Jain Moral Doctrine

Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal

Page 81

JAIN MORAL DOCTRINE
forms of animated food; (6) The Rātri-bhukti-tyāga-pratimā, which requires that a true Jaina should never take his meals at night; (7) The Brahma-carya-pratimā, which refers to the practice of sexcontrol; (8) The Arambha-tyāga-pratimā, which means that he must limit the means of livelihood as much as possible; (9) The Pari
äga-pratimā, which means that he must renounce all desires for the worldly objects, as much as possible; (10) The Anumatityāga-pratimā which means that an honest house-holder should desist from advising others to take to worldly activities; (11) The Uddişta-tyāga-pratima, which means that he should avoid what is s cially prepared for him.
The above eleven Pratimās laid down for being practised by a house-holder will foster a feeling of renunciation in him and prepare him for the life of an Anagāra-muni or homeless saint.
The character of a man is judged by his conduct and circumstances connected with it. Even the all-renouncing Munis have their difference from each other; these differences refer to the fol. lowing matters, viz. self-control (Samyama), scriptural knowledge (Srūta), proneness to deviate from the moral path under compulsion (Pratisevanā), relation to the Tīrthamkaras as regards time (Tirtha), distinguishing features both subjective and external (Linga), the sort of halo over their souls (Leşyā), the possible postmortem state (Upapāda) and the stages in the moral progress, they are in (Sthāna). Thus, one saint may be a contemporary of the Arhat while the other may be separated from him by a number of years; one may be more self-controlled than the other; one's knowledge of the scripture may be more profound than another's; after death one may attain liberation, while the other may be re-born in a celestial region, and so on. The Jainas generally recognise five classes of homeless saints, who are respectively; (1) The Pulāka's i.e. those that are sometimes found to deviate slightly from the faultless observance of the primary vows; (2) The Vakuśa's or those that are found to be slightly attached to their body, books and followers; (3) The Kuśīla's i.e. those that are sometimes found to deviate slightly from the correct practice of the secondary vows; (4) The Nirgrantha's or saints in the eleventh and the twelfth stages of moral progress who are absolutely free from all passions; (5) The Snātakas or those that are none other than the omniscient beings in the thirteenth and the fourteenth Gunasthānas.
The moral practices of the saints are essentially the same as those of the laymen but are more strict in the case of the former.
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