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Śrāvakācāra : Code of Conduct of a Householder]
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The awakening of faith : the spiritual awakening of a person sometimes takes place after a prolonged association with saints and study of religious literature. It can also take place spontaneously without any effort''. This awakening is called samyagdarśana i.e. right view of things. This right view is technically called samyagdarśana which is taken as right faith. Faith, in essence, is a kind of knowledge, based on the vision of truth. In Jainism, this faith is explained as the consequence of lessening of the intensity of the passions of anger, pride, deceit and greed. The passions have a deluding faith. They act as impediments to spiritual awakening. These impediments are due to karma, which cover and mutilates the inherent qualities of the soul. A detailed process of the elimination of the effects of the karma also is given as a doctrine in Gunasthāna, the stages of spiritual development, in the philosophical literature of Jainism. With the awakening of initial enlightenment, a person acquires the basic qualification of a Śrāvaka. He is qualified for the higher spiritual life of a layman. A brief account of the rules and regulations to be observed and practiced by a Srävaka is given below :
The Aņuvrata, their makeshift character vis-à-vis mahāvratas : the most important vows to be undertaken by a Srāvaka are called aņuvratas which are five in number. These are derived from the five Mahāvratas practiced by the Jain monastic order. A full observance of a vrata requires that the act prohibited by it should not be done, or cause to be done or approved of : and also it should not be done by mind, speech and body. This is technically called a vrata pure in nine ways, that is three ways of doing multiplied by three organs of doing. This is the observance par excellence, which is essential for a monk or a nun. In the case of Srāvaka this nine fold observance is not compulsory, as he is allowed to observe the vows as thoroughly as he can. Thus generally a Śrāvaka is required to
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