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Jaina Logic
413
sense of duty and religion, if in such a condition it does not offer him ghee, etc., to eat as treatment for the cure?
At this juncture, I would like to narrate the following story of a stupid man.
There was a stupid villager. A kind, rich man from a city visited him. The villager welcomed him and devotedly served him with hospitality. It was the month of Pausa in winter. It was severe cold. The villager sprinkled water on the ground and requested the guest to sit there for dinner. For him, he got prepared the sweet dish made of concentrated curds and sugar. He gave him ice-cold water to drink and fanned him. He said to the guest, “How can a person like me properly entertain a great man like you with proper hospitality?” In reply, the rich man said, “ Brother! your hospitality is matchless. But my vital breath is so strong that it cannot come out of the body in spite of great efforts.”
Now let us deal briefly with the subject of a general rule (precept) and its exceptions.
The understanding that pertains to a general rule and its exceptions is identical with that which pertains to substance, place, time and state of a thing. That understanding is useful in acquiring the right knowledge of a thing as also in deciding as to which action is right and which action is wrong and in realising their respective consequences.
The general rules (precepts) about conduct are formulated, keeping in view the general or ordinary circumstances. They constitute the path or code of general rules (precepts), called in Sanskrit ‘utsarga-mārga'. And the exceptions which man is required to follow in changed or special circumstances constitute the path or code of exceptions, called 'apavādamārga'.
It is very necessary for a person to reflect on a question or problem taking into account the conditions of substance, place, time and state in order to decide as to whether he should follow the path of general rules or that of exceptions. Substance means the concerned person, place means favourableness or otherwise of place, time means favourableness or otherwise of time, and state means efficiency or otherwise of the present state of the person concerned. To express briefly the meaning conveyed by the phrase '(conditions of) substance, place, time and state', we generally use the terms 'situation' or 'circumstances'.
This means that though science of ethics or law has laid down as a general rule that man should do certain things or behave in a certain way
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