Book Title: Studies in Jainism
Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
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JAINISM: ITS HISTORY, PRINCIPLES
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caution against loss of life in the other forms as it is possible for him. This means the observance of the vow of ahimsa in a less rigorous form suitable for a householder, and hence it is called anuvrata (minor vow). Not that this will cause no kārmic bondage, but it will be of a minor type, its intensity being proportionate to the intensity of the passion of the man committing it and to the grade of life injured. Piercing, binding, overloading, and starving animals are all forms of himsă, and should be avoided.
The same kind of concession, as is allowed to a householder in the observance of the vow of ahimsā, is enjoyed by him in the observance of the other four vows also, and for this reason, they are all called anuvratas. He should neither speak falsehood himself, nor induce others to do so, nor approve of any such attempt on the part of the others. Spreading false ideas, divulging the secrets of others, back-biting, forging documents, and breach of trust are all forms of untruth, and one must guard oneself against them. It would be theft if one takes away secretly or by force what does not belong to oneself. Appropriating to oneself what another man has forgotten or has dropped, or accepting what he knows to be stolen property, instructing another person in the methods of stealing, adulteration, and use of false weights and measures are all forms of theft and should be abstained from. A householder must keep himself satisfied with his own wife, and should look upon all other women as his mothers, sisters, or daughters. He would be violating the vow of brahmacarya even if he talks obscenity. The fifth vow recommends that a householder should fix, beforehand, the limit of his maximum belongings, and should, in no case, exceed it. If he ever happens to earn more than that, he must spend it away in charities, the best and recognized forms of which are distribution of medicines, spread of knowledge by the distribution of religious books and support of teachers, provision for saving the lives of people in danger, and feeding the hungry and the poor.
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From the aspirant's spiritual point of view, anuvratas are meant to give him practice in self-denial, self-control, and renunciation. This purpose becomes more