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Pravrajya: The Itinerant Life
531
and exterior, that matters, an attitude which must express fidelity to the vows they have undertaken.
It is assuredly not easy for śramaņis consecrated to a purely spiritual quest to go out every day for gocari, to move regularly from one place to the next, to find themselves in the intervening period on the roads among the crowds. No doubt the activities of gocari and vihāra give them the opportunity to live out ahimsă, aparigraha and sarnyama; but the śramanas and śramanis of ancient times used to lead a more solitary and retired life. The Sūtras were not written for the modern age with its large industrial, overpopulated and noisy cities. Many of the rules need and would profit by some form of adaptation, However, when we consider them in their totality, we find that the majority are characterised by wisdom and good sense. Even nowadays they can act as a strength and stay, if one does not lose sight of the spirit that invests them. The vihāra is always a group-activity, performed with the guruni. If the sådhvis are numerous, they form several groups with one of their number in each group placed in charge.7 No vihāra takes place without a certain amount of organisation and forethought. One must act with due consideration for the various localities and circumstances, needs and requests of the samngha. If they are to traverse a region, the sādhvis must foresee several months in advance where, by mutual agreement with the ācārya and the local samgha, they will go to spend the căturmäsya. Often, the sădhvis are invited to a particular place and sometimes must choose between several invitations; generally, certain śrāvakas are given the task of conveying the official invitation of their samgha,
6 A sadhvi may not stay alone either during the vihāra or at the upaśraya, nor may she go out alone at night; cf. Brks V, 15-18; VS V, 2; 5. This is, chiefly, a matter of prudence, for within society there is a widespread belief that a woman is by no means insured against disrespect or assaults upon her modesty, far from it. Therefore it is necessary to avoid exposing the sadhvis to possible dangers.
7 At Mumbai, in March 1975, I met a group of sadhvis, detached from the large-sized group of Pune. They had come to Mumbai for an operation upon one of their number who, though already out of hospital, still needed nursing and medical care. When these were no longer necessary, they were to return to Pune.
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