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can be done only by curtailing temporal activities to the extent possible. Different restraints have therefore been laid in order to reduce mental, verbal and physical activities to the minimum. As worldly beings, we do undertake different activities for our livelihood. One of the ways to regulate and control such activities is to limit the sphere of their operation.
however, be of a type that he or his family members can operate from home. It is also not necessary that everything that a man needs has to be made locally. But most of the requirements can surely be locally made and the rest of the things can be left to the large scale sector to be distributed at different centers of consumption. The religious stipulation of restricting the sphere of operation has thus a sound economic consideration and need not be set aside merely as a utopia.
As long as we are alive, we need food, drinks, clothes, shelter and many more things. We want to get all such things of the reliable quality and at reasonable cost. From where should we get them? Purely from economic considerations, we would like to get them from any source that guarantees the quality and offers them at the lowest rates. But economic considerations and those of the religion are some times at variance with each other. In this particular case, religion stipulates that we should get such things from the closest proximity. The main purpose is to reduce the transportation and other incidental activities that involve unnecessary violence as well as other avoidable pitfalls.
This restraint therefore stipulates that a layman needs to restrict the sphere of his dealings and movements in all the directions. These restrictions are laid in terms of distance beyond which a person should not carry out his activities. The seers were foresighted enough to visualize the possibility of upward and downward movements too. They have therefore stipulated laying of limitations in four straight directions, four oblique directions and skyward as well as downwards below the surface. Any activity involving crossing of such limitations is violation of this restraint and is known as transgression or Atichar that a layman is supposed to atone for. Shrävak Pratikraman Sutra specifies such transgressions as under.
Ciamanassa Ya Parimine Disasu Uddham Ahed
Tiriyan Cha Viddli Sai inamruddha Padhamanmi
Ganye Ninde
There is also a sound economic consideration behind this stipulation. If all the daily necessities can be procured from the local community, that would give fillip to the local craftsmen. That would also set up direct contact between the consumer and the producer. The craftsman has little or no overheads. There are no middlemen and no sales cost. As such, the consumer is likely to get his need at the lower cost. For the sake of livelihood, the craftsman also wants the demand of his product to continue. If what he supplies is of poor quality, he knows that he would get reproach from his customer and if he does not change his methods, the consumer would turn to other craftsman for his requirements. In order to retain the demand for his product, the craftsman would not only tend to make his products of the acceptable quality but would also try to take into consideration the choice of consumer.
It means that I abhor the transgressions pertaining to the first auxiliary restraint. They are in respect of crossing the limitations in straight directions, upward and downward directions, oblique directions, extending in one direction by adjustments in other directions and crossing the limitation by oversight. It would be seen that in order to maintain parity with other restraints, only five transgressions have been specified for this restraint as well.
This is not the place of going into details of merits and demerits of village economy. It is, however, worth considering the peace and tranquillity that a local community can enjoy, if every one can pursue his avocation from his own home. For this purpose, it is not necessary that craftsman should restrict himself only to handicraft. He can also be a mechanic operating the most modern machine that frees him from unnecessary toil and can turn out materials of the stipulated quality. The machine should,
Before concluding, let us examine the significance of this restraint in our life in America. We, Indo-Americans have close ties with the people in India. There, we have some of our close relatives, intimate friends etc. Many of us have also investment and other financial stakes there. India also happens to be the abode of our heritage. Our ties with India are unbreakable and it continues to play the role of our mother country. We have therefore to continue our dealings there. As such, we cannot
lay any geographical limitations that would 15 · JAIN DIGEST FALL 2004
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