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third stage is known as parihara-viśuddhi. The individual observes a particular type of austerity in this stage. The fourth stage is known as sūkṣma-samparāya. One belonging to this stage suffers from some subtle passions. The last stage is called yathakhyāta. In this stage the self-disciplined person possesses perfect and pure conduct. All his passions and emotions are annihilated.
✔PHYSICAL AUSTERITY
JAINA PSYCHOLOGY
There are two varieties of austerity: physical and mental which are also called external and internal. The Jainas, the followers of Yoga, and to some extent the Buddhists, too, recognize the value of both these types of austerity. It is a fact that physical mortification is essential for a successful self-control. It should, of course, not be practised for its own sake. It is welcome so long as it serves the cause of self-discipline. The Jaina philosophers admit this fact. They say that the six forms of physical austerity practised in a right manner result in non-attachment, lightness of body, conquest of the senses, protection of self-discipline, and finally annihilation of karmic particles. Some mystics also establish the same fact. They maintain that the object of mortification is to kill the old self, break up its egoistic attachments and cravings. Mortification is not an end in itself. It is a process, an education directed towards the production of a definite kind of efficiency. It tends to subject the body to the spirit.
MEDITATION
Meditation is the chief constituent of internal austerity. It includes all the four requisites of self-discipline advocated by Patanjali, viz., withdrawal (pratyāhāra) concentration (dhāraṇā), meditation (dhyāna), and ecstasy (samadhi). It is defined as the fixation of thought on a particular object by a person of excellent physical structure. The act of meditation is conditioned by the possession of a strong and healthy mind. The possession of strong mind is invariably related to the possession of excellent body. Thus, successful meditation is necessarily conditioned by a strong physical construction. A particular act of concentration can never last for more than forty-eight minutes. The Jaina does not admit the capacity of mind to concentrate any longer than the said period. He, of course, admits its capacity of re-concentration.
