Atonements In Ancient Ritual Of Jaina Monks

SR No.: 011039
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Collete Caillat
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1975
Total Pages: 231
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

Page 202

188
.
took off his leather sandals and confessed his six kinds of faults duskțla. The Great Kaśyapa, with his own hand, led Ānanda out of the Samgha and said to him : 'Stanch the flow of impurities in you and you will then return. Do not return so long as your uncleanness and your ties remain.' Having spoken thus, be closed the door himself.
[...] Ānanda reflected [...] During the night be sat down in the dhyāna position (...) He obtained the three knowledges, the six.super. natural penetrations, and total Deliverance ; and he became an Arhat of very great power (...) He came to the door of the room where the Samgha was assembled and entered through the keyhole. He said : 'Oh Great Kāśyapa ! Do not blame me any more !' The Great Kaśyapa touched Ananda's head with his hand and said: 'I did it on purpose, for your own good, so that you would find the way. Do not feel bitter towards me. In this way I have led you to fulbll yourself.' ” (quoted by Przy-. luski, Goncile 62-68).
It appears in this account that the victory goes to the arhat, that is, to the advocate of individual salvation. Is this characteristic recent - or, rather, archaic ?: Certain provisions seem to show that the . Jaipas progressively recognised more of the virtues necessary for salvation in a monk's unselfishness than in his penances.. .
It has seemed useful to reproduce these long extracts. They allow as to see that Buddhists and Jainas practised comparable observances founded upon similar beliefs - and that they experienced the same contradictory aspirations. In organising their community, the Jainas were led to adapt ancient practices to new ends. They had to revise, if only implicitly, the concepts' transmitted to them by their predecessors, and by their environment. In doing their best not to disown the past, they finally opened up an original way to Deliverance. This, iq short, is what Buddhism attempted, with comparable means but with different success.