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AN INTERPRETATION OF JAIN ETHICS 23 attracted. Only in so far as the individual determines not to give way to such reactions, but quietly and willingly undergoes what is imposed on him, i.e., in so far as Akama Nirjara would, thus, involve the attitude of Samvara, it may be said to overlap on the field of Ethics.
Sakama Nirjara, on the other hand, is an ethical idea per se. It designates the undergoing of self-imposed hardships by free determination, motivatud purely by the desire to proceed, thereby, on the path leading to the last metaphysical aim. Sakama Nirjara not only leads to, but also presupposes, Samvara, because the determination to undergo self-imposed hardships, is not possible without a high amount of self-control.
While fixing the kind, intensity, duration etc., of the hardships to be undergone, the individual must take care lest, by undue violence done to the frail body as well as mind, an opposite result be produced, consisting in a worried and confounded mental activity, or a kind of impure, grievous meditation, which would rather help to attract fresh Karmas. He who keeps all such precautions in mind, while endeavouring for Sakama Nirjara, can be said to practise genuine austerity, in the true sense of the Jina.
The Jain Scriptures distinguish twelve kinds of austerities, as the expedients of Nirjara, grouped together under the two headings of "Exterior Austerities” and “Interior Austerities."
Exterior Austerities. Exterior Austerities are the following:
1. Anasana, i.e. complete abstinence from all kinds of food, for a period fixed by the individual beforehand. There are various forms of this austerity, from abstention for several bours up to fasts of more than a month's duration, during which latter, the fasting person generally reserves to himself the right of drinking boiled water during day-timo.
People who are hopelessly sick, or on the verge of the grave for any other reason, sometimes take the vow of lifo. Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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