Aparigraha the Humane Solution

Author(s): Kamla Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 85

APARIGRAHA - THE HUMANE SOLUTION
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Ananda limited his possessions of cattle only to forty thousand. Similarly he limited his possessions of other kinds such as household requisites in size, quality, and quantity. The five transgressions or pramāṇātikramas are crossing the limits of (1) farms and houses (kşetra-vastu) (2) gold and silver (hiranya-suvarna) (3) wealth and corn (dhana-dhānya) (4) servants, children and animals (dvipada and catuspada) (5) household goods, utensils and other requisites (kupyadhātu). There are two salient points in these five transgressions of this vow. These are: (1) The possessions should be limited. (2) The householder should try to reduce even the limited possessions. In these two features lies the true spirit of aparigraha for the householder.
The five transgressions discussed in the Digambara text of Ratnakarandaśrāvakācāra have almost the same theme. These are (1) keeping much larger number of vehicles than required, (2) accumulating unnecessary articles in large quantity. (3) expressing temptation or excitement on the large property of others (4) excessive greed (5) overloading animals. Here, the fifth transgression of overloading animals is more a violation of the vow of non-violence than of non-possession. Thus in other words, aparigraha of the laity permits the possession of items that fulfill human needs and necessities and perhaps also some comforts, but it does not permit indulging in luxuries or unlimited desires. The spirit of this vow is that accumulation for the sake of accumulation is undesirable and a good householder should cultivate the habit of limiting both his possessions and desires. Here lies the seed of detachment, the essence of Indian ethics. The Gita also repeatedly talks about anāsakti (detachment) as central to the moral path. It should be noted that the spirit of limited possessions as shown in the fifth vow of the householder is also enunciated in the sixth, seventh, and eighth vow of the householder in the twelve-fold scheme of the aņuvratas of the householder. These are diśāparimāna vrata, upabhoga - paribhogaparimāņa vrata and anarthadanda viramaņa vrata respectively. Disäparimāņa vrata refers to the limitation of desires related to mobility or aimless travelling from place to place. This hints at restriction on 1. Upāsakadašānga Sūtra 1, 18.
It is interesting to note that he limited number of cattle is as large
as forty thousand.