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Notes on religious merit (Punya)
137
Chandog ya Upanişads Jays down the rule ihat ahimsā should be practised towards all beings except at 'sacred spots' (tīrthas). The place of animal sacrifice was considered 'sacred during this age. This texit attributes birth in higher states of humans to good conduct (ramaniya-caruņa). The Brhadāraṇyaka Upa. nisad5 states that a person becomes pious (punya) by pious deeds (punyena karmaņā). The early Upanişads also mention austerity (tapas) as a virtue. Study of the Veda, almsgiving, sacrificing and fasting are considered meritorious but they are said to be inferior to the knowledge of God or the Absolute (brahman).
It is in the early Buddhist sources that the doctrine of merit is clerly made for the first time an essential element of religious culture Here a clear distinction is made between virtues or good qualities and their merits. Thus it is stated in the Dighanikāya that "the merit (punya) grows by the cultivation of good qualities (kusala-dharma).” Three 'foundations of meritorious deed' (punya-kriyā-vastu) are discussed again and again in the Buddhist texts. These three virtuous practices that contribute to merit are liberality (dāna), good conduct (sila), and meditation (bhāvanā ).. Merit is often represented as the foundation and condition of birth in good states (sugati) and in heaven (svarga).' Liberality, self-denial, self-restraint, truthful speech, austerity, continence, study of the Doctrine; renunciation, friendliness, loving kindness, impartiality, sympathetic joy, knowledge, right views, pure intention, forbearance and meditational achievements are some of the qualities contributing to merit. The Buddha is honoured as the embodiment of the supreme perfection of all the meritorious virtues. Those bereft of merit are compared to the wood in the cremation ground. Absence of greed, of delusion and of hatred is aspicious (subha) and it leads to good states (sugati) and happiness (sukha). Punya is often compared to the nectar, 8 the antidote to hellish life and death. The human beings are purified not by birth or wealth, but by good deeds, SP-18
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