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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
should avail of the benefits of the company of the spiritually advanced persons in order to keep burning the fire of spiritual fervour.
Spiritual Discipline for the Layman (gyhastha-dharma) In the Jaina scriptures and philosophical works, the term “grhastha-dharma' and 'śrāvaka-dharma' have the same meaning. A man and a woman who observe the grhastha-dharma are called 'śrāvaka' and 'śrāvikā' respectively. The term “śrāvaka' is derived from the verbal root ‘śru' (to hear, to listen to). Those who listen to with interest the discourses on the path of spiritual welfare are ‘śrāvakas' and 'śrāvikās'. The term 'upāsaka' is also employed in the sense of śrāvaka. In the works dealing with the spiritual discipline for the layman, there occurs the exposition of twelve vows. They aregross vow of refraining from violence, gross vow of refraining from lying, gross vow of refraining from taking anything which is not given, gross vow of refraining from sexual activities, gross vow of limiting one's possessions, vow of limiting the area of unvirtuous acts, vow of limiting the quantity of things that could be used once as also of things that could be used repeatedly, vow to abstain from harmful activities that serve no useful purpose, vow of remaining completely equanimous for a fixed period of time, vow of reducing for a limited period of time the limits of area set forth in the sixth vow (digvrata), vow of observing fast and living like a monk for certain days and vow of sharing with a deserving guest. Among them, the first five vows are called 'aņuvrata' (atomised vows, minor-scale vows) as they are partial. Their nature of being partial and limited is suggested by the term 'sthūla' ('gross') used as their qualifying adjective.
Gross vow of Refraining from Violence (Sthūla Prāņātipātaviramaņa) For violence the term 'prāņātipāta’ is used here. It literally means 'to destroy (atipāta) life forces (prāna) of living being'. The term 'viramaņa' means refrainment. Thus, 'prāņātipātaviramana' means ‘refrainment from destroying life forces of a living being'. In short, it is refrainment from violence. Violence is committed in three ways—by doing the act oneself, by urging or forcing others to do it or by approving it done by others. Similarly, lying, etc. are committed in three ways. A man who produces certain things commits acts of violence, while producing them. And those
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