Jain System in Nutshell

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Nij Gyan Sagar Shiksha Kosh Santa MP

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Through these basic rules of minor vows, supplementary vows, six daily duties of self and society improving nature, the votary climbs up an 11-stage ladder which modifies his insight for his physical and spiritual welfare. The last stage of this ladder capacitates the votary to move to the third stage of betterment, i.e. ascetic stage. As the votary can not follow the vows and practices completely, because of worldly activities and problems, he is called partially restrained one, his vows are also called 'partial or molecular (Anuvrat). However, these practices lead him to work in a direotion tending to reduce deepening involvement in worldly business.
11. The accetics are called totally restrained ones. They have purer psyche, wider applicablity of vows without transgressions and increased internal or spiritual energy. They are initiated in the order. The total restraint is effected by practising the votary's minor vows on major (or finer) scale covering subtlety in their practices. For example, if votary's non-violence covers only non-injury to visible living beings or have a gross nature, it will now cover the non-injury to subtle beings of even 1-sensed class. The ascetics have to take great care in walking, talking, eating, excretions, picking/ putting things alongwith mental, vocal and physical activities. He has to practice tolerance over many incidental and casual afflictions-22 in number. This carefulness is attenuated by following ten froms of righteousness- an extension of five vows, twelve types of reflections and practicing twelve types of internal and external penances involving some more dietary controls for longevity (so that one could be capable of following religious rythms), physical postures and cultivation of non-selfish, non-egoistic psychic habits and meditation. This has been proved to be contributing to unidimensional concentration of inner energy and cultivation of godly qualities in individuals. In summary, there are 28-36 qualities cultivable by the ascetics to climb up 14-stage spiritual ladder and become infinitely blissful.
The votarial and ascetic practices are individualised as he forms the base of the society. If individuals are improved, the overall society will have higher quantum of better values. Moreover, the proportion of ascetics to laity has nearly been constant, i.e. 4-5 per 10.000 Jainas. This leads to infer the importance of the ascetics to society or votaries representing the religious outlook. By practicing vows, the votaries learn about the peculiar mathematics of the Jainas where the sum of three qualities result in multiple of the three in effect, in individual, social and spiritual levels as below: (a) Non-violence, N1 + Non-one-sidedness, N2 + Non-possession,
N3 = N1 N2N3 (b) Sweating, S1 + Self-sufficiency, S2 + Sameness, S3 = $1S2S3