Essence of Jainism Part 01

Author(s): Kushalchandravijay
Publisher: 108 jain Tirth Darshan Trust

Page 94

Read (all these on control) carefully think over it and put into practice what you have read and then there will be a frangrance in your life. Even a few vows when observed give us a great benefit. Please begin by taking a couple of vows. If you forget their observance through inadvertance, you should forego eating only one thing that day. This saves you from sin due to lapse in observance.
PUT INTO PRACTICE WHAT YOU HAVE READ: (1) Give up taking honey, butter, meat, liquor etc. It not only saves
lives of many living beings, but also ensures good health. (2) Ice-cream, ice, sherbat etc. are found generally adulterated.
They involve death of innumerable invisible living beings. Hence,
these should not be taken. (3) Patato, Ginger, Garlic, Brinjal, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Cauliflower,
etc. are tamashic food and they should not be eaten so that
myriad of living beings will be saved. (4) We should give up eating unknown or trifle fruits, like pods of
banyan Tree and also of Umbara. By doing so, we get the
benefit of their renunciation. (5) State bread, cake, vada, ghoalvada should not be eaten. This
will spare lives of beings having two senses. (6) Pulses, vada, gholvada, bhajis, farsan etc., should not be eaten
along with shrikhand or unboiled curd. This will spare lives of
living beings having two senses. (7) Don't leave off surpuls food while eating. Keep your dish quite
clean. This will stop the destruction of Samurchham living
beings. (8) Every religion enjoins that we should never eat at night. Stop
it and save yourselves from desease and sin. (9) After finishing the meal, wash the dish with water and drink that water. This practice yields the merit of an ayambil. LIFE WITHOUT CONTROL LEADS TO
DEGRADATION : Purity of food results into purity of thought. Purity of thought leads to purtiy of action. Tamshic (that which dulls the mind) and Rajashic (that which arouses passions) food lead us to bad thoughts, many diseases and to violence of many a living beings.
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