Some Jaina Canonical Sutras c7.22

c7.22

The Buddhist rules of decorum pertaining to dressing, bodily movements, poses, gestures, postures, laughing, speaking, etc., are appropriately combined with those relating to walking, sitting, standing and lying down. A Buddhist monk is required to be properly clad with a view to appearing in the eyes of others as a person endowed with moral scruples and sense of decency. Twenty-four rules of decorum are provided for the regulation of the Buddhist manner of eating- They are intended to make the Buddhist monk or nun considerate and careful, gentle and graceful, moderate and ungluttonous in eating with due sense of propriety, proportion and decency. Fifteen rules of decorum applying to the Buddhist manner of preaching the doctrine are intended evidently not only to keep up the dignity of the preacher but also to avoid the awkwardness of the situation and ineffectiveness of the preaching itself. The Buddhist rules of decorum may be shown to have as their immediate literary background the rules laid down in the various Gṛhya sūtras which too speak of the four main iryāpathas as consisting of standing, sitting, walking and lying down, the rest being subservient to them. (For a comparative study vide B. C. Law, Buddhist Rules of Decorum published in R. K. Mookerjee Volume (Bhārata-Kaumudī), I, pp. 381ff) The Jain rules of conduct and decorum, agreeing in their essential features with the Buddhist rules, are broadbased upon careful considerations and keen observations. A comparative study of these rules as enforced by different religions of the world is sure to yield many fruitful results.