________________
Criteria of conduct : Vows of lay votaries
Of the twelve vows, five are small, three gunavaratas and four vows of recurring exercises in self-discipline. Small vows have also been called Sīla vows. The word Sia means good conduct. The five small vows are the fundamental bases of good conduct. The Bauddhas also call them vows of good conduct. The Yoga calls it ‘Yama',i.e. self-control. These vows are not for Jainas alone but for humanity in general. Being primary, they cannot be subordinated to any other rule or regulation nor relegated to the background. What an ascetic can do, a householder cannot. The latter has to delimit it which he must not exceed or transgress. He should know what its transgressions are to save himself from perdition but never to practise them. Transgressions are of four categories. The first is Atikrama which means to think of and commit transgressions knowingly or unknowingly. The second is Vyatikrama i.e. to attempt to transgress. The third is ‘Atecāra' which means partial transgression. The fourth is Anācāra which means a complete violation of the vow. The difference between the third and fourth categories is that the third is unintentional whereas the fourth is intentional.
We shall first consider the five small vows, the first of which is non-injury which forms the basis of Jainism. Non-violence is its vital essence. There are ten kinds of vital breath: five sense-organs, mind, body, exhalation, inhalation and age. 'Aghāta' means to hurt others so as to make them blind or deaf. Pratibandha means to obstruct free activities of others. If a man steals ar robs others, thus causing disquietude in society, will it not be necessary to prevent him from doing so ? No ascetic can indulge in violence whatsoever the situation might be. He is to instruct or advise even his so-called avowed enemy, but a householder can certainly punish him but without rancour in his mind. He is like a physician to revive the patients's health. Jainism holds that earth, water, fire and plants have life. The ascetic cooks neither for himself nor for others. He builds no house for himself but a householder has to do both. Thus he kills beings unintentionally and unknowingly. But he never indulges in gross violence. He cannot altogether abstain from subtle violence. He has been given two latitudes:
(1) To punish the defaulter and (2) he cannot help subtle violence. The ascetic's renunciation of violence is complete whereas the householder's is but partial. The ascetic does not injure, nor gets others injured nor even supports violence in any form. He avoids injury by mind,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
