Agam 24 Chhed 01 Nishith Sutra Part 01 Sthanakvasi

Author(s): Amarmuni, Kanhaiyalal Maharaj
Publisher: Amar Publications

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was provision for exceptions to the fundamental rules. It is but definite that newly incorporated principles or rules are found in niryukti, Bhāṣya and Cūrņi. The exceptions themselves are not directive principles, yet they were gradually adopted and incorporated. No rule can be literally and scrupulously followed by any saint (sādhaka) all the while, but in such events the spiritual adherents had to transgress the limits and make necessary amendments which were known as exceptions (apavāda); thus apavāda was accomodated as a logical compulsion and consequently became part of the general rules. Sometimes from such exceptions we infer, although not willingly, that the whole community might have debased and decayed to a great extent. But this is not all. The sadhakas were mainly interested in the observances of the rules laid down by the previous preceptors. It is certainly not a case of 'to follow or not to follow' but an attempt to keep the solidarity of the community as a whole, by compromising and accommodating broad, workable principles of life. Of course, it all depends upon the steadfastness and firmness of an adherent to stick to the basic principles rather than succumb to the ones incorporated out of inevitable conditions.
Learning more on the rules basic or exceptional may result in mere mechanical observance of the rules at the cost of the inner development of the soul-force. This will defeat the very purpose of the spiritual life, particularly when the Jainas assert on the philosophy of the soul. For example, in the use of clothes, an exception has become a general rule for the Svetambara saints;1 similarly neckedness for the Digambara was a must. Such substitutes and replacements of values are not unusual. Under the impact of social changes and circumstantial compulsions, the exceptions become rules Certainly rigidity in following the rules is not maintained. Hence, to moderate the rigidity and rigorousness of the basic rules (utsarga) some allowance was made to transgress the limits of the rules. This was done with such a motive that it should be easy and convenient for the ascetics to
1. Niśitha gāthā, 5721.