Aspects of Jaina Religion

Author(s): Vilas Sangve
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 94

90 :: Aspects of Jaina Religion
(3) Chaurya
Chaurya, i.e., theft, is to take anything which is not given. But a wide meaning is attached to the term theft. That is why imparting instruction on the method of committing theft, receiving stolen property, evading the injunction of the law (by selling things at inordinate prices), adulteration, and keeping false weights and measures, are all considered as forms of theft and one must guard oneself against them.
(4) Abrahma
Abrahma, i.e., unchastity, is also considered to have several forms. As a result, matchmaking (bringing about marriages, as a hobby), unnatural gratification, indulging in voluptuous speech, visiting immoral married women, and visiting immoral unmarried women are all forms of unchastity, and they should be avoided. (5) Parigraha
The fault of Parigraha, i.e., worldly attachments, consists in desiring more than what is needed by an individual. Hence accumulating even necessary articles in large numbers, expressing wonder at the prosperity of another, excessive greed, transgressing the limits of possession, and changing the proportions of existing possessions are all forms of parigraha, and therefore these should be discarded.
It may be noted that last vow of aparigraha or parigrahaparimāna is very distinctive as it indirectly aims at economic equalization by peaceful prevention of undue accumulation of capital in individual hands. Further, in this vow it is recommended that a householder should fix, beforehand, the limit of his maximum belongings, and should, in no case, exceed it. If he ever happens to earn more than that limit, it is also recommended that he must spend it away in charities, the best and recognised forms of which are four, viz., distribution of medicine, spread of knowledge, provision for saving lives of people in danger, and feeding the hungry and the poor.