Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Some Jaina Canonical Sutras c29: Chapter XXIV: Daśavaikālika Sūtra (Dasaveyāliya Sūya)

Some Jaina Canonical Sūtras c29

Language
English

Chapter XXIV: Daśavaikālika Sūtra (Dasaveyāliya Sūya)

c29.2

The *Dasaveyāliya Sūya*¹ (*Daśavaikālika Sūtra*) is one of the four *mūlasūtras* of the Śvetāmbara āgama. Sejjambhava is said to have been the author of this book which contains in a nutshell tenets of Jainism. This text was originally compiled in order to give his son Mānaka the chance of grasping the essence of Jainism within a short period of six months at the end of which he was to die.² Sejjambhava (Śeyambhava) was the pupil of Prabhava who was the pupil of Jambu. Jambu was the pupil of Sudharman who was Mahāvīra’s immediate disciple. The year 98 after the death of Mahāvīra may be counted as the date when the *Dasaveyāliyasūya* was written.³ The gist of the āgama teaching which it gives was thoroughly mastered by Sejjambhava together with the traditional expositions and interpretations. This *sūtra* enunciates the noblest principles of the Jaina faith which emphasizes with equal force right knowledge and right conduct as its constituents. Some of the sayings regarding the monastic life contained in this *sūtra* remind us of the sayings in the Buddhist *Dhammapada* and the *Mokṣadharma* section of the *Śāntiparvan* of the *Mahābhārata*. This text is divided into ten *ajjhayanas*. The Chapters I–III, V–VIII and X are written entirely in verse. The topics discussed are the following: Flowers, monkhood, conduct, six groups of living beings, search for food, exposition of *dharma*, purity of speech, restriction to conduct, devotion to discipline and saintship.

c29.3

¹ Vide K. V. Abhyankar *Dasaveyāliya Sutta with the Niryukti*, 1932. Prof. A. M. Ghatage, Parallel passages in the *Daśavaikālika* and the *Ācārāṅga* (*New Indian Antiquary* Vol. I, No. 2 May, 1938), *Dasaveyāliya Sutta* edited by E. Leumann and translated with introduction and notes by W. Schubring, Ahmedabad, 1932.

c29.4

² Sejjambhava was enlightened by the apparition of a picture of the Jina and left his house when his wife was pregnant. She gave birth to a son named Mānaka. When the boy was 8 years old he enquired about his father, and when he came to know that he became an ascetic, he went forth to seek him and became his pupil. As the father knew that his son had only six months more to live he taught him the *Dasaveyāliya* within that period (Winternitz, *A History of Indian Literature* II, pp. 470-471).

c29.5

³ Weber, *Indische Studien*, 17, 77.

c29.6

In the first chapter we find that religion which is the highest bliss is made up of non-injury, self-restraint and penance. In the second chapter a person can be said to have renounced the world who casts away enjoyments and renounces pleasures which are entirely his own. A monk should control his passion regarding a woman. He should mortify himself, abandon all idea of delicacy, overcome desires, remove the feeling of hatred and control passion. In the third chapter the following are the improper things to be avoided by the sages who are free from the ties of the world and who have made themselves firm in self-restraint:—

c29.7

(1) a thing done purposely for the monk;
(2) a thing purchased for the monk;
(3) a thing brought for the monk from a distant place;
(4) dinner at night;
(5) scents, flowers, fan, shampooing;
(6) playing at counters;
(7) playing at dice;
(8) bearing the umbrella when not required;
(9) wearing shoes;
(10) kindling fire;
(11) cleaning the limbs;
(12) service of householders;
(13) remembrance of past pleasures when ill;
(14) ginger, sugarcane which is not ripe, sea salt, purgative, collyrium, painting the teeth, decoration of the body, etc.

c29.8

All these things should be shunned by the sages The monks who are free from worldly ties, are acquainted with the five ways of the influx of karma, who are well-restrained in the six classes of living beings, who have controlled the five senses and who are courageous The self-restrained monks, who are full of contentment, are uncovered in cold seasons, heat themselves in hot seasons, etc.

c29.9

In the fourth chapter we find the question of non-violence which requires a thorough examination of the presence of life in the various things of the world Life exists wherever there is growth and movement A monk ought to see that no violence of any kind is done to any living thing, however small or great The six great vows are enunciated in this chapter. The following are the topics discussed here:

c29.10

(1) On the knowledge of life and non-life depends the chain of successive higher steps of spiritual progress made up of the knowledge of the various resulting future conditions;
(2) The knowledge of freedom and bondage:
(3) Disgust with worldly life;
(4) Abandonment of enjoyment;
(5) Homelessness;
(6) Self-restraint;

c29.11

(7) Removal of the *karma* dirt;
(8) Right knowledge and faith;
(9) Knowledge of the world and emptiness;
(10) Motionless condition of the body;
(11) Annihilation of *karma*; and
(12) The perfected condition.

c29.12

In the fifth chapter we find that a monk, moving about for alms in a village or a town, should go about slowly without any mental agitation with his mind perfectly undisturbed. He should walk about avoiding living beings, water, earth, pits and uneven surfaces. He should not move in the vicinity of the houses of prostitutes. He should avoid a dog and a recently delivered cow on the road. Moving for alms in all families without any distinction, he should not walk fast nor engage himself in talking or laughing. He should not closely look at windows. He should avoid from a distance the private houses of kings, householders and policemen. While moving for alms he should not check attending to calls of nature. He should avoid a room where there are scattered flowers or seeds. He should stand within the permissible area, looking at the ground. He should avoid the sight of bathrooms or privies. He should not desire to accept food although offered with unsoiled hand or spoon or pot. He should avoid bulbs, roots or palm fruits. He should reject costly food or drink or water in brown sugar pots, or water of flour or rice. He should invite with permission from his preceptor other monks with a cheerful mind in the prescribed order, and if some of them so desire, he should eat his food with them. He should move about at a proper time and return at a proper time. Moving about for alms he should not anywhere sit or begin to relate any religious story. A self-restrained monk moving about for alms should not stand reclining upon the fastening bar or against the panels of the door. He should not desire even in mind to have the wood-apple or the citron fruit. Undejected he should seek alms.

c29.13

A wise monk should never be depressed. A self-restrained monk should not be angry, if a householder does not offer bed, seat, garment, etc. A monk should not beg of a woman or of a man, or of a young person or of an old person who had saluted him. A monk who hankers after name and fame incurs much sin. A wise monk avoids rich oils and ghee, and desists from taking intoxicating liquors.

c29.14

In the sixth chapter falsehood is always condemned by the monks in this world. A monk should avoid lies.

c29.15

completely He should not indulge in sexual intercourse. A restrained monk does not accept anything, not even a toothbrush without begging it of householders. Restrained monks possess a garment, a pot or a blanket or a duster without any attachment A self-restrained monk never injures in any of the three ways, viz, by self, by others or by consent given to others A monk should observe self-restraint avoiding the four things declared unfit for use, viz, food, residence, garment and the pot Monks leading a religious life and free from worldly ties with their mind fixed on self-restraint, should avoid food and drink meant for them as also the things purchased for them from a distance. A monk should not take food and drink in bronze cups or earthen jugs Noble monks should not sleep on chairs, cots, stools and arm-chairs If a monk moving for alms prefers to sit in the householder's place, he is thereby susceptible to an improper behaviour. A monk if he is very old or ill or wishes to practise penances, should sit in a householder's house He should not use sandal ointment for anointing the body. Monks purify their soul and remove sins with a vision free from delusion, devoted to penances, full of self-restraint and straight-forwardness

c29.16

In the seventh chapter, a monk should not speak what is not true, what is partly true and partly false, what is false, and what is not practised by the enlightened monks. He should not utter a speech which is neither true nor false He should avoid harsh or harmful speech. He should not speak with definiteness about a thing he does not know He should not address a woman as a fool He should not talk about cows fit to be milched A wise monk should not address a householder in any of the following ways. 'sit down, come, go, etc' One who is endowed with right knowledge and conduct and who is devoted to self-restraint and penance is called a monk A wise monk should always speak what is conducive to good.

c29.17

In the eighth chapter a monk should not sit on a seat full of dust He should not take cold water, ice or hailstone. A self-restrained monk should take hot water which is made lifeless by fully boiling it He should neither kindle nor stir nor extinguish burning fire. He should not place his foot on seeds, fungus or moss. He should not cut grass. He should note down eight subtle things, water-life, flour-life, subtle germs, subtle insects, subtle moss-life, subtle seed-life, subtle plant-life and subtle egg-life. A self-restrained monk, vigilant and well-composed in all his senses, should exert himself with all his mental powers. He should always clean the begging bowl, the blanket, the place of residence, the spot for attending calls of nature, his bed sheets and his seat.

c29.18

In the ninth chapter, he should not despise others, nor should he be puffed up. Anger puts an end to love, conceit destroys humility, deceit destroys friendship, while avarice destroys everything. One should destroy anger by calmness, conquer conceit by softness, deceit by straightforwardness and avarice by contentment. A monk should behave modestly before other monks of superior religious merit. He should not show fondness for sleep. He should not find delight in secret talks. He should always devote his activities to the practice of monkhood. He should ask his learned preceptor the true meaning in case of doubt. He should sit near him by keeping in a proper position his hands, feet and body with senses well controlled. He should not sit placing his leg upon his thigh. A self-controlled monk should speak in a language which is perfect, distinct and unambiguous. He should not laugh at a sage who is possessed of the practice and knowledge of monkhood. A monk should not talk to a householder about astrology, dream significance, etc. A monk should not narrate any story to women in a solitary place, nor should he gaze at a woman who is well adorned. To a monk seeking the benefit of his soul, decoration, contact with women, rich food are like a deadly poison. He should not feel attachment for lovely things. He should not ponder over bodily stature or the sweet talk and glance of women. Sin committed in previous births disappears in a monk who is devoted to religious study and good meditation, who is engaged in penance and who is not sinful. He should not show disrespect to his preceptor out of his family pride or anger or deception. The displeasure of the learned preceptor leads to the mental delusion of the pupil with no hope of release. Sense of shame, compassion, self-restraint and celibacy are the causes that lead to the purification of the soul. The preceptors are the great oceans of learning pursuing liberation, possessed of equanimity of mind, character, and intellect. Obedience is the root of the tree of religion and liberation is the highest result. It is by obedience that one gets quickly fame and learning. An ignorant man who is proud, deceitful and bad-tongued, is driven down the current of worldly life like a log of wood in a stream. A monk should have lower beds than those of his preceptor. He should adore his feet with humility. Touching the preceptor's body or garments, he should say 'forgive me for my fault, I will not commit it again'. A wise man should hear his preceptor getting up from his seat A monk should not blame anybody in his absence. He should not use harsh language in the presence of another. A monk who neither blames nor disdains a young or old person, monk or householder, and abandons self-conceit and anger, is really a worthy one A wise monk on hearing the excellent precepts of the worthy preceptors should move about devoted to the five vows, guarded in the three protections, and free from four passions, viz., anger, pride, deceit and avarice.

c29.19

In the tenth or the concluding chapter the four items of spiritual ecstasy are the following. modesty as understood by the old monks—spiritual ecstasy from modesty, spiritual ecstasy from the study of scriptures, spiritual ecstasy from penances and spiritual ecstasy from conduct. Under spiritual ecstasy from modesty are found listening attentively to instructions, understanding the instructions thoroughly, conforming to spiritual learning and freedom from self-conceit. A monk should not practise penances for securing an interest in this world He should do it for the destruction of his karma .He should also observe the rules of conduct prescribed for the monks for stopping the influx of karma He should remain in this world without property, gold and silver and must have right faith A real monk is one who takes up a motionless position on the cremation ground, who is not afraid of any dreadful sight, who is absolutely regardless of the body, being devoted to the practice of penances He is a real monk who knows birth and death to be real dangers and who exercises control over hands, feet, tongue and senses and knows the true meaning of the Holy Scriptures. He remains without greed, who does not care for his life, and remains steady and undeceitful A characterless monk should not be respected. A real monk is not proud of caste, nor of form, nor of gain, nor of learning and who devotes himself to religious meditation.

c29.20

A householder's life is attended with many troubles and sins People certainly despise the fallen monk who is devoid of spiritual glory. A monk after having enjoyed much with a licentious mind and led a life which has no self-control, goes after death to a condition which cannot be described. A monk should try to avoid crowded places and places where he is likely to be insulted He should try to have food or drink that is brought from a near place which is visible. He should not do service to householders. He should always think of himself in the first and last watches of the night. Self is always to be protected with all the senses kept well within bounds

Cites (5)