Studies in Buddhist and Jaina Monachism

Author(s): Nand Kishor Prasad
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 130

NISSAYA
109
one way or the other. So it will not be improper to opine that the implication of the term nissaya is to comprise in its list all such things which are necessary if safety of life is at all required. In other words, the implied meaning of the term is 'sustenance and safety of life but with limited means', for if not so, there would have been no need of telling the four resources to the person embracing Buddhism as a monk. Thus it may be remarked that any rule regarding the resources is not rigid. Even the number of resources, if needed, may also be diminished or increased, as the case may be, by excluding or including in its list even things which are the outcome of modern sciences
But one thing may, however, be pointed out in this connection. The Buddha as he aspired 'to convert the unconverted and to augment the number of those converted',' so he considered it necessary not to displease or to offend the people in any way, lest his ambition might have been nipped in the bud. And it was but natural for a farsighted person like him as the people were conscious enough to complain and comment for any omission and commission of the monks or the nuns. Such instances were not very few and far between. The people protested when the monk did not hold the uposatha cermony,? or when they did not remain at one place during the rainy season, or if they observed the rain-retreat in a hollow tree, or if they clad in improper robes, etc. Naturally the ecclesiastical rules were repaired from time to time by promulgating new rules or by abolishing the old ones or by making amendment to them or by replacing the old ones by altogether new rules. But it is to be noted that due consideration was always given to the ideals of monastic life when the rules were being thus complied with.
Though the main requirements of the life of a Jaina monk were the same as that of a Buddhist, viz. food, abode, clothing and medicine, still a term like nissaya (of the Buddhist sources) to denote them inclusively is a desideratum in the Jaina sources. Besides, the Jaina monks as they believed in non-possession and insisted on bodily mortification so the very objectives which led to the sanction of these articles were considerably different from that of the Buddhists. This basic difference gave rise to a technique of promulgation of the monastic laws so
1. appasan nånam vā pas. dya pasannanam va bhiyyobhāvāya. 2. MV, 2. 1. 1, p. 105. 3. Jbid, 3. 1. 1, p. 144. 4. Ibid, 3. 10. 21, p. 159. 5. Ibid, 1. 61. 118, p. 93.