Jainism and Democracy

Author(s): Indra Chandra Shastri
Publisher: I A S S Jain Conference New Delhi

Page 58

PANCHA SILA
45
To usurp others right through robbery, diplomacy or any other device is stealing and it is a sin. The term 'one's due' has two implications. Firstly, one must earn before possession. Secondly, one should not go beyond the limit that is necessary to his life. He should not be a burden to society by putting his obligations on others. At the same time he should not hoard, which means starvation for other members. He should apply his surplus strength for the benefit of society or his own spiritual development but in no way in robbing others, through'any means barbarian or the so called civilized. Celibacy
In the Vedic Hinduism to marry and have progeny was a social obiigation. But, in the ascetic tradition it was totally denounced. Ultimately they came to a compromise in the state of a householder. Both traditions prohibited the sexual inter-course beyond one's wife duly married. I have already stated the different attitudes in the case of a householder. For Vedic Hinduism it is an obligation which can be fulfilled only through the birth of a male child. But in the ascetic tradition it is an excuse. The former looks it as a social necessity while the latter as a distraction, an obstacle in thel spiritual progress.
In Sanskrit celibacy is generally termed as Brahmacharya which means treading into the soul. Any act, therefore, which disturbs the concentration on soul, or which leads towards exraversion is 'Abrahmacharya.' Non-Possession
Non-possession or 'aparigraha' is the last vow. In