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mithyatva), and this means that their selection will be a right and proper one (persons in the state of mithyatva will not choose the path of rectitude).
The choosing of a right course of conduct man go manyways necessitates the exercise of the judgment and discrimination. And doing this is not following the path of least resistance, so that the exercising of the judgment in selecting a right course of conduct as distinguished from living a life where no such choice is made implies an effort of the will force.
So this word vrata in its technical meaning here implies all these ideas, namely: 1. There is the the actual selection of the
conduct ; 2. There is the exercise of the judging faculty
in distinguishing right from bad courses ; 3. There is the effort of the will (virya), or in
psychological language there is conation. There is no such thing as taking a vrata and not carrying it out. It is a very strict matter, requiring the exeicise of much care in the undertaking to
do.
This idea of the vrata as above described is peculiarly Jain ; there is no promising on oath to a superior deity or person ; it is not a command or a decree issued by a deity to his subjects or creatures. The breaking of the vows means degradation ; in the Jain philosophy, if a person breaks his vows he
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