanghass". Both Jain and Buddhist traditions have been very careful that no ineligible person should be initiated, as entry can lead to immorality. Jain and Buddhist monks and nuns are equal, and there are many similarities in the system of severe penance. There are also many similarities in the traditions. It is true that the Buddhist tradition has been a middle path, so its code of conduct is also based on the middle path. The Jain tradition has emphasized age and rigorous practice. Therefore, its code of conduct is also strict.
A special feature is that in Jainism, penance is given according to the offense, taking into account the circumstances. If a seeker commits an offense willingly, repeatedly, does not admit the offense in front of the gurus, or consumes intoxicants, then there was a provision for severe punishment. And if the same offense has been committed unknowingly or due to special circumstances, and if he admits the offense sincerely in front of the gurus, then he is given less penance. But there was no such provision for penance in Buddhism. Of the ten penances in Jainism, there are penances like Pralaochana, Pratikramana, Kayotsarga, etc., which the seeker has to perform in the morning and evening. He has to confess these sins before the guru. But in Buddhism, there was no such mandatory rule to perform Pralaochana, Pratikramana and Kayotsarga daily and to be free from penance. There, the vows of the Patimokkha rules were recited on the fifteenth day during Uposatha. Therefore, in the Buddhist Sangha, information about the offense was received after fifteen days. During the annual Pavarana, the offense seen, heard and doubted was investigated.
Thus, we see that it is human nature to commit offenses. Due to a little carelessness, mistakes happen. But the system of penance in Jain and Buddhist traditions for the purification of these mistakes is easy and simple. But in the Vedic tradition's system of penance, the system of punishment has also been included. As a result, there was also a provision for amputation, etc. While there are no such provisions in Jain and Buddhist traditions. The offense and penance system is from the Vedic point of view...
Indian culture has a stream of Vedic tradition. On the same land, the Shraman culture and the Vedic culture have flowed. The great sages of the Vedic culture have also made various provisions for liberation from sin. The inner mind of the sages of the Rigveda also has a strong desire to be free from sin. Thinking has been done from various perspectives regarding the number of sins, their various types. The Rigveda states that seven limits have been told for the wise or the Vishas. He who transgresses even one of them is a sinner. In the Taittiriya Samhita, Shatapatha Brahmana and other Brahmana texts, Brahmanahत्या has been considered the greatest sin.
1. Rigveda 10/5/6
2. Taittiriya Samhita (2/5/9/2, 5/3/12/1-2)
3. Shatapatha Brahmana (13/3/1/1)
4. Kaṭhaka (13/7)
Because in the Sangha of ineligible persons, there are many places in the code of conduct... the truths of penance, which are both...