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In contrast, the literary form of the Nisiha is uniform from the beginning to the end which is that 'if a monk does this, he has to undergo such and such atonement'. From this angle, its leaning is more for secrecy than for prohibition. (For, it does not categorically prohibit anything). There are portions in the Nisiha Sutra which deal with sexual desires which cannot be divulged in public (without being , liable to the charge of pornography).
The original text and its elaboration -
The original text of the Nisiha Sūtra is neither too elaborate nor too brief. It contains 20 Chapters called uddešakas. Portions of the subject-matter in each uddesaka are interconnected and portions are not so interconnected. The last uddesaka throws light on the forms of atonement. Like other Jaina Agamas, it is written in Ardh-Magadhi. At many a place, the idea is very brief, and the reader has to look f nelp to understand its meaning. To cite one or instances,
"A monk who takes out the dirt of his eyes, of his ears, of his teeth and of his nails, cleans them, considers any other (monk) doing the same as good, has to undergo light atonement for a month (laghumāsik). A monk who removes and wipes out the Sweat from his body, Sweat from a particular part, removes and wipes out dirt, accumulated dirt, and approves of anyother doing the same has to undergo atonement for a month (māsik) "(10).
"A monk who brings food during a day and eats the food during a day has to undergo heavy atonement for four months "(11).
In texts like this, unless extra words are interpolated like 'beauty', 'attachment' 'food brought during the first quarter and taken in the fourth quarter', then the idea does not become clear. In 20 udde sakas of this Sūtra, there are in all 1652 items of atonement.
As the expressions are brief, at a later period, cūrnis, niryuktis and commentaries have been written by
