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प्रवचनसार
The Omniscient Lord has expounded that five supreme vows (mahāvrata), five regulations (samiti), fivefold control of the senses (pańcendriya nirodha), pulling out the hair on the head and the face (keśalońca), six essential duties (şaļāvaśyaka)1, renouncing clothes (nāgnya, digambaratua), not taking bath (asnāna), sleeping on the ground (bhūmiśayana), not cleansing the teeth (adantadhāvana), taking food in steady, standing posture (sthitibhojana), and taking food only once in a day (ekabhukti), are certainly the twenty-eight primary attributes (mūlaguna) that make the ascetic (śramana) steady in his conduct. Negligence in the practise of these primary attributes calls for their reestablishment as per the rules.
Explanatory Note: These twenty-eight primary attributes (mūlaguņa) help establishing the soul in own-nature, therefore, these are essential to be followed by the ascetic (muni, śramaņa). If the ascetic fails to follow any of these primary attributes (mūlaguņa), he must reestablish his soul in those attributes; this is called the process of reinitiation (chedopasthāpanā). As the man desirous of gold, must accept gold in all its forms, like the ring, the bracelet and the coin, similarly, the ascetic desirous of restraint for attaining the pure soul-nature must accept these twenty-eight primary attributes (mūlaguņa); these are all parts of the process of establshing the soul in own-nature. Practise of these attributes makes the ascetic focussed; if ever he gets negligent, he follows the rules of reestablishment.
1 Six essential duties are: 1) equanimity (sāmāyika), 2) adoration of the twenty-four Tīrthańkara (caturvińśatistava), 3) making obeisance to the Perfect One (vandanā), 4) repentance for past sinful activity (pratikramaņa), 5) renunciation of future sinful activity (pratyākhyāna), and 6) observing complete detachment from the body in a still, standing posture (kāyotsarga). (see Pandit Asādhara's 'Dharmāmrta Anagara', verse 8-17.) Some texts mention the study of the Scripture (svādhyāya), in place of renunciation of future sinful activity (pratyākhyāna), as an essential duty.
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