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JAINA CONCEPTION OF THE HOLY PENTAD
journey in siddhahood. 95
III. v. THE ĀCĀRYAS
The third member of the holy pentad is called ācārya which means a religious teacher or a spiritual preceptor. The ācārya is one from whom religious vows are taken and practised (tatra ācaranti tasmäd vratāni iti ācāryah).96 Such an ācārya is generally an ordained, virtuous and learned monk of the Jaina Order. The usual definition of a religious teacher goes thus : "he who himself observes five-fold good conduct and makes others to observe that conduct is an ācārya" (pañca vidham ācāram carati cārayati iti ācāryaḥ).97 The five-fold good conduct includes cultivation of faith (darśana), wisdom (jñāna), ethical behaviour (cāritra), penance (tapa), and energetic effort (viryācāra). Knowledge and practice of Dharma are thus the main traits of an ācārya's character. He is described as an expert in fourteen kinds of sciences (vidyās), as one who knows by heart Eleven Scriptures (ekādaśāngadharah) or the Ācārânga, or who has perfect knowledge of time in regard to himself and in regard to others, and who is firm like the mountain) Meru, tolerant like the earth, who has, like an ocean, expelled impurity, and who is free from seven-fold fear.98 A religious teacher (dharmācārya) is possessed of thirty-six ethical qualities viz. nine-fold holy conduct (navavidha-brahmacar yagupti), five-fold sense-control (pañcendriya-samvaraņa), renunciation of four-fold defilement (kaşāyacatuştaya-rahitatva), practice of five major vows (pañca-mahāvratopetatva), practice of five-fold good conduct(pañcavidha-ācārapālakatva) five-fold self-regulation (pañcasamiti-samitatva), and three-fold protection (guptitrayaguptatva). These thirty-six virtues subsume almost the entire gamut of Jaina ethics. Besides excellence in ethical culture, the ācāryas are skilled in the explanation of
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The idea of siddhahood is known outside Jainism too. Kapilamuni, the putative father of the Sankhya system of thought, is once referred to as the best among the siddhas (Bhagavadgitā, x. 26-siddhānam Kapilo munih). Tantrika Buddhist tradition has preserved a list of eighty-four siddhas. The list includes the names of Sarahapāda, Krşņapāda, Indrabhūti, Lakşaminkarādevī, Nāgārjuna, Gorakşa, Matsyendra, Sabara, Dambīpāda etc. (see Caturasitisiddhapravetti, Sarnath : Central Institute of Tibetan Studies 1979; The Blue Annals, translated by G. Roerich, Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, 1976). These siddhas were masters of an esoteric technique of release which widely differs from the Jaina path of purification. There is also a marked difference between the Tantrika conception of mukti and Jaina conception of siddhahood. For a discussion of medieval siddhas, yogins and nathas and for bibliographical information see L. M. Joshi, "The Siddha Tradition before Guru Nanak" in Essays in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, pp. 45-72. Sarvārthasiddhi on Tattvārthasūtra, X-24, p. 338. Dhavalațīka on Şarkhan lagama I. 1.1, p. 49; Avašyak asūtram-Munitoşanīļāka, p. 50. According to the Pascadhyāyi (of Rājamalla) the name acārya is beginningless (ācāryo anādito). Dhavalatika, 1. 1.1.. pp. 49-50.
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