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TATTVÄRTHA SUTRA
· steady therein there are five Bhävanäs for each of them.)
The first sutra states that non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy and non- accumulation are five restraints. Of these five, the first two are more significant. The remaining three can be considered implicit within those two. Moreover, the first two restraints are interdependent, because there cannot be nonviolence without truth or truth without non-violence.
The second sutra states that those five restraints can be observed partially or fully. Total observance of non-violence and other restraints is not feasible in the worldly life. It is therefore left to the monastic life. Monks and nuns renounce the worldly life and are therefore able to observe those restraints to the fullest extent. That is called observance of Mahävrats (major restraints). The laymen observe the same in modified form. That is termed as observance of Anuvrats (minor restraints).
The third sutra states that there are five aspects of each restraint, which are helpful in observance of the restraints. They are termed as Bhävanäs. These Bhävanäs do not appear in Shwetämbar version of the text, but they find a place in Tattvärthabhäshya, the main Shwetämbar commentary of the text. In Digambar version there are five sutras in the text itself. These Bhävanäs primarily relate to the monastic code. Those of the first two restraints are, however, applicable to the lay life as well and they are as under.
Observance of vigilance while making movement, while accepting or moving any object, restraining mental activity and properly examining the food and water before consumption are the five Bhävanäs of the first restraint. Exercising discrimination
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