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CONDUCT
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Non-stealing :
Taking anything which is not given is stealing. The vow of non-stealing (adattad ana-viramaņa) enjoins that nothing that belongs to others is to be appropriated. Not even a blade of grass is to be taken if it belongs to someone else. Thus, the ascetic is forbidden to appropriate even trivial objects without asking permission. The connection of stealing or theft with violence or injury is established like this : Whoever takes the possessions of a man takes away his life, since they represent his external vital force giving him consolation. Thus, violence is a necessary concomitant of theft. Non-copulation :
Copulation or unchastity comprises the activity of man and woman prompted by sexual desire. The vow of noncopulation ( maithuna-viramana ) forbids the ascetic to embrace man or woman or any other creature out of sexual urge. Two reasons are generally advanced for the condemnation of all carnal contact : (1) In a moral sense the peace of the mind is disturbed by the increase of the passions of love and hate. (2) In a physical sense the sexual act is always accompanied by violence, as it is held that there are always present in the sexual organ of a woman numerous minute living creatures of which many perish during every act of coitus.
Non-possessiveness :
Possessiveness is defined as attachment to possessions. It is related to the acquisition and protection of possessions such as land, gold, silver, grain, livestock, furniture, jewels and so on. The vow of non-possessiveness (parigrahaviramana ) enjoins the ascetic not to accumulate possessions, not to indulge in attachment. Infatuation or attachment is at the root of all evils. The ascetic is required to be free from all attachment.
