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this religion in the highest esteem, in the greatest esteem. Bhante ! Many kings, princes, commanders, city guards, mandala chiefs, respectable persons, merchants, exporters and importers and many others have tonsured their heads and joined your order as monks by throwing out their wordly responsibilities. I am, howeyer, incapable to bear the hardships of a monk's life. So I intend to court the 12 vows of the lay followers".
In giving his approval to this submission by Ananda, Bhagavan Mahāvira spoke the following words,
"Ananda ! Do as it may suit your convenience, but delay not".
In courting the 12 vows of a lay follower, Ananda said,
"Bhante ! With two instruments and three modes, I give up injury to life, falsehood and acquisition of anything not duly bestowed on me. Except for the company of my own wife Sivānandā, I shall look on every other woman as my mother. I restrict my possession to 4 crores in hard cash, 4 crores in loans and 4 crores invested in business, and beyond this, I renounce all other possessions. I shall keep no more than four herds of cattle. On my farm, I shall have no more than 500 ploughs. I shall have 500 carts to go abroad and another 500 for local use, but not more than that. I shall have four vessels for overseas trade and four boats for inland trade, but no more than that. I discard the use of all clothes after bath except the use of a perfumed towel. I shall use nothing except madhu-yasti as my toothstick. I give up all fruits except ksirāmalaka. I renounce the use of all clothes except a pair of silk and of all ornaments except a ring with my name printed on it, and a pair of ear rings".
Whereon said Bhagavan Mahāvira as follows:
"Ananda ! A follower of the sramana path who has knowledge of fundamentals, like soul, non-soul, etc., and who strictly lives within his bounds, should also
| SR No. | 022804 |
| Book Title | Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Nagaraj Muni |
| Publisher | Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers |
| Publication Year | 1986 |
| Total Pages | 804 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |