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Dr. Charlotte Krause : Her Life & Literature
and naked, as a Jinakalpi Sādhu, or he takes the vow of Samlekhanā, or tries to give up all passions, and thereby opens the way for a complete annihilation of all his Karma.
It is not necessary to add that many of the austerities described can well be practised by laymen too, who, indeed, enthusiastically undergo austerities of incredible rigour, vying with the saintliest of their ascetics. The most popular of all austerities are, with reference to laymen : Anasana, Vrttisanksepa, Rasatyāga and Vaiyāvíttya, in the practice of which much tranquil heroism is displayed
[ C ] Something on the Ritualistic Side
It is evident that the shape in which the ethical prescriptions of Jainism have come down to us, is not a pure one, but many of them contain a distinctly formal element, such as the Sāmāyika Vrata of Śrāvakas, the Parihāra Visuddhi Caritra of Sādhus, or the sub-divisions of Prāyaścitta do, so that one might doubt whether they should not be counted as ritualistic rather than ethical rules. But the arrangement in which they are handed down, leaves no doubt that Jaina tradition wants then to be counted as ethical rules.
Many of the rules, which could be given here only in their original, simple form have undergone a process of extension and complication, in consequence of which the ritualistic element has been put still more in the foreground. This is the case, e.g., with the Atithi Saṁvibhāga Vrata ( the 12th vow of śrāvakas ) which is, at present, generally taken in the form that the śrāvaka performs the action of serving and feasting the ‘atithi’, i.e., the begging Sādhu, after finishing certain austerities, and under certain formalities. It can also be observed with reference to the Sāmāyika Cāritra of ascetics, for which a Sādhu is not counted fit, unless the process of ‘Luñcana', i.e., plucking out of the hair of his head, has been performed, nor is he counted a full ascetic afterwards, unless he allows this process to be repeated at least twice every year, or, at a higher age, once a year. Another example is the Kāyotsarga austerity,
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