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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
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other's body either with ghee or with perfumes, or sprinkling the body with water, or the practice of sexual acts were done by the householder and his wife.98 Places visited by women, beasts and eunuchs,99 those frequented by heretics, 100 containing cobwebs and eggs, 101 appropriated by force or stolen from somebody else by the present owner,102 specially white-washed, decorated, besmeared with cow-dung or built for use solely by the monks, 103 where seeds, flowers and other articles containing life were scattered, -all these were deemed unfit for the monks.
Reasons Behind These :
It may be noted that the reasoning behind the justification of the nonuse of such places was based on the fundamental rules of ethical conduct of the monks, as will be clear from the following discussion.
The house containing seeds, cobwebs, eggs, etc., if occupied, offered a ground for himsā which was the major fault to be avoided by the monk.
The place which was raised up from the ground level, and accesss to which could be had only by resorting to a platform or a ladder, was likely to be the cause of a serious fall for the monk which crushed the living beings on the ground.
The monk living with the members of the family of a householder, if nursed by them in his illness, was likely to get attached to them and go astray. Moreover, the daughters and other ladies in the house were likely to force him to have sexual intercourse with a view to have a healthy child. 104
In the case of the places where worldly activities or actions pertaining to fire and water were carried on, the monk was likely to get interested in such activities which were unbecoming for him.
In their zeal to furnish the monks with lodging, the householders were likely to do all sorts of major injuries to the living beings (mahāsāvadyakriyā). Hence, such places were not to be accepted by the monks. Moreover, such specially made lodgings were likely to create a feeling of gratitude and attachment towards the houseowner in the mind of the monks.
98. Ibid., II, 2, 3, 5-12 (pp. 131-32). 99. Nāya. p. 76; Bhag. p. 758b. 100. Acāra. II, 2, 2, 2, 8 (p. 127). 101. Ibid., II, 1, 1 (p. 120). 102. Ibid., 103. Ibid., II, 2, 1, 3 ff (pp. 121 ff). 104. Ibid., II, 2, 1, 12 (p. 124).
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