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548
The Unknown Pilgrims
foodstuffs of which one feels the need or of some medical treatment or of very severe forms of penance or total fast till the last breath.64
It is affirmed that ascetics who follow these rules of conduct and teach them to others reach perfection, true wisdom, Liberation, nirvāna, some of them in this life and others after several lives. 65
After these four months one must take to the road again, unless the conditions do not permit, for example, if the area is still affected by a late monsoon, in which case offences against ahiṁsā would be unavoidable.66
C - Viśvamitrās: Friends to all
By taking life-long vows of ahiṁsā and aparigraha a sadhvi pledges herself to regard all jivas with infinite respect, to possess nothing, to be without attachment of any sort. It is precisely because she is a n.sgranthi that her vow of ahińsă is considerably re-inforced. In her daily contacts with the jivas, she must not be influenced by any egot stical intention, any selfish interest, any desire to possess or dominate. Ahińsă does not derive simply from a negative attitude: abstention form violence, hatred, anger, desire. It is also a positive orientation towards respectfulness, towards a disinterested and sincere friendship bent on the welfare of others. In the sphere of right vision and right conduct, the sole intention of a nirgranthi in her contact with all beings is the desire for their final Liberation.
64 Ibid. VIII, 62-65.
65 Ibid., VIII, 76.
66 Cf. AS II, 3, 1, 4; similarly, dikṣā can only be received after the căturmāsya.
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