Rules Concerning Speech In Ayaranga And Dasaveyaliya Suttas

SR No.: 269485
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Collette Caillat
Publisher: Collette Caillat
Total Pages: 15
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 9

The Rules Concerning Speech (Bhāsā) in the Ayäranga
proclaims an interdiction "the thoughtful (monk) should not use" "that (form of speech) which is true (but) not to be uttered, that which is half-true, that which is (quite) untrue, none (of which is) practised by the Jinas". The positive recommendation is formulated in the next éloka
"(But) he should, after deliberation (samuppeham), use a speech not exposed to doubt (asamdiddham giram bhäsejja), that is (a speech) which is neither true nor untrue and (a speech) which is true, provided that it is not to be blamed or rough"
asaccamosam, saccam ca anavajjam akakkasam (Dasav 7.2-3) 2.
Thus, the conceptual frame is firmly set for a discussion on bhāsā to take place. The adduced definitions aim at being both clear and exact (in agreement with the complexity of reality); moreover, they expressly recognize the heterogeneity of charity and truth: further whereas, as we have just seen, Manu merely combined both virtues in, so to say, a formal fourfold pattern, the Jainas strive for complete integration and try to reconcile these sometimes contradictory requirements in a higher synthesis. Their effort can also be evaluated if compared with the
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(ib 9-10), which stresses the necessity to expel all passions (compare, supra, ĀpDhS 1.8.23.5):
kohe mane ya miyae lo(b)he ya uvanttay a
hase bhae moharie vikahäsu tah'eva ca
eyaim attha thaṇāim parivajjitu simjae
asavajjam miyam kale bhisam bhāsejja pannavam
"To give way to anger, pride, deceit and greed, laughter, fear, loquacity and slander; these eight faults should a well-disciplined monk avoid; he should use blameless and concise speech at the proper time" (transl. H. Jacobi, SBE 45, Oxford, 1895, repr. Delhi, 1964, p. 131, and n. 2).
For other references, cf. W. Schubring, Doctrine § 173; P. S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification, Berkeley. ... 1979, 247-8); etc. Dasav 7.2:
jā ya saccā avattavvā, saccāmosā ya jā, musā
ja ya, buddhehi 'nainṇa, na tam bhāsejja pannavam,
Cp. Ayar 2.4.1.6: se bhikkhu va ja ya bhāsā saccā, jā ya bhāsā mosā, jā ya, bh. sacca-mosā, taha-ppagaram bhāsam savajjam sa-kiriyam kakkasam sa-kaḍuyam nitthuram pharusam anhaya-karim cheda-karim bheda-karim pariyavaṇakarim uddavaṇa-karim bhiovaghaiyam abhikamkha no bhāsam bhāsejjā,
"a monk or a nun, having well considered, should not use speech-truth, or untruth, or truth mixed with untruth-that is blamable, (speech which is) sinful, rough, stinging, coarse, hard, leading to sins, to discord and factions, to grief and outrage, to destruction of living beings" (trsl. partly following Jacobi).