Religious Prayascittas according to old Jaina Ritual

Author(s): Collete Caillat
Publisher: Z_Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_Mahotsav_Granth_Part_1_012002.pdf and Mahavir_Jain_Vidyalay_Suvarna_

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100 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME
the specific disposal of the parihāra.51 This change is not to be wondered at : for solitude had become terrifying in the eyes of the ordinary therakappiya monk;52 but consequently some discrepancies arose: according to theory, the parihāra ranks as the sixth atonement, and is lighter than the eighth (mūla); in actual practice, however, the VavBhȚ commonly advise the replacement of the parihāra by milder penances, especially by the aforesaid mūla.
This does not alter the fact that the parihara had occupied a prominent position: the commentaries distinguish between the monk being in it (vattanta) and the monk having gone out of it (niggaya) and incurred a heavier expiation. It is the parihāra that is prescribed first, rarely if ever the cheya or the müla.
Indeed, it sometimes appears as if the parihara were thought of as the prayascitta : thus, when a pupil asks how many atonements there are, the answer is: their number is limited according to the sūtra, meaning the Nisiha-sutta, which deals solely with the parihara occurrences.53
Moreover, when performing it, the monk imitates Mahāvīra: not only does he live "isolated" (though in his gaña) : it is expressly stated that the observance should not exceed six months, the reason being that this was the duration of Mahāvira's longest penances.54
THE VEYĀVADIYA. The pāyacchitta washes away the stain left by the fault; however, it is necessary to eliminate what karman has been accumulated during the previous lives. This is effected by a complementary observance, the "service", veyāvadiya or veyāvacca (vaiyāvrtya).55
The custom of vaiyāvstya is not specifically Jaina: it is in use among the Buddhists56, and it is taught in the Brahmanical Dharmasutras, etc. Nevertheless, its consequences were bound to be much further-reaching in a well organized community.
It is held to be very meritorious. And, if the monk is able to perform it together with the pāyacchitta, he is advised to do so;57 but it
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51 Cf. supra 8; infra 21; 24. Compare a similar evolution, followed
by a rigorist reaction in the case of the ninth and tenth
pāyacchittas, Jiya 91; 100; 102; and Leumann p. 1196. 52 Cf. VavŢ III 29 b 10; and infra. 53 VavŢ II 80 b - 81 a, cf. Bh 1, 223-226. 54 VavȚ II 53 a 11 f.; 79 b 11; 97 a 1; III 16 b 5, etc. 55 Cf. Vav 10, 35; Uttar 29, 43. 56 Cf. Vin I 46-49; IV 326, 1 f. 57 Cf. VavȚ III 4 a 2 f.