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Jaina Acāra : Siddhanta aura Svarūpa
to let the world reside in them. Never to fall in love with the transient world is the panacea for spiritual health.
Bhaktapānaūnodarī - It is to lessen the items and quantity of food and drink. The full diet for a man is thirty-two morsels, twenty-eight for a woman and twenty-four for an impotent person. Those who eat eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty-four and thirty-one morsels practise different kinds of Unodarī. They all eat a little less than their stomach demands. The less one eats, the greater is his penance. The thirty-second part of a person's diet is his morsel. Mulācāra says that an aggregate of one thousand grains of rice is equal to a single morsel.
The quantity of diet differs from man to man. Intellectuals generally eat less than labourers but it does not mean that the former practise some sort of penance. It is because they eat as much as their stomach can hold. Ayurveda holds that one half of the stomach should contain chewed food, one fourth should be reserved for water and the rest for air. Those who do not observe this rule are often diseased. People generally eat sweets and their other favourite dishes even when they are not quite hungry. This results in forced breathing, restlessness and the like. Some people overeat to the extent of their stomach almost bursting uphen they drink water indigestion, bad smell from the mouth, swelling of the stomach, vomiting, dysentery and the like assail them. Those who eat less are always cheerful and energetic. Sivakoti writes, "The karma is destroyed, the soul is purified; control over sleep is acquired; self-study, restraint, victory over sense-organs and undivided concentration or meditation are its necessary effects. Overeating induces lethargy and ruins the digestive system altogether.
Bhāvaūnodari - It is to lessen the force of evil tendencies, Anger, pride, deception and greed may not be exterminated altogether, as none can remain without food for years. Lord Mahāvīra says that the lessening of the force of anger, pride, deceit, greed, speech and strife are its five kinds. As passions are more or less controlled the emergence of peace is assured. A spiritual aspirant should never be gabby. He should speak as many words as are necessary to convey the sense. Brevity is the soul of wit. Like money, words must not be abused. A talkative person cannot avoid falsehood. A chatterbox's plight is like that of a bitch with rotten ears. He is snapped wherever he goes and whomsoever he meets. Lend your ears to all but your tongue to few. The wise speak little but the foolish ones do not cease talking. Strife is caused by some passion or the other. A quarrelsome person is deprived of health, wealth and peace of mind. He is like fire that burns not only himself but also others who fall in its net. In case of dispute the two parties should give up food and drink till they should have apologised to each other. All altercation is ruinous. The inculcation of good qualities is
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