Prashamratiprakaran

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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to earn his livelyhood in a just way and share it with holy monks a pious householder. It also includes serving of the Sädhus, sick and needy people.
In addition to these main rules the householder is expected to parctise many rules such as offering salutation to the Jinas, guras and monks; establishment of Jina Temples and daily worship of Jinas.
These major and minor vows should be observed regularly by the householder. In addition to the abovementioned twelve vows, there is another very important vow which is to be observed by the householder either in special circumstances, i. e., when the householder is not able to observe religious vows on account of unavoidable bodily infirmities and the like or on the occasion when the time of natural death has been known in all probability. That is known as Samlekhanavrata in which step by step everything is renounced by abandoning food, fear, dissatisfaction and sorrows etc. and give up the body. It is a kind of invitation to voluntary spiritual death. It should be practised mentally, vocally and physically. Practising all these vows, the householder obtains heaven after death and perfection of these householders duties make them perfectly pure and lead them to liberation within eight births. VI PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT OF PRAŠAMARATI PRAKARANA :
Though the central topic of Pragamarati is mainly ethical, the erudite writer deals with almost all the important philosophical principles such as Tattvas, Substances, Syādvāda, theory of Karma and so on.
Tattvas are the fundamental principles on which Jaina philosophy rests. These tattvas form the metaphysical background of Jaina ethics. In the absence of knowledge of realities, self-realisation is an impossible task. Any amount of moral practice is futile without knowing the nature of reality. Thus metaphysics and ethics are the two sides of the same coin. Metaphysics deals with the theoretical aspect of nature of reality while, ethics with practical side of it. Ethics is a means to realize the nature of reality. It is this close relation between philosophy and ethics that led the Jaina thinkers to introduce nine fundamental principles in their system. These tattvas deal with the cause of samsara (cycle of births and deaths) and release from this chain of mundane life. The insight into the nature of these tattvas is considered to be the beginning of ethical and spiritual life. An unflinching faith in these tattvas is called Right path-samyak darśana (Pr. 222).
Firm faith in and knowledge of these tattvas are of primary importance for an aspirant of liberation. These nine fundamental principles are as follows :