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In this Our Life
179
Nor is it possible to justify the act of charity if it were not to produce any tangible welcome result. Thus the ends and means must justify each other. The Jainas present a synthetic picture of the problem of motive and intention in the act of righteousness. The spirit of Anekānta forbids us to take a partial view emphasising either the motive of action or merely the consequences. However, in early days, dana to ascetics formed an important duty of laymen. Food and shelter and books are to be supplied to the monks, so that they can devote themselves to study and meditation. Concentration (dhyana) is not possible without the minimum necessary physical comfort. In addition to dana to the ascetics it is good to do charity to the distressed, strangers from other lands, to the lowliest and the lost. This is karuṇa-dāna. Above all dana nullifies greed and acquisitiveness, and acquisitiveness is a manifestation of himsa. And dana gives its unfailing fruits. Paradoxically enough the layman charges himself with restrictions exceeding in numder than those accepted by the monk. This is due to the large diversity of the evil life in which the layman still stands."
So far, we have briefly mentioned the twelve conditions of a layman if he is to be a pious Sravaka and a good citizen. To these twelve may be added Samlekhana as Vrata which is sometimes included as one of the Sikṣāvratas. It is not restricted to the ascetics only. The lay followers of religion may take Samlekhana in the higher stages of their spiritual development. In fact it is regarded as the normal conclusion of one's life except where death makes it impossible to take this vow." With a view to giving a philosophical justification of Samlekhana we add in the end a note on Samlekhanā.
A layman who is desirous of attaining the higher stage in the upward path to Mokşa will have to go through the eleven
43. Schubring (W.): The doctrine of the Jainas, p. 297 (English translation), (Motilal Banarasidas) 1962.
44. sägara-dharmamṛta: (Manikchanda-granthamala Bombay 1917)
vii.
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