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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
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Time for Begging :
The monk was allowed to take food within a period of three ghatikās after sunrise and the same period before sunset (i.e. one hour and twelve minutes after and before sunrise and sunset respectively).684 Proper Donors and Food :
The same forty-six faults pertaining to donors and purity of food as are described in the Svetāmbara texts are to be found in the Mūlācāra also,685 and hence we need not repeat them here.
Besides the whole set of these forty-six rules, the purity of food was expressed in a suitable way and the monk was asked to accept such food which was pure in nine ways 'navakoțiparisuddha'. It was to be pure in three ways, to wit, mentally, vocally and physically, and be devoid of the faults of one's own doing, causing others to do these or consenting to somebody else doing these. The Purpose of Eating and Giving Up Food :
The reasons for which the monk ate food and gave it up were the same as those noted previously. The Mode of Eating :
We have already seen that the monk did not use alms-vessel. He, therefore, ate the food in the cavity of his palms in a standing position.686 He did not speak or ask for anything while on the begging tour, but simply suggested by his presence that he wanted food.687 He stood without taking shelter of anything like the wall, etc. and kept his feet at a distance of four angulas from each other. The entire space required for this purpose consisted of that region which his feet covered plus the place over which food might be scattered while eating, and this was expressed by the word 'bhūmitrika'.688
Irrespective of the taste of the food, the monks consumed as much food as was sufficient only to carry on the bodily activities (akkhamakkhaņamettam).689
684. Mül. 6, 73: 'Sūryodayāstamanayornādītrikavarjitayoh aśanakāle /
Trikadvikaikamuhurtāḥ jaghanyamadhyamotkrstāḥ// 685. Ibid., chapter 6. 686. Prv. III, 8; Mül. 1, 54; 9, 54. 687. Ibid., comm. on 9, 53. 688. Ibid., 1, 34.
689. Ibid., 9, 48-49: Literally it is 'suggestive of a trader who applies grease to the axle of his cart to carry his valuables to the desired goal. The saint, too, has to carry the
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