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Examples of Jain religious expressions
In this annexe, firstly we will give the formulae of the minor vows (aņu-vrata) used by Sthanakaväsi lay Jains, as they are reported in the book of Sinclair Stevenson "The Heart of Jainism" (2nd edition) published in 1984 by Munshiram Manoharlal in Delhi. Secondly, we will give translations of two Jain "mantra" including the "Great Mantra", as well as religious "stotra", hymns and prayers published in various books and publications by Jain communities living in the UK or in the USA, leaving the Sanskrit words and the ancient dialects (Prakrit) to scholarly books.
1. Formulae for the "little vows" of Jain laymen and women
a) Vow to never intentionally destroy a life (Prāṇātipataviramana vrata)
Annexe 1
"I will desist from destroying all great lives such as "trasa jīva" (i.e. lives with two, three, four and five senses), either knowingly or intentionally, excepting offending lives living in my body which give pain, but I will not with evil intent destroy vermines and minute onesensed lives. As long as I live I will not myself kill, nor cause others to kill, nor will make some other people to kill by mind, speech or body. Thus, I have taken the first vow and I know the five faults (aticāra) concerning it, I must not commit. I repeat them in their usual order: binding, killing, mutilating, overloading, wrong feeding".
b) Vow directed against falsehood (Mṛṣāvāda-viramaṇa vrata)
"I take the vow not to utter great falsehoods such as lies concerning brides, cattle, estates, etc. and not to bear false witness. I will abstain from
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Formulae for the "great vows" of Jain ascetics are in the "Acarāngasutra", Book II, and lectures 15, called "the clauses".
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