Sramana 1999 07

SR No.: 525038
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shivprasad
Publisher: Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi
Publication Year: 1999
Total Pages: 200
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Sramana, & India
File Size: 9 MB

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strained water (agālita-jala) and a mendicant may drink only boiled water which has been rendered srcc of all forms of subllc lisc.
Further restrictions apply to the time when permiticd food may be consumcd. Advanced lay people as well as mendicants as a rule observe Uic vow of not partaking of any food or water after sunset (rātri-bhojana-lyrīga-vrata) and the Digambara mendicants are restricted to a single mcal (including water) a day. On certain holy days, such as the cighth and thic fisiccnth of cach lunar inonth, many lay people undertake sasts (called anasana, lit. 'no! cating', or upavāsa) and at least once a year all Jainas observe a communal sast and dedicate Uiat day for begging forgiveness (kşamāpanā) of all begins, including those ckendriyas whose lives Uicy destroyed in the act of cating.16 As for mendicants, who must constantly engage in austcritics, urc Jaina lexis prcscribc a varicty of tapas: giving up stimulating dishes (rasa-parityāgu), reducing one's diet to a few morsels (avamaudarya), and fasting for an entire day (anasana).17 Jaina sasts, whether practiced by the mendicants or the lay pcoplc, must be distinguished from unic "Tasts” kept by tic followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Fasting in thcsc communities is, for thic inost part, restricted to Ulic daytimc only; often food is freely consumed afler sunsct. Even the followers of various brahmanical religious sccts allow cating fruits or some form of uncooked food—and preferably at night!--on ucir fasting days. The Jaina fast, however, lasts from sunrise to sunrise and is lolal; only boiled water in limited quantitics may be consumed and that too only during the daytime. An extraordinary scature of the Jaina fast—100 much discussed in thic books but tacitly observed—is dial all sexual contact between couples is forbidden for the duration of dic fast, even if only the wisc or thic husband has refrained from food. Although the vow of celibacy (bralma-carya) docs not demand the vow of sasting, the Jainas scem to perceive Uie latter incomplete without uic former. This demonstrates the unique Jaina belief that uic sex instinct (maithuna-samjñā) is inscparablc from Hic craving for food and cannot be overcome without controlling tic desire for uic latter.
Fasting for a day only is considered child's play among vic Jaina laity. A great niany Jaina lay people, especially women, during the sacred week called tlic paryüşaņa-parva in the rainy scason (cāturmāsa), undertake longer periods of fasting for Uiree lo cight days. The formal conclusion of a sast is callcd pāraṇā and lakes place long after uic sunrise, with a sip of boiled