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MEDIEVAL JAINISM: CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
beings including insects, birds, animals, and men. The positive encouragement to social welfare activities has been the most useful and noteworthy contribution of Jains to Indian Culture.
This humanitarian approach to lessen the miseries of living beings was included in the Vrata, i.e., vow Aparigraha, i.e., abstention from greed of worldly possessions. The vow of Aparigraha is the fifth of the five main vows which must be consistently followed by all persons. Aparigraha involves avoiding the fault of Parigraha which consists in desiring more than what is needed by an individual. Accumulating even necessary articles in large numbers, expressing wonder at the prosperity of others, excessive greed and changing the proportions of existing possessions are all forms of Parigraha, i.e., worldly attachments. This vow aims at putting a limit on the worldly possessions by individuals according to their needs and desires. That is why this vow of Aparigraha is many times termed as ParigrahaParimana-Vrata, i.e., the vow to limit one's worldly possessions.
This vow of Parigraha-Parimana is very noteworthy as it indirectly aims at economic equalization by peacefully preventing undue accumulation of capital in individual hands. It recommends that a householder should fix, beforehand, the limit of his maximum belongings, and should in no case, exceed it. If he ever happens to earn more than that he must spend it away in Dana, i.e., charities. The best forms of charities prescribed by Jaina religion are Ahara-abhaya--bhaishajya-Shastra-dana, i.e., giving food to the hungry and the poor, saving the lives of people in danger, distribution of medicines and spreading knowledge. These charities are called the Chaturvidh-Dana, i.e., the fourfold gifts, by Jain religion and it has been enjoined on the householders that they
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