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Individual and Society in Jainism
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life, nor such food as has been prepared expressly for him, nor touch a green plant, for fear lest its delicate body might suffer from his bodily warmth, nor keep any property except his beginning-bowls, his stick and the scanty clothes that cover his body. And even these few things cannot well be called “property” in the sense of the Scriptures, because in their case, the characteristic which distinguishes property, viz, the attachment of the owner, is wanting. And there are even a group of Jaina monks who renounce these few utensils too, walking about unclad, and using their hands as their eating vessels. But there are only a few of them, in the whole of India : the “Digambara" or sky-clad monks, whereas the other branch, the "Svetāmbara" or white-clad monks, come to thousands.
The standard of the usual Pratyākhyānas for lay men consists in the group of fixed Pratyākhyānas called the Twelve Layman Vows, which can be taken in various shades of strictness and in optional number. Though standing below the standard of the ascetical vows, still they represent a high form of ethical conduct.
Not only the Jaina monks, but also the laymen are very particular about taking and keeping, besides those groups of fundamental “Vows”, which are being taken only once in the whole life, and for life-time, a number of other, detatched Pratyākhyānas of the above described character for an optional period. For the Pratyākhyāna is the very key to "Mokșa”: constant binding alone can lead to final “Liberty.” Thus, there is practically no Jaina who will eat meat of fish or fowl, or even eggs, and there is no Jaina who will intentionally and without purpose kill or trouble a harmless living creature, be it even a fly. Most Jainas even avoid potatoes, onions, garlic, and other vegetables believed to be endowed with a higher vitality, as well as cating, and most Jainas take, for certain days, the vow of abstention from green vegetables, or from travelling and moving out, or the vow of chastity and vows of innumerable other things.
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