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104
Faina Ethics
Pārsvanātha by five vows is given as follows in the Uttaradhyayana. The followers of Pārsvanälha were simple and wise whereas the followers of Mahāvira were prevaricating and slow of understanding. So Mahāvīra had to make it clear to his followers that celibacy and non-possession were equally important and, therefore, he split one vow into two. From yet another reference to nakedness of the followers of Mahāvira in contrast to the wearing of clothes by the followers of Pārsvanāthait may be inferred that perhaps Mahāvīra was more strict on the observance of absolute vow of non-possession. This is, however, a tradition of the Svetāmbara sect. Kundakunda of the Digambara sect, has clearly prohibited use of clothes for all monks. It may also be pointed out that in the Brāhmaṇical tradition, these vows for mendicants were nowhere prescribed for a houcholder till perhaps Yogasūtra first of all thought of having small vows (aņuvratas ) for the householder. Originally, the life of a householder, according to Brāhmaṇism, was guided by such social virtues as sacrifice, study and liberality rather than by the ascetic virtues.. The life of a householder according to śramaņa tradition is, however, only a preparation for monkhood and, therefore, he was expected from the very beginning to practise the same virtues on a smaller scale which a monk was ex- pected to follow with perfection.
Thus it is a long journey from the list of five cardinal moral virtues given by Chāndogyopanişad to the five Yamas of Yogasūtra. We see that the ascetic tradition of Jainism influenced the Brāhmaṇical tradition also, which replaced the social virtue of liberality by the ascetic virtue of non-possession. The emphasis on non-possession may be considered to be a contribution of Mahāvīra to the Jaina tradition itself.
Originally, the Brāhmaṇical tradition, again, did not favour the idea of renouncing the world in the prime of youth. It was only after the duties of worldly life were fulfilled that a person could adopt monkhood to lead a retired life in the
1. Uttarādhyayana, 23.26-27. 2. Cf. Uttarādhyayana, XXIII. 3. Mūlācāra, 1.30.
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