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Dr. Charlotte Krause: Her Life & Literature
grass, he will always ascertain the ritual purity of whatever eatables are put before him, he will never leave a vessel filled with a liquid substance uncovered; nor will he ever use an open light, for fear lest insects might rush into it and be killed, nor will he ever be seen spitting about him without regard to place and circumstances. [b] The Three Guptis
The three Guptis are regulations with reference to controlling one's inner nature, i. e., they are dictated by the principle of self control.
(i) The first of them is the Mano-Gupti, by which the mind is to be controlled, either in the shape of 'Akuśala Nivṛtti', i.e., exclusion of both grievous and cruel thoughts, or in the shape of 'Kuśala Pravṛtti', i.e., giving room only to pure thoughts, or in that of 'Yoga Nirodha', i.e., complete suppression of all mental activity whatsoever, a stage which only the omniscient ascetic can fully reach.
(ii) The second Gupti is the Vāk-Gupti, i.e., regulation of speech. It consists either in 'Maunāvalambha', i.e., taking and keeping the vow of silence for a certain time, or in 'Vāk-Niyama', i.e., speaking only as much as is absolutely necessary.
(iii) The third Gupti is the Kaya-Gupti, i.e., regulation of one's bodily activity. It consists either in 'Ceṣṭā-Nivṛtti', i.e., stopping all physical activity for a certain time, as far as it is in one's power, or in 'Yathāsūtraceṣṭā-Pravṛtti', i.e., executing only such bodily movements as are in exact conformity with the prescriptions of the Jinas.
It is a matter of course that these regulations can be practised, to a certain extent, by the layman too, i.e., as far as the limits of worldly propriety admit.
Both, the five Samitis and the three Guptis, are often grouped together under the name of 'Asta-Pravacana Mātā', i.e., 'the eight mothers of ethics', on account of their fundamental character.
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