The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources c10.128

c10.128

Thāṇ. 242b says that a layman may wave to and fro like a flag, that he may either offer resistance like a picket or else be provocative like a thorn-bush (*khara-kaṇṭaya*), while on the other hand he may reflect the picture like a mirror. All this certainly goes back to his attitudes taken towards the wishes or the instructions on the part of either the monk or the nun. He is bound to grant them shelter, food, equipment and, in certain cases, to nurse them (comp. Uvās. 58 where, at the same time, it is emphasized that monks and nuns should observe a reserved attitude towards heretics and profane persons), and this certainly explains why, in the passage quoted, he is compared with father and mother, brother, friend or wife (*savattī*). For the hospitable welcome of a monk comp. Vivāgas. 2, 1. The moral value of giving alms is demonstrated by Viy. 289a; 373a. Nothing, however, is said in the Canon regarding the services rendered by a layman for the general welfare, i.e. nothing regarding the foundation of local meeting-and rest-houses resembling the *dharma-śālā* and *upāśraya* of our days,¹ let alone temples or Jina statues (§ 25). The scene of instruction—as a return made by the monks (Viy. 141a), though also laymen among themselves ask for it (Viy. 550a)—is represented by the *ceiya*. The layman approaches the teacher in simple clothing without having anything on him containing life, and he does so with concentration and with his hands uplifted for the *añjali* from the moment he comes in sight of the teacher (Viy. 137a; Uvav. 54).