Jain Journal 2001 07

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

Page 47

JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXVI, No. 1 July 2001
claiming for our own rights but accepting the rights of others too. Thus we can say that non-violence is an inevitable principle of existence of human society.
Aparigraha : Limiting the desires and passions
Aparigraha is the fifth vow of monks and nuns in the Jaina code of ethics (Mahāvrata). For householders also it is the fifth vow in their code of ethics known as Anuvrata. This principle has great importance in the present world when we are going on increasing our requirements and desires to the maximum. Jaina preachers say that the source of happiness and peace lies within the human self and not in the external things. The cause for mental worries and tensions are due to our attachment towards worldly objects. Lord Mahāvira says that desires are endless like the sky and they will never satisfy any person fully. In his words, “If there were numberless mountains of gold and silver as big as mount Kailāśa they would not satisfy an avaricious man; for avarice is boundless like the sky."14 He further says, "The more you get, the more you want, desires increase with every gain."15 If mankind is to be freed from mental tensions, the possessions have to be limited. To-day we find over-exploitation of natural resources which are available in limited quantity only. Jainism believes that the lesser the attachment, the greater will be the mental peace. It is only when attachment vanishes, the human mind will be free from mental and emotional disorders. For this Jainism preaches the vow of complete non-possession for the ascetics and the vow to limit one's possessions for the householders.
Types of Parigraha
According to Jainism, Parigraha is of two types : internal and external. These include all external objects of attachment which hinder liberation and also all inner attitudes in different forms and stages such as false faith (mithyātva), vowlessness (avirati), passions (kasāya) etc. All human passions such as anger, pride, deceit and greed, attachment and aversion have their roots in external objects or possessions which create disturbance in the mind of the individual. The householder, according to Jainism, should limit his possessions consequently curbing his limitless desires to consume and possess things. According to Dr. Kainala Jain, “Aparigraha is not merely an abstract philosophy, it is a vision of life with the solution to a number of problems that society is facing-economic, social, political, familial
14. Uttaradhyayana-sutra, 9.48. 15. Uttarādhyayana-sútra, 8.17.