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NIRVANA
139 of getting knowledge of things, past, religion: I shall daily visit the temple; present and future. And when the 1 shall not eat honey, figs &c. The last process of purification is complete, the vow prohibits the use of certain edibles, soul stands, face to face with truth on which cannet be procured without the the threshold of Nirvana. Perfect destruction of a large number of insects. kngwledge is in fact a property of the
The additionol vows, prescribed for pure soul.
the higher classes of laymen have a The third stage is that of righl con- more direct reference to the object in duct. The principle on which the view. Along with the vows mentioned rules of conduct are based has already above, are given vows like the followbeen indicated. Jainism aims at ex- ing:- " I shall fix the directions in tinguishing all passions, all emotions, which I might go; I shall fix the maxi. all desires. It also enjoins scrupulous
mum amount of property that I might regard for animal life in all its forms,
possess; I shall keep certain fasts; &c.” inasmuch as man is not supposed to Altogether eleven classes of laymen have any right to add to the misery of are mentioned, and as we ascend from any living being by any act of his own. lower to the higher, the circle of bodily He is not even allowed to sacrifice life wants gradually becomes narrower, till in a lower form for the sake of bene
the climax is reached in the state of a fiting life in a higher form.
Munior Sadhu, a devoted who has retir
ed from the world. The Muni bas given Some of the primary rows prescrib• indulgence of every sort; he has given ed by Jainism for laymen correspond- up clothing; he just eats enough to ent to the ordinary commandments of keep body and soul together, lest the other religions. What are considered as
soul should escape from the body in a
soul sins more or less universally, claim at
state not perfectly pure, and be involtention first as they originate in, and
ved in future re-birth. He is under give rise to, the worst passions that
no necessity of taking part in the agitate the human breast, and disturb
religious ceremonies, incumbent on the peace of the soul. "I shall not steal;
laymen. Even the Sastras or Sacred I shall not commit adultery; I shall not
books, and guidance from a spiritual gamble I shall not kill; I shall not take
master are required only up to a cerflesh, I shall not drink;" these are some of the ycws for a layman of the lowest tain stage; after that, true knowledgo
will come to him as the result of medi
will come to bi grade or rank. The vows are peculiar to Jainism :- I shall have faith in the tation to which he has trained himself. true God, the true Guru and the true Along with self-denial, he also practises
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
