Sannyasa Dharma

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Page 38

SANNYASA DE ARMA
25. sleeping on hard ground, 26. refraining from cleansing the teeth, 27. taking food standing, and
28. taking only one meal a day, that is to say, eating not more than once a day,
TIE Five GREAT Vows.--The sūdhu's vows are absolute, and that is the reason why they are prefixed with the word great. With reference to the vow of ahimsā, the sādhu will not hurt any of the vitalities of a living being. He will not only not commit the act of himsā (injury) himsell, but will also not ask anyone else to do it for him, nor will he, in any way, encourage its commission, by say. ing or doing anything subsequent to the act. He does not, for this very reason, cook or prepare his food himself, nor even pluck the fruit and the like from trees and shrubs which are endowed with life. He is not in a position in the begin. ning to refrain from taking the food prepared by the householder, which, by the way, is prepared in full conformity with the rules of purity and dharma, but he aspires some day to escape even from this inuch contamination of his soul, and actually does so when omniscience is obtained. He is then also rid of the necessity to discharge excrement, and thus no longer carries the gourd which was necessary till then. The remaining accoutrements of the saintly life, namely, the feather-whisk and sacred books, are also not required by the Omniscient Being, as He does not sit or tread on the ground, and as His physical