Jain Journal 2002 04

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

Page 17

182
JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXVI, No. 4 April, 2002
Four types of charities have been recognized : giving food, medicines scriptural knowledge, and fearlessness.3 Like a Hindu, a Jain householder too must partake of the leftovers of food after offering it to monks.4 To grant protection to living beings when they are in fear of death is called abhayadāna and is considered the crest jewel of charities. According to another list, the four charities are the giving of knowledge tiñanadāna), of fearlessness (abhayadāna), of articles useful for religious observances (dharmopakarana-dāna), and of goods prompted by compassion (anukampādāna). Householders can practise all these types of charities, but stringent rules of conduct imposed upon monks prevent them from doing charities involving the giving of food and articles. So the monks limit their services to the spreading of knowledge through preaching and to making their followers fearless through their teaching and personal example. The householder devotees supply the monks with articles, food, clothing, medicines, etc., so that the monks can engage freely in their religious duties. Moved by compassion the devotees donate money, clothing medicines, etc to the sick, poor, destitute and orphans, and even help animals. The quality of their charity is influence by and is graded according to (1) the giver and his attitude, (2) the way in which charity is made, (3) the articles donated, and (4) the recipient. For example, pure food, free from all impurities, offered to a monk at the completion of his year-long austerity by a devout Jain with extreme humility and devotion is an ideal form of charity.
Service in Jainism
Service is considered one of the six internal austerities in Jainism and is technically called Vaiyāvrittya. Etymologically it means relieving the suffering through right means. In Jain scriptures, the recipients of service, when and how service is to be performed, and the merits of service are clearly listed.
3. Ibid., 331. 4. Ibid., 334.
Ibid., 335. 6. Sagarmal Jain, Jain, Bauddha aur Gita ke Achant Darshano ka
Tulanatmaka Adhyayana (Hindi) (Jaipur : Rajasthan Prakrit Bharati
Samsthans, 1982), 421. 7. Tattvartha Sūtra of Umāsvāti, 2d, ed. (Jain Samskriti Samsodhana
Mandala, 1952), 7.39. 8. Jainendra Siddhanta Kosha (New Delhi : Bharatiya Jnanapitha
Publication, 1972), 3:614.