________________
108
Jaina Philosophy and Religion
Monk's daily practices The Jaina code of conduct forbids the monks to use vehicles, viz., railways, motorcars, aeroplanes, cycles, trams, steamers, carts drawn by animals, etc. They are commanded to move from place to place on foot? and to drink boiled water. They are prohibited to ignite fire and to warm themselves with it" and to cook food with its help. There is a command for them to beg cooked food from house to house and to live on it. They should obtain cooked food from different houses in such a manner that the householders experience no inconvenience, diffidence or uneasiness. They should not accept food specially prepared for them. Scriptures do not permit householders to prepare food specially for monks and monks to accept such food. The purpose behind formulating these rules is certainly that the community of monks may not be a burden on the society as also that the monks may not form attachment to delicacies and dainties.
The religious practice of the monk demands that he should not have possessions, he should live in a self-imposed poverty. That is, he should not keep money, he should have no connection whatsoever with wealth, precious metals, etc., he should be free from any connection with them to such an extent that he should not use even metal utensils for begging
1. If there is a river on the way and there is no land-route nearby, the monk is permitted
to sit in a boat. 2. The Vedic Hindu religious works like the Mahabharata, Manusmrti, etc., contain this
very command for the ascetics. 3. The doctors trained in the Western science of medicine maintain that the boiled
water is good for health. They advise the patients suffering from plague, cholera, etc., to use boiled water for drinking. According to the discovery made by the learned scientists, there exist microbes in water, they are so minute that we cannot see them with our eyes, but we can see them through a microscope. Microbes or minute germs generated in water enter our body as soon as we drink that water. And having entered the body, they cause severe diseases. But if the impure and polluted water of a certain place is used as drinking water after boiling it, it causes no harm to the body. Monks do not stay at one place for long. They are constantly on tour. They move from place to place on foot. So, it is inevitable for them to drink different waters of different places. Therefore, the rule that they should drink boiled water is good for their
health. 4. anagnir aniketaḥ syāt /-Manusmrti, VI. 83 5. caren mädhukarim vittim api mlecchakulād api /-Atrismrti 6. ataijasāni pātrāni tasya syur niruranāni ca /
alabu därupātram ca minmayam vaidalam tathā /
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
