Sramana Tradation

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 54

Moral and Social Outlook of Sramanism
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mendicancy and the outward expression of the ascetic's renunciation of worldly quests and relations. The sacrificial religion presupposes family life as well as property. The wife is a partner in such worship and one cannot make offerings of material goods to the gods without having material possessions oneself. This is clear in the philosophy of the school of Mīmāṁsā.41 Even the Bhāgavata says “ dharmādākṣipyate hyarthaḥ.” In this tradition religion and morality are essentially tied with the maintenance of social life. In contrast śramanism despairs of happiness in the pursuit of instinctive life which underlies the patterns of social behaviour and institutions. In this sense Śramaņism is an extreme form of spiritual individualism which has even been called soteriological egoism.
In the Pațisambhidāmagga Sıla is defined as will, as mental disposition, as restraint, as non-transgression. Kim silam ti ? cetanā silam, cetasikam silam, samvaro silam, avītikkamo silam ti/42 Buddha himself had defined Karman or moral action as volition and its disposition. As Nāgărjuna has quoted the Master, 'cetanā cetayitvà ca karmoktam paramarsinā/43 Now Vrata has a similar sense. It refers to a rule or conduct adopted by a deliberate act of the will. The mental dispositions which are an essential part of the moral consciousness include greedlessness (anabhijjhā), friendliness (abyāpāda) and an outlook based on proper knowledge (sammā-ditthi). Samvara or restraint has been described as fivefold. 44 Of these the first is the adoption of the Pátimokkha rules. The second is restraint imposed on the senses, called the Satisamvara. Ñānasamvara arises from the right introspection into the occasions of experience. Forebearance is Khantisamvara. Disregarding desires and desire-prompted thoughts is Viriyasamvara.
The Buddhist theory of ethics rests on a psychological as well as an axiological theory. Buddhist psychology is analytical - Vibhajya41. Mimāṁsā School explains sacrifice as 'dravya-tyāga', which presupposes owner
ship. See esp. the discussion of Visvajit in Mimaṁsā Sūtras 6.7.1 ff. 42. Pațisambhidāmagga. 1. Buddhaghosa has also quoted this definition. See,
Visuddhimārga (tr. Bhikkhu Dharmarakshita : Varanasi, 1956), I, p. 8. 43. Madhyamala, 17.2-3. 44. See Visuddhimārga, 1, p. 8. Ś-6