Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 1

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 205

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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. 1
here is the nature and the content of pratikramana. In the pratikramana, the monk condemns himself for the sins and transgressions of the monastic rules committed by him. He makes confession of the transgressions before his preceptor. In other words, in the pratikramana the monk is required to remember all the vows and rules of monastic life undertaken by him for lifelong observance. He exerts himself to examine the shortcomings of monastic life and make atonement for them.
To be exact the whole process beginning froin sama yika and ending in käyotsarga is the Jaina equivalent of the uposatha of the Buddhists. In the Pātimokkha, the punishments for the crimes committed are also mentioned. But in the Jaina Pratikramana the specific punishments are not mentioned, though, of course, monks are required to recoil from their sinful deeds; condemn himself privately (ninda) and publicly (garha), and ultimately beg pardon of their respective preceptors by means of confession of their crimes alocană. Unlike the Buddhist uposatha, the pratikramana is done daily-in the morning for the transgressions done at night, and in the evening for the same committed during the day. There is also the provision of prati kramana after a journey or similar act involving inadvertent commission of crime. Besides these, there are prescribed the fortnightly, four-monthly and yearly pratikramaņas, in addition to the uttamartha-pratikramana done for the attainment of the supreme goal of life, namely, mokşa. 2
It is thus found that there are essential points of agreement between the Buddhist uposatha and the Jaina pratikramana, rather the complete obligatory monastic act beginning from simiyika and ending in kāyotsarga.
In this connection the problem why in Jainism the pausadha was exclusively meant for the householders, while in Buddhism it was exclusively prescribed for the monks deserves consideration. The Jaina monks performed pratikramang on the last day of every fortnight in which they recited all possible omissions and commissions, and transgressions and expressed their purity. The pratikramana was obviously performed on the parva days. The contents of the Buddhist Patimokkha is very similar to the contents of the Jaina pratikramana and it appears that the Buddhists introduced the Patimokkha for a puopose
1. Anag, 8. 62.
alocanam divasiyam raiyam iriyavaham ca boddhavvam pakkhaya cadummasiya samvaccharamuttamattham ca //
Idid.