Introducing Jainism

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 60

INTRODUCING JAINISM
description (kīrtana), sports (kelih), gazing with longing (prekṣaṇan), secret conversation (guhya-bhāṣaṇam), imagination (samkalpaḥ), resolution (adhyavasāyaḥ) and crowning of love (kriyā-nirustiḥ) are the eight kinds of carnal enjoyments and opposite to all these are in brahmacāri and they are also, (therefore), eight fold."
The Jains also think that all these eight kinds of carnal enjoyment are to be considered bad for a brahmacāri. And a sādhu should always shun all these maithunas under any circumstances.
Aparigraha: aparigraha means "to renounce all interest in worldly things, and not to keep any property." parigraha is of two kinds : ābhyantara (internal) and bāhya (external). The internal parigrahas are false belief (mithyātva), anger (krodha), pride (māna), deceit (māyā), greed (lobha), sense of the absurd (hāsya), pleasure (rati), displeasure (arati), fear (bhaya), sorrow (soka), disgust (jugupsā), male sex urge (pum. veda), female sex urge (strī-veda) and androgyne sex urge (napumsaka-veda) (cf. Williams p. 93). The ten external parigrahas are-land (kşetra), houses (vāstu), silver (hiramya), gold (suvamņa), wealth (dhana), grain (dhānya), servants (dāsa/dāsi), livestock (catuspada), cloth (kupya) and bed (sayyāsana). The Jain sādhus should not attach to all these parigrahas.
ii) Tri-ratna/Ratna-traya (three gems)
For the path of liberation, i.e., to release oneself from the "cycle of transmigration", the Jains believe that the ratnatraya, or otherwise known as guņa-traya, is to be observed. The guna-traya is a technical term, and it means samyagdrsti (right vision), samyag-jñāna (right knowledge) and samyak caritra (right conduct). The acquisition of these three qualities will lead someone to the path of liberation. That is why, in the Tattvārthasūtra (1.1) the subject begins with the statement
samyag-darśana-jñāna-cāritrāņī mokṣāmārgaḥ
i.e., “The right vision (or faith), right knowledge, and right conduct are the path of liberation.”