Sramana Tradation

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

Page 57

Śramana Tradition
the senses controlled and the accumulation of Karman reduced through the practice of austerities, then a man may be said to be set on the path of moral and spiritual progress. The basic similarity of the Jaina and Buddhist points of view on morality is obvious. Apart from the difference in the metaphysical basis, the difference between them is only one of exposition and detail. The most important difference between them lay in the attitude of moderation which the Buddha advocated, the famous madhyamā pratipadă, in contrast to the extremism which was advocated by the Jainas. The Buddha after the most severe penance realized its futility and felt that there was no reason to be afraid of the pure happiness which arises from meditation - ' kim nu aham tassa sukhassa bhāyāmi yam tam sukham aññatreva kāmehi aññatra akusalehi dhammehi '50 He then followed the path of dhyana which he recalled from early childhood. Mahavira, on the other hand, succeeded in gaining omniscience from the practice of extreme austerities. Each of them taught in the light of his own experience and the modern student has no option but to attribute this difference to the difference of spiritual personalities.
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It is the corpus of monastic rules which seeks to give a concrete form and shape to the ideal of asceticism. These rules which regulated the food, drink, clothes, dwelling, begging of alms and religious prac tice of the monks varied from sect to sect. The Ajivaka monks, as already mentioned, adopted complete nudity and were called acelakas. They did not carry any begging bowl and ate directly from the hand and were for this reason called hatthapalekhanas. They were permitted the use of cold water, unboiled seeds and specially prepared food. They practised extreme mortification and finally committed suicide through not drinking.51 The Niganthas have been described as nude, or having few cloths or having one piece of cloth (ekasāṭaka). It is generally believed that Mahavira introduced the more rigorous rule of complete nudity which was not practised by all the Niganthas.52 Removal of hair from the roots was one of the distinguishing fea
50. Majjhima, I, p. 247 (Roman ed.)
51. On the Ajivaka monastic organization and ascetic observances etc., see Basham, op. cit., pp. 107ff.
52. Cf. S. B. Deo, History of Jaina Monachism (Poona, 1956), pp. 160-162.