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368
ĀYARO
yo marana ( i. e. deliberately ending one's life by hanging). Fasting is of two kinds: (a) Saparakrama (undertaken when the body is
strong). (b) Aparākrama (undertaken when the body grows
weak).
Classified in another way, fasting is of two kinds:
(a) Vyāghata yukta i.e. undertaken
account of some incident.
suddenly on
(b) Avyāghāta i. e. undertaken in the normal course.
While the earlier sections deal with the former kind of anaśana, the present section deals with the latter one. As the avyāghäta anasana is not abrupt or sudden but is achieved in serial order of development, it is also called anupūrvi" (vide, the Niryukti, verse 263).
The various steps in the series of anupūrvi fast are as follows:
(a) getting initiated into ascetic life; (b) studying the Scriptures; (c) learning their deeper meaning and significance; (d) after having attained efficiency in the Scripture
and their interpretations, imparting this knowledge to the deserving disciples;
(e) after having taken due permission of the Precep
tor, undertaking gradual attenuation of the body
(samlekhanā); (f) then, finally, undertaking fast unto death (leading
to Death Sublime), choosing one of the above three kinds of fasts and abandoning threefold daily necessities, viz. food, implements (clothes, bowls, etc.) and lodging.
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