________________
28]
[Some Jain Concepts and Conduct
persons is also considered as untruth.28
The most primitive aspect of this vow is preserved in the earlier Avaśyaka literature. Siddhasenagani also mentions these aspects. The sthūlasatyavrata consists in abstinence from the untruth like speaking of an unchaste as chaste or vice versa (kannaliya); a cow giving meager quantity of milk as one giving a larger quantity and vice-versa (govaliya); a unfertile land as fertile and vice-versa (bhomaliya); appropriation of a dispositive (nansavahara thapanamoso) and witnessing to the truth of an untrue event (kudasakhijje - kudisakha). 29
In connection with the mahāvrata Umāsvāti defines asat (in the sütra - asadabhidhānamantram) in three ways namely (i) denial of existence (sadbhāvapratisedha) (ii) reverse statement (arthāntara) (ii) despicable utterance (garhā). The first way is of two kinds (a) denial of what is (bhūtanihanva) e.g. there is no ātman, there is no other world (b) assertion of what is not (abhūtodbhāvana) e.g. the soul is of the size of a grain, of millet, of rise, it is of the size of the joint of a thumb, or it is as shining as the sun, or it is devoid of any activity. In the second way the cow is spoken as horse and vice-versa. The third way consists in a speech, even though true, is characterized by violence, harshness, back hitting and so on. In this connection Siddhasenagani quotes from the Daśavaikālika, VII/2, that one should not speak what is unworthy of speaking (though true), and also what is mixed with untruth and also what is purely untruth. A wise man should not also speak what has not been approved of by the enlighten ones.30 The five aticāra of this vrata, given in the Uvāsagadasão are thoughtless slandering (sahasabbhakkhana); divulgence of secret talks (rahasabbhakkhana); divulgence of ones own wives secret utterance (sadaramantabheda); false information (mosovaese); producing false document (kudalehakaran).31
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
