Jain Journal 2008 01 No 03

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

Page 12

116
JAIN JOURNAL : VOL-XLII, NO.3 JANUARY. 2008
"Brahma (abstinence from sexual intercourse) is of eighteen kinds, nine relating to celestial females (vaikriya) and nine to terrestrial females (audārika). Maithuna (copulation) is twofold, relating to the vaikriya and audārika classes and the latter is again divided up into animal and human categories. Under this last head are distinguished: sva-dāra (one's own wife or concubine), para-dāra (any women under the authority of another man) and vesyā (a prostitute who is considered to have no owver)".
By brahmacarya the Jainas give emphasis on sexual intercourse, but there are some other ways also by which sexual manifestation is expressed. These are --
smaraṇam kirtanam kelih prekṣaṇam guhya-bhāṣaṇam / samkalpo'dhyavasāyas 'ca kriyā-nirvrtir eva ca // etan maithunam aștāngam pravadanti manīsiņaḥ/ viparītam brahmacaryam etad evāșta-lakṣaṇam //
[Mallinātha on Kirāta I. 1.] “Passionate remembrance (smaraņam), wistful description (kīrtanam), sports (kelih), gazing with longing (prekșaņam), secret conversation (guhya-bhāṣaṇam), imagination (saṁkalpaḥ), resolution (adhyavasāyah) and crowning of love (kriyā, nirvrtih) are the eight kinds of carnal enjoyments and opposite to all these are in brahmacāri and they are also, therefore, eight kinds.
The Jain monks also think that for a brahmacāri all these eightfold carnal enjoyments are to be considered bad and a brahmacārī should always be free from these bad elements. In the case of a monk, all these maithunas are to be avoided under any circumstances, and for the safety of the society these are to be used in a measured way.
According to the Jains, the restraint is actually life (samyamaḥ khalu jīvanam). The Jain philosophers think that if a person lives a life of celibacy, then his life will be much elevated, particularly in body, speech and mind. In Hindu, Bauddha and Jain scriptures, this type of character (śīla) is greatly praised for the benefit of the society.