Jain Journal 1974 04

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

Page 22

160
JAIN JOURNAL
Both sects lay stress on the 'ahimsā' or not killing a living
IV. thing.
This point refers to only one of the five vows of the Jaina and Buddhists, which have so much in common. It will be best, therefore, to compare these vows with one another, as Professor Weber has done, and underneath to place the first five of the ten obligations of the Brahman ascetics, as drawn up by Professor Windisch.
The five Jaina vows in order
The five Buddhist precepts
ahimsä, not to destroy life. sunrita, not to lie.11
One should not destroy life. One should not take that which
is not given.11 One should not tell lies.
aste ya, not to take that which is
not given. brahmacarya, to abstain from
sexual intercourse. aparigraha, to renounce all in
terest in worldly things, and to call nothing one's own. 12
One should not become a drinker
of intoxicants. One should refrain from unlaw
ful sexual intercourse ... an ignoble thing.12
The five vows of the Brahman ascetics
Abstention from injuring living beings. Truthfulness. Abstention from appropriating the pro
perty of others. Continence. Liberality. 12
Jaina Vows
A mere glance at the above triple group of vows is enough to convince any candid inquirer, that there is quite as much reason to suppose that Jaina vows are deducible from those of Brahman ascetics already in use, as that Buddhism is the source. It is still more obvious when the precepts and rules of the Brahman ascetics, as in Baudhayana, are arranged alongside of those of the Jaina monks. They have much the same outfit. Both carry a cloth for straining water, and both perform purifications with water when taken out of a tank and strained. The
11 Note the change in order. 13 The fifth vow differs in each case, liberality not being possible for mendicants.