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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
non-violence (ahirsā) and non-possession (aparigraha).' We have already expounded the non-one-sided standpoint. There we have pointed out that the non-one-sided standpoint makes it easy for us to achieve mutual love and friendliness in the human society. The non-one-sided standpoint springs from non-violence which, in turn, is made more vigilant by the non-one-sided standpoint. Thus there obtains close mutual relation between them. Violence includes in its fold all defects and vices like untruth
1. Tirthankara Pārsva taught câujjāma (Sk. cāturyāma) dharma (the law of four restraints).
Buddhist Tripitaka and Jaina Uttarādhyayanasūtra (adhyāya 23, gāthā 23) mention it. The term 'yama' or yāma' means restraint or vow. Thus câturyāma is said to involve restraint from four sorts of activities: injury, non-truthfulness, taking what is not given and possession. In other words, cāturyāma means four vows, viz. non-violence (ahimsā), truthfulness (satya), non-stealing (asteya) and non-possession (aparigraha). From this, it follows that in the vows accepted in the Order of Lord Pārsva, that of celibacy (brahmacarya) was not separately mentioned. Regarding this point, it is said that the vow of celibacy was included in that of non-possession. Study the following verse: no apariggahiāe itthie jena hoi paribhogo/ tā taviraie ccia abambhaviraitti pannāņa // Meaning: One cannot enjoy a woman, if one does not possess her. This means that enjoying a woman is included in or covered by possessing her. Thus restraint from sexual activity is included in restraint from possession.
If we reflect a little more on this matter, we find that in olden days the term 'parigraha' was used in such a broad sense or it yielded such a variety of meaning that the sense of wife was included in it. Not only that, but Sanskrit lexicons and great classical poems employ the term in the sense of wife. The following are instances in point. patnīparijanādānamulaśāpāḥ parigrahāḥ //237//-Amarakoșa, Nānārtha Varga parigrahaḥ kalatre ca.... /-Ajaya ... jāyā parigrahaḥ //276//-Haima Abhidhānacintāmani, Kānda III parigrahaḥ parijane patnyām //353//--Haima Anekārthasangraha, Kānda IV kā tvam śubhe? kasya parigraho vă?-Kalidasa's Raghuvañía, XVI.8 Its meaning is: O auspicious one! Who are you? Whose wife are you? From this we can see that by 'parigrahavirati' occurring in the four yamas (mahāvratas = great vows) accepted in the Order of Lord Pārsva was intended renunciation of both material things and wife. Both the senses—the sense of material things and that of wife-are primarily yielded by the term 'parigraha'. So, both these senses were primarily understood by the people from the term 'parigraha'.
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