Charlotte Krause her Life and Literature

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 86

An Interpretation of Jaina Ethics
[c] The Twenty-two Hardships ( Parişahas )
The next expedient for the effecting of Samvara consists in willingly undergoing and enduring hardships, more especially such as the condition of a Sādhu generally involves. Twenty-two of them are enumerated ( the 'Twenty-two Parīşaha') viz., hunger; thirst; cold; heat; insect bites; nakedness ( which is understood by the Digambaras in its literal sense, whereas the Svetāmbaras allow the meaning of 'the wearing of scanty clothes' ); experiences fit to arouse the feeling of despondency, which, however, must not be allowed to gain ground; disturbances of one's asceticism through the opposite sex; constant roaming about without any fixed dwelling place; unsuitable places for one's study and meditation; uncomfortable bedding; being scolded, abused etc.; being beaten and illtreated; the arising of shame while begging one's food and whatever one requires, especially with people of high rank and breeding, many of whom used to be initiated as Jaina monks in former times; begging in coin; sickness; being hurt by the blades of thorny grass or hay which forms one's bedding; dirt; the necessity to remain, inwardly and outwardly, indifferent towards good as well as bad reception; the necessity of remaining humble in spite of one's high learning; that of never loosing courage if one happens to become aware of one's ignorance in metaphysical things, and that of remaining firm in one's belief in the words of the Jina, in spite of all difficulties and temptations.
It is, of course, only to a small extent, and more by the way of cultivating the respective spirit, viz., that of endurance, that the layman may be willing and able to put these rules into action, whereas most of them act at least some part in the daily life of the ascetic. [0 ] The Ten Virtues
The next class of prescriptions comprises the 'Daśavidhayatidharma', i.e., the ten-fold duty of the striver after Mokşa, which consists in the cultivation of the following ten virtues :