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Jaina Ethics The five great vows :
The five great vows of a Jaina monk correspond to the five small vows of a Jaina householder. The five small vows have been framed keeping in view the social obligations of a householder. The great vows, however, are unconditional and absolute.
It may be noticed that the earlier Anga literature lays more emphasis on these moral virtues than on the details about monastic life which comes under the jurisdiction of post-canonical literature. Even though the niryuktis and cūrņis take a liberal view of these vows, especially in case of emergency, the basic idea of these five great vows has remained intact through ages. Great vow of non-violence :
The Jainas believe in the equality of all life. Therefore, the vow of non-violence includes abstinence from taking the life of any superior or inferior being in any form. Not only the 'trasa', or mobile forms of life, are not to be destroyed; but any violence to 'sthāvar a' or immobile, such as vegetables, fire, air, water and earth, is also to be avoided.
Friendship for all, and subjugation of passions are necessary for ahiṁsā mahāvrata. We shall see how Jaina ācāryas have taken care in prescribing rules for movement, speech, thinking, handling of things and food, while we discuss five samitis.2
In reality, deviation from the path of self-realisation is violence.3 Attachment is suicidal for the aspirant. It is against this background of detachment that the vow of nonviolence is to be interpreted.
The epigraphical records show that Jaina monks have shown remarkable vigilance in observing non-violence. Aryadeva is said to be so careful that he removed a straw from his ear very gently even while he was sleeping. The straw was placed
1. Jħānārņava, 8.11. 2. Mülācāra, 5.140; Also Anāgāradharmāmsta, 4.34; Tattvārthasūtra 9.5;
Bhagavati Aradhana, 1206. 3. Amrtacandra on Pravacanasāra 3.16, and Jayasena on Pravacanasära,
3.17 4. Pañcādhyāyī, 2.756.
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