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Jaina Acāra : Siddhānta aura Swarūpa (3) Ubhayatahpratibaddha--with the hope of combining the above two. Three more kinds from another point of view have been mentioned :
(1) Todayitvā-Renouncing the world so as to torment one's blood relations.
(2) Plavayitva--is to be initiated elsewhere. (3) Vacatyvā—as a result of confabulation. Three other varieties from still another point of view are there :(1) Avapātapravrajyā—as a result of rendering service to the teacher. (2) Akhyāta—as a result of listening to religious discourses. (3) Sangāra—as a result of mutual promise.
At times one gets initiated in a huff. The wife of Devilāsatt, King of Ujjayanī, noticed a white hair on the head of her husband and told him that it was a grim warning of his impending end. The king asked his men to take the hair round the city and then both were initiated. Such instances are there also in Makhādevajātaka, Callasattasomajātaka, Nimijātaka' etc. When King Bharata saw his finger without a ring, he felt detached. Likewise Durmukha, king of Kampilyapura saw the flag of Indra fallen which changed the trend of his life. From an emperor that he was, he became a monk with nothing of his own.
The Vedic tradition divided the human life into four stages and held that it was improper for anybody to renounce the world before he was fifty. Jainism, however, holds that what is significant is the feeling of detachment. The factor of age, therefore, is not of seminal importance. When the world appears tasteless, there is no sense in dragging on mechanically. Likewise, it is pointless to be a monk when the mind is restless and when one ruminates over past pleasures.
Consecration is never a clandestine affair. A written permission is essential before one can be ordained. Such permission should be from parents but also from other guardians in their absence. This is to forbid the entry of truants and nincompoops,for such people can only bring but dishonour to the otherwise immaculate Order. Even Mahāvīra did not renounce the world till his elder brother Nandivardhana permitted him. Such was the case of Rahula who was to become the enlightened Buddha. Other hundreds like Meghakumara, Udayana, Mamkānti, sons and grandsons of Srenika etc. had to equip themselves with express permission to leave the household. Another reason was that a novice could encourage his relations and friends to adopt the course of beautitude. In case there be none senior to accord permission, the honest persistence of the novice will suffice. The initiation takes the shape of a happy ceremony to be witnessed by all and sundry. When Thāvachhaputra, on listening to the sermon of Aristanemi, desired to be initiated, his mother appeared in the court of Srikrsna and Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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