________________
SCHOOL
TIONAL
OF
TEAN STUDIES
SELF STUDY IS THE
SUPREME AUSTERITY
Milk: 48 minutes after taken out from cows; boiled milk within 48 minutes after extraction
- 24 hours; curd - 24 hours; butter- 48 minutes; ghee- as long as it does not change taste / colour/smell.
⚫ Cereals: As long as they do not get infested with mildew, moth or insects; flour- 7, 5 and 3 days during winter, summer and rainy seasons.
• Cooked foods: Generally 6 hours after cooking; fried things -24 hours; sweets having water -24 hours and sweets with no water are like flour.
6.3 Time and quantity of food comprising a normal diet
Normally three meals per day are recommended starting with after sunrise and ending before sunset in quantities sufficient for sustenance. Further fasts / missing one meal or two meal regularly (8 and 14 day of every fortnight and religious days) and avoiding any one specific types of foods on certain selected days are advised for good health and enhancing self control.
The texts do not specific exact quantity (by weight or type of food items) to be consumed and hence the statements are generally qualitative. Normally the emphasis is on minimizing the food intake (i.e. prohibiting overeating completely) but not starving.
7.0
Conclusions
Jain canonical literature gives the following description of a monk' to support his/her spiritual life.
That monk, who, without the desire, passions (attachments and aversions) but maintaining an attitude of carefulness and restraints (samitisand guptis) eats proper and worthy for the monk as per the Jain scriptures food and wanders from one place to other place for preaching and stay is said to be free from the flaws of taking food directly. The soul of that monk, who is busy in meditating on his self and is free from the act of accepting other matter is in fact called a fasting self (nirāhāri). Thus such monks are said to be free from the flaws of the food accepted by them in enabling them to meditate on their self. Such pure food is accepted once a day during daylight, that too less than the full need of the stomach is balanced in dry-oily-sweet-salt tastes and contents, free from elements like honey, meat etc, is prepared by religious persons aware of the method of preparing and serving. Such food is said to free from the flaws of adhāḥ-karma and is taken through begging.
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