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326
S. B. DEO
smoke (? gihadhūmam parisāļāveï),614 climbing a tree,615 or any place full of living beings,616 binding the beings by means of something,617 keeping the requisites or occupying shaky places618—all these were deemed transgressions and the monk committing these had to undergo a punishment for these.
It should, however, be noted that this practice of ahiṁsā was not the exhibition of physical meekness, for a monk who happened to enter the house of an unfriendly person was allowed to raise a cry for help in case the latter harassed him.619
A good amount of commonsense and a judgment of social etiquette blended with the principle of ahiṁsā are revealed in the rules guiding the mode of behaviour of the monk at the time of easing nature.
Normal time for easing nature was the third quarter (porisi) of the day. Then, seeking the permission of the superior, the monk went slowly without indulging in chit-chatting. He selected a place free from the visits of the people, where there were no chances of personal injury, no living beings or grass or holes or seeds. The minimum expanse of the place was one hasta and the average four hastas. The place was to be such as was burnt by fire to a depth of at least four angulas to assure the non-existence of living beings. Getting such a place, the monk cleaned the spot thrice. Then, holding the staff and the broom at his left thigh and the ‘mātraka' (pot) in his right hand, he cleaned his anus. Generally, places which contained living beings and which were likely to create prejudice in the mind of the people regarding the monk, as for instance, gardens, dung-heaps, burning places, uneven grounds, houses or places adjacent to their doors, houses in which a dead body was kept, or the heap of ash of the burnt body, pillars in honour of the dead, temples, mines, groves of trees, corn-fields, vegetable fields, flowery regions and car-garages, were avoided by the monk as that was likely to inflict injury to living beings which were numerous at such places, as also that was deemed contrary to social etiquette. 620 Service to the Needy:
The utmost precaution about non-injury to living beings and the identification of one's own soul with those of others naturally implied help and service to the needy, the ill and the superiors.621
614. Ibid., 1. 57. 615. Ibid., 12, 9. 616. Ibid., 13, 1-11. 617. Ibid., 12, 1-2. 618. Ibid., 14, 24-35; 16, 40-50; Ogha-N., 323. 619. Ibid., 423. 620. Ibid., 295-328; Nis. 3, 70-78; 4, 102-111; 15, 66-74. 62. Tenfold Veivacca” same in Vae. 10, 34; Thân. 473b.
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