________________
50:
Śramaṇa, Vol 63, No. 2, April-June 2012
sariramāhu nāva tti, jivo vuccai nāvio/
samsāro annavo vutto, jam taranti mahesino//56
It denotes, body is boat, soul is sailor and the world is ocean which is crossed by great sages. Body is the vehicle of spiritual practice.57 So protection of body is necessary to fulfill the ultimate goal and real protection of body is 'to control it'. Unnecessary movement of body is the sign of nonrestraint and it causes the violence so a saint should control his bodily movement.
Kaya-gupti in Jainism
Uttaradhyayan Sutra defines kāya-gupti in this manner: In standing sitting, lying down, jumping, going and in the use of his organs a monk should prevent his body from intimating obnoxious desires from doing acts which cause misery to living being or which cause their destruction.58 Vacana-gupti and kaya-gupti are also defined by two ways in Niyamasāra. According to it complete control over physical activity or control on violent activity is known as kāyagupti. There are fourteen states of spiritual upliftment. Total control of body is possible in the state of omniscience with total cessation of activities. To arrive at this state first of all an ascetic should control over violent activities.
Acārya Hemacandra defines kāya-gupti with two types of definition: (i) one who remain unperturbed during kayotsarga (meditation) even when assailed by the upsargas (harassment to test the control over body) shows complete detachment is called kāya-gupti.
(ii) To control and limit the physical activities i.e. sleeping, sitting, walking, using things, etc. is called kaya-gupti59.
We find some inspiring illustrations controlling body in some basic texts. For example Sūtrakṛtānga-sūtra says, "just as a tortoise draws its limbs into its own shell, a wise man should withdraws his senses from evil by spiritual exertion".60 The tortoise knows how to hide its organs under the security cover of its back. That is why it is able to protect itself against the onslaught of Jackals. Monk should also know as to how he can protect himself through spirituality.
