Book Title: Jainism in Buddhist Literature
Author(s): Bhagchandra Jain Bhaskar
Publisher: Alok Prakashan

Previous | Next

Page 133
________________ ( 114 ) Requint es A Jaina monk has no attachment to the world. Nakedness or acelakatva is considered one of the essential of monkhood K litigkappa ).89 Pali literature refers to Jaina ascetics as Niganthas, for they claimed to be free from all bonds (arhakam gan. thanakileso palibujjhankileso natthi, Kilesaganthirahitaāyam ti evani vāditaya laddhnūmavasena Nigantho ).70 Cloth and other requisities are considered parigraha (posse. ssion ) which is an obstacle to the attainment of salvation. Acārya Kundakunda says : ""If you were to say ) it is ( found ) stated in certain texts that monk accepts a piece of clothing and possesses a pot, (we are to ask ) how can he { with these ) be independent and without activities involving preliminary sins? If he accepts a piece of clothing, gourd. bowl or anything else, necessarily there is involved harm to living beings, and there is disturbance in mind.71 Somadeva also puts forth the same view.72 According to Digambaras, no body can attain complete emancipation from karmas without being naked. The Buddha was completely against nakedness (Acelakatva ). He criticised this rule along with others on several occasions. In Pāli literature the word Acela is used quite loosely and referred to any naked ascetic rather than a member of any single organised religious sect.79 In the Vinaya74 both Acelaka and Ajivika are used synonymously. In the Majjhima Nikaya, the Buddha is said to have followed the Acelakatua before he had attained Buddhahood. But in the Dhammapadatthakatha, a person with an unsettled mind is conpared to one who starts as an Acelaka, Nigantha and Tápasa.75 In the same work an incident is referred to where the Niganthas wearing a piece of cloth are considered better than those who are completely unclothed ( Acelakas). The reason given for wearing a garment was the prevention of dust and dirt falling into their alms-dishes. For even dust and

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326