ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 03

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 93

with right vision-knowledge and conduct as main constituents, proper diet is very important. The eight basic virtues (mūlaguna) or basic requirements to be a householder have at-least three virtues consisting of abstinence from meat, honey and wine while other preceptors (ācāryas) have all the eight associated with abstinence from eight types of food containing innumerable micro living organism. To conclude the underlying principle of Jain diet can be summarized as 'eat to live so that one is able to exercise self control and not just maintain the body healthy' and perform optimally one's duties to achieve one's objectives and not just live to eat'.
1.1 Types of food (āhāra) that living beings (empirical souls) take According to Jain literatures, food is classified in the following categories, based on the manner they are absorbed by the living beings.
i. The energy the living being takes at the time of birthcalled 'Oza' for life span
determination) as this energy stays until his /her death. We hear stories of some living
beings buried under debris for days together alive due to the existence of this energy. ii. Nutrient & energy absorbed from environment directlycalled 'Roma! Every pore of body
(millions in number) is capable of absorbing nutrients from the air & solar energy (similar to the process called photo synthesis in plants where the leaves absorb all the food from air and sun light and convert them to plant and its branches, leaves, fruits and flowers). Jain texts and modern medical science emphasize and provide several means to enable
us to use this type of food and minimize the need of the third type. iii. Food taken as morsels by mouth or injected in the body by other means called
kavalāhāra. Generally we mean this type of food to denote all types of food. Few people realize that solar energy and fresh air and water are also essential components of food
(type ii indicated above). iv. Mental foodcalled 'Mano-āhāra! All the necessary nutrients needed are available in the
environment around us. However our spiritual capabilities are not so advanced to use this method. Monks do develop such capabilities through their practice of the path of spiritual purification. Stories abound in Jain texts of such developments. It is also said
4 Ratnakaranda-śrāvakācāra by Samantabhadra, commentary Prabhācandra edited by Dr Panna Lal. Verse, 66 5 Jain Jivana śailī, by Samani Chinamay Prajna 6 Generally Jain texts have four types of stories namely Women (stri), Food (bhatta), Kingship (rāja) and country (deśa)
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