Heart of Jainism

SR No.: 011099
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mrs Sinclair Stevenson
Publisher: Mrs Sinclair Stevenson
Publication Year: 1915
Total Pages: 365
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 29 MB

Page 136

110
THE NINE CATEGORIES OF
The Third Category: Punya. Nine Another of the great Tattva deals with Punya or merit.1 kinds of Theot
* The actions which lead to the good karma which bring Punya.
peace of mind are called punya, and there are nine ways of
performing these actions. i. Anna If we give food to deserving people who are hungry, punya.
weak, destitute of help and needy, we perform Anna punya. The greatest merit is gained when the food is given to monks or nuns, but these must be Jaina ascetics (not Hindu for instance), and in order to gain the fullest benefit from charity the food must be given in such a way as not to involve himsā.? It will be remembered that Mahāvira in a previous birth, when a woodcutter, gained great punya by feeding a party of monks who had lost their way. His reward was that in his next incarnation he became a devatā, and after many many rebirths was incarnate as Mahā. vīra. For less illustrious services one may in the next life become a merchant, or a ruler, or gain some other coveted
position. ii. Pāna In common with many other religions that have arisen in punya.
sultry lands, Jainism teaches that a special reward is attached to giving water to the thirsty (Pāna punya). There is no harm in giving unboiled water to a layman, but boiled water must always be given to an ascetic. The story of Neminātha, the twenty-second Tirthankara, shows how great the reward is. A king named Sankara and his wife Jaśomati once showed kindness to some thirsty monks by giving them water in which grapes had been soaked. In their next birth, as a reward, the king was born as Neminātha and his wife as the daughter of a famous king of Sorațh; in this incarnation, though betrothed, they did not marry, but instead they both became ascetics on the day fixed for
their wedding, and eventually obtained mokşa. iii. Vastra A great reward is also obtained by giving clothes to the punya.
1 The Digambara include Punya under Āśrava (see p. 139). 2 i.e. destruction of life.