JAINA CODE OF CONDUCT
FOR HOUSEHOLDERS |
DR.B.K.KHADABADI |
Sravaka and
Sravakacara
In the course of our having a brief
acquaintance with the salient aspects of Jainism through a few
introductory words, we have noted that this dharma14 (religion)
preached by the Jina, consists of Right Belief (samyag-drsti or samyaktva),
Right Knowledge samyag-jnana), and Right Conduct (samyakcaritra), which
together,15 in proper combination, lead to liberation or
emancipation. Right Belief means perfect faith in the six substances (dravyas),
seven principles (tattvas), etc., that mainly go to formulate the dogmas
of this religion. Right Knowledge means accurate knowledge of all these
substances, principles, etc; and Right Conduct, which is based on, or
which is to be practiced after the accomplishment of the first two. The
ethical discipline or Code of Conduct is prescribed in two separate forms:
The first, for the monk, known as yatyacara, and the other for the layman
or householder, known as sravakacara.
The term sravaka is commonly used to
designate a layman. Several etymologies, some quite elaborate,16
are given for this term. The quintessence of all such etymologies
could be as follows: One, who sincerely and regularly listens to the
teachings and preachings of the Jina through the monk for the good of
one's own self, is a sravaka. Other alternate terms found in usage are:
sramanopasaka, its abbreviation upasaka (one who adores the monk and his
teachings), sagara, grhin, grhastha (one who practices the prescribed code
of conduct by staying at home), desasamyamin (one who is partially self-
restrained and indifferent to worldly attachments), sraddhal7
(one having faith in the words of the Jina as taught by the monk) etc.l8
In good old days, the Jain layman was known as Sravaka. A corrupt
form of this word viz., saravaga or saravagi was in wide currency in later
days. Today he is called a Jaina only.l9
Similarly, sravakacara is the commonly
used term for the code of conduct prescribed for the layman. The other
alternate terms found in usage are: up-asakacara, sravaka-dharma (savaya-dhamma
in Prakrit), sagara-dharma, grhastha-dharma, etc. 20
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF
SRAVAKACARA
Jainism, originating from the sramanic
way of thought and life, must have had its followers in due course of
time. What was the exact nature of the religio-spiritual and social life
of the laity in the earliest period of its history? We have no means to
ascertain. But this much is certain, that the Jina admitted the laity
along with their natural inability to adopt a discipline of complete
self-control and harder modes of spiritual pursuit; and, hence, the lay
life was designed as a stage preparatory to the ascetic life for the
realization of the highest goal, and at the same time, making it
complementary to the monastic life. This is evident in the nature of the
social organization, i. e., the Jaina-Sangha2l with its
prescribed two-fold code of conduct; one for the monastic life, and the
other for the lay life, the out lines of the second of which came down in
the Upasakadhyayana. the lost 7th anga according to the Digambara
tradition22 and the extant Urasaga-dasao of the Ardhamagadhi
Canon of the Svetambaras, and further, given some place in the early works
like the Caritra-prabhrta of Kundakunda and the Tattvarthasutra of
Umasvamin. Thereafter, with the passage of a period, of about a thousand
years after Mahavira, the code of conduct for the laity i. e., the
Sravakacara, assumed a shape of separate entity in independent treatises
on the subject such as the Ratna Karandaka Sravakacara and the
Savaya-pannatti. 23 Then, meeting with the expedients of
marching time and expanding regions, influenced by some contents of the
Puranic works, by authoritative sayings of great Acharyas, and by customs
and manners prevalent among the neighboring people with other religious
traditions, etc. It had several innovations, adaptations and injunctions,
as reflected in the apparent flexibility of the astamula-gunas, and of the
enumeration, interpretation and scope of some of the secondary vows, etc.,
about which we shall have some discussion later at relevant contexts. With
all this, it attained its full growth during the medieval period of Jaina
history,24 which is known as the period of the growth of the
Sravakacara, and which also happens to be the golden period of Jainism,
particularly in southern and western India. The plausible line of the
origin and growth of the Sravakacara as a lay doctrine is well chalked out
and presented by R. Williams in his book,25 which I must
reproduce here for some of its details and significant observations:
"The traditional distinction between the
code of behavior for the householder, the sravakacara, and that for the
monk, the yatyacara, is a fundamental one. Initially the lay estate was
admitted by the Jina only in deference to human frailty, and was regarded
in theory as a stage of preparation for the ascetic life. In the early
period of Jainism, the sravakacara, was therefore of minimal importance,
and as it has grown progressively in significance, various expedients have
had to be adopted to make up for the silence of the canonical texts. The
corpus of the lay doctrine is, in fact, a creation of the medieval period.
The Upasaka-dasah supplied the frame work of the vratas, each with its
five typical aticaras or infractions, and the Pratimas. Though the notion
that these aticaras were intended only as examples is familiar to the
older svetambara Acaryas, they soon became, in practice, the basis of a
complete moral code. The Avasyaka literature gave the details of the
necessary duties which are obligatory on the layman, as well as, on the
monk, and doubtless because some practices belong at the same time to
several categories- the samayika, which is both vrata, pratima and
avasyaka, is a case in point, and because in some of them the ascetic is
assimilated temporarily to the position of a monk, the transference to the
lay life of rules originally intended for the community of monks was
facilitated. This process of adaptation developed on a wide scale and
contributed notably to the building up of the vast edifice of the temple
ritual. An expanding tradition of sacred legends, such as those which,
under the appellation of the Puranas have been fashioned by the Digambaras
into the shape of a scripture helped to lend authority to innovations in
practice as when the name of Krisna Vasudeva is invoked as the originator
of the dvadasavartavandanaka. A similar purpose was achieved by the
conferment of a quasi-canonical authority on famous Purvacaryas; an
example is the use of the phrase iti Harihhadra-suri-matam. The Digambaras,
who by not admitting the authenticity of the extant canon have to some
extent rejected the servitudes of the tradition. They have not hesitated
before a conscious rationalization of the texts: this is true notably of
the Tattvartha-sutra and the Ratna Kanandaka. Local usage or customary
law, the desaacara, though accorded no mandatory force, has always been
admitted as a guide wherever there is no conflict with Jaina doctrine, and
more particularly in the modern period has been increasingly incorporated
in the sravakacara. An extreme instance of this process would be the
sanctification of the arka-vivaha in the seventeenth century Traivarnacara.
At all times the building up of the sravakacara has been assisted by the
polyvalence of certain terms and by the habit, widespread among the
commentators, of arbitrarily treating words or phrases as upalaksanas--symbols
or examples of wider categories: and again and again, the word adi is
inserted by the commentators in places where the text offers no
justification for it. The methods used in constructing the sravakacara
have their analogies else where. It is with rather similar exiguous
resources that the Christian and Moslem exegets raised their elaborate
edifices of morality. " R. Williams also points out,26 a
distinct aspect of the role of the Digambara Acaryas and scholars, played
in the systematization of the lay doctrine: "Perhaps because they
disclaim. the continuity of tradition, the Diga-mbaras seem to have felt
more keenly than the svetambaras the need to concretize and systematize
the lay doctrine, and, in attempting a more logical presentation of the
creed, they have effaced more than one discrepancy Ordinarily in any
conflict of usage between the two sects, except in the practice of ascetic
nudity. The Digambaras appear in the position of innovators, and it is
precisely because they have largely jettisoned the dead-wood of an earlier
age that their testimony is of greater value for the conditions of the
mediaeval period."
SOURCES OF
SRAVAKACARA
As we just passed our cursory eye over,
the line of origin and growth of the sravakacara, our attention is drawn
by a fact, that the canonical sector -- and also some of the early works
like the Caritra-prabhrta of Kundakunda and the Tattvarthasutra of
Umasvamin --has given it rather a frugal treatment, in the sense that only
one text is earmarked for it viz., the lost Upasakad/hyayana or the extant
Uvasagadasao, though references to its outlines and it is being practiced
by the laity are found in other canonical works, like the
Naya-dhamma-kahao and others.27 It could be so, because in
early days the yatyacara was of great importance for the preservation,
interpretation and continuation of the Sacred Law; and the sravakacara, on
the other hand, was in the primary stage28 of development, and
as it grew in importance through a few centuries a vast amount of
literature grew around it. Canonical works on monastic life are, no doubt,
found in big number and several of them in bulky volumes. Works on the
sravakacara, too appeared later not in a small number. The greatest number
of treatises on this subject have been produced during the medieval
period. They continued to be composed, and compiled until the late modern
period. Thus, these treatises, on the sravakacara, happen to be the main
sources of information on the nature of life of the laity. R. Williams
has, perhaps for the first time, listed the names of these treatises and
their authors, belonging both to the Digambara and the svetambara
traditions, along with some comments on their contents as well as their
authors.29 The following ones are worthy of note for us:
1. Caritra-prabhrta of Kundakunda,
Tattvartha sutra of Umasvamin, Ratnakarandaka of Samanta bhadra,
Upasakadhyayana of Somadeva, Purusartha-siddhyupaya of Amrtacandra,
sravakacaras of Amitagati and Vasunandi, Sagara dharmamrta of Asadhara;
and also Adipurana (Chs. 38, 39 and 40) of Jinasena. (Caritrasara of
Camundaraya, Savaya-dhamma-doha of an unknown author and Traivarnikacara
of Son asena.
2. Savaya-pannatti attributed to
Umasvati, Dharma-bindu of Haribhadra, Uvasaga dasao with Abhayadeva's
commentary, yoga-sastra of Hemacandra, sraddha-dina-krtya of Devendra,
Acara-dinakara of Vardhamana and sraddha-vidhi of Ratnasekhara.
Williams has also mentioned, that he has
left out from his survey Tamil and Kannada treatises on the sravakacara,
besides the Hindi and Gujarati ones, which happen to belong to the modern
period. He has also pointed out that the Jaina inscriptions and story
literature would yield valuable information on the lay life.30
Dr. A. N. Upadhye and Dr. Hiralal Jain, the General Editors of Somadeva's
Upasakadhyayana; however, have stressed, in their editorial note, the need
of a deeper study of certain material along with that of some points of
historical, comparative and critical nature that have escaped R. William's
attention.31 And I would add here, two more points at this very
context: (i) The Jaina-Grantha-prasastis (colophons) also need to be taken
into consideration for the study of the sravakacara. Some of them give
valuable information on certain householders, and their way of life. In
support of this, I would give one or two examples: Mahakavi Puspadanta in
the Prasastis of his Fasahara-cariu and Nayakumara-cariu, supplies
considerable information about the great Slavaka, Prime Minister Bharata
under the Rastra-kuta King KrsnaIII and also about Bharata's son,
sravaka-siromani Nanna, who too patronised him. Apart from cases of
patronizing ministers, Kings, feudal chiefs, etc., we get interesting
information from such prasastis about those householders coming from the
middle class of the society, too. Poet Raidhu (c. 1600 A. D.) records in
the prasastis of his works about eminent householders like Harasi Sahu.
Kheu Sahu, Kunthudasa Kamalasimha Sanghavi. Under the patronising regard
of the last householder, the poet composed a treatise on the lay life,
entitled Sammaltaguna-nihana-kavva, for the purpose of the svadhyaya of
the devout soul.32 (ii) Secondly, there are available a number
of Sravakacara works, still lying in the manuscript from in the various
Manuscript Libraries in Karnataka and also in Gujarat and Rajasthan--that
deserve to be published and studied for additional and, possibly, rare
information of regional nature on the lay life. My cursory scrutiny of the
Kannada Prantiya Tadapatrya Grantha-suci,33 drew my attention
to some interesting titles of manuscripts of the sravakacara works
preserved in the Kannada script in the sastra-bhandaras of the Jaina Maths
at Moodbidri and Karkal. The following are some of the titles of
manuscripts in Sanskrit: Upasaka-samskara of Padmanandi, Guna-prakasaka by
an unknown, Danasasana by Vasupujay, Sajjana-citta-vallabha by Mallisena,
Bhavyananda Sastra by Pandyabhupati etc. Some of these are endowed with
commentaries in Kannada. Some are also found with the concerned stories
added to them. The following are some of the titles of manuscripts in the
Kannada language:
1. Bhavya-jana-kanthabharana by
Abhayacandra,
2. Danasara by Prabhacandra,
3. Cikka sravakacara by an unknown,
4. Anuvriti-antaraya by an unknown,
5. Prayas cilta-vidhana by an unknown
etc.34
I hope the study of these works will
throw considerable light on certain rare aspects of contemporary lay life.
This is certainly true of such manuscripts preserved in Gujarati,
Rajasthani and Hindi too. Lastly, by way of elucidation, on the point of
the unexploited sources like the rich Jaina Katha Literatute and
inscriptions, I suggest that we have to bring out monographs like Glimpses
of Householders' life as reflected in Jaina Stories and in Jaina
Inscriptions found in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and
elsewhere, too. Such monographs could be language wise at the beginning.
Moreover, such work could be undertaken by individual scholars, as well
as, the regional University Departments and Research Institutes with
long-term plans. Then, alone the study of the sravakacara could be
thorough and complete.
PATTERNS OF
PRESENTATION OF SRAVAKACARA
The householder's code of conduct is
found to have been presented in these various treatises, by different
authors of different periods, mainly on three patterns:
1. With the twelve vratas (vows) and
samllekhand (voluntary termination of life).
2. With the frame-work of eleven
Pratimas (stages of ethical progress).
3. With the division of the whole
ethical discipline into paksa, carya and sadhana.
The first pattern comprises 5 anu-vratas
(small vows), 3 guna-vratas (strengthening vows) and 4 siksa-vratas
(disciplinary vows) and samllekhana, which is of voluntary nature. In the
second pattern, the word pratima is used to designate the stages of
ethical progress in the householder's life. The third one divides the
whole ethical discipline of the householder into three parts:
1. paksa (beginner's course with
favourable inclination towards the Sacred Law),
2. carya (performance of the eleven
pratimas), and
3. sadhana (the accomplishment of
samllekhana).
There are, however, differences of
opinion among various scholars regarding the original tradition, logical
nature, antiquity, etc. of these (particularly the first two) patterns or
methods of approach to the exposition of the householder's code of
conduct. Some scholars, like Pt. H. L. Jain, accept the second pattern as
the ancient one, as it has been referred to in the old scriptural works
like the Sat-khandagama.35 Some others, like Dr. K. C. Sogani,
think that this pattern is "though chronologically prior, the credit of
logical priority comes to the first one."36 According to Prof.
Schubring, "horizontally expanded as it were, the householder's duties
(the twelve vratas etc.,) are projected into the vertical by the ladder of
eleven uvasaga-padima." In the plan of the successive rungs of the ethical
ladder, "The idea rather implies partly a gradation of a more theoretical
kind, and partly the opportunity of making selection."37 R.
Williams holds that the first one is the original pattern followed both in
the Digambara and the Svetambara traditions, while the Digambara Acaryas
have often chosen the pratima frame for describing the householder's
ethical discipline.38 Pt. K.C. Shastri also holds that the
pattern of the twelve vratas is the most ancient one, and it is also duly
accepted in the Svetambara tradition, too.39 I fully endorse
this view, for also an additional reason that the ladder of the
householder ethical progress, with its eleven rungs, stages or pratimas,
which appears to have been worked out rather on a more enlightening and
analytical line by some early unknown Acaryas, has itself to stand on the
original and natural ground of the ethical discipline of the twelve vratas
themselves. Pt. H. L. Jain's elucidation of the concept of the eleven
pratimas making the four siksa-vratas the very center of his discussion
and elaboration, well high implies this point. Further, the third one,
which is an all inclusive and systematically conceived later pattern, was
devised by Acarya Jinasena and further adopted by Pt. Asadhara in his
Sagara-dharmamrta and also by some later authors in their works. Moreover
from Hemacandra who in his Yoga-sastra prefaces his discussion of the
twelve vratas by the enumeration of 35 sravakagunas (that were worked out
on the ideal layman's qualities described in the Dharma-bindu of
Haribhadra-suri), toward the description of the Sravaka-gunas, the
important virtues of the householder, got prominence in the Svetambara
treatises, which tendency later led to the matching prominence of titles
of such treatises like Sraddha-dina krtya of Devendra, Sraddha-guna-sreni-
sangraha of Jinamandana, Sraddha-vidhi of Ratnasekhara.
If we closely scrutinize these three
patterns, we come to know that they do not contain any divergent aspects
of rules of conduct, but they are mere methods of approach to the same
subject comprising basically the same rules of conduct for the house
holder prescribed by the Jina. If any treatise on the sravakacara follows
any one of these patterns, it is so by way of representing the tradition
as well as the age of that author. So far our deliberation was over the
nature, scope, etc., of the householder's ethical discipline. We shall
take up its very core which generally comprises the samyaktva together
with the mula-gunas, the twelve vratas and some miscellaneous topics of
injunctionary and recommendatory type, which cannot be brought under any
particular vow.
REFERENCES:
14. (i) The meaning of the term dharma
here can hardly be covered by the term religion.
(ii) Here dharma is that (righteous way
of life), which destroys karma, sustains living beings from misery in the
cycle of transmigration and leads them to the highest bliss.
(iii) Vide the Ratna Karandaka
Sravakaaara, v.2.
15. It is known as the ratna-traya (the
trio of gems) and also the guna-traya (the trio of excellences).
16. (i) Like the one given in tile
Abhidhana Rajendra under savaya. (ii) One who listens (srnoti), the words
of the Jina (Jina- vacanam) and through the teacher (guru)--these are the
fundamental factors of all the etymologies. (iii) The
Sravaka-dharma-pancataka of Haribhadrasuiri, with the Curni by Yasodeva,
in its v 2, has perhaps preserved a simple but comprehensive etymology of
this term.
17. This term is found in usage among
the svetambaras only .
18. Some of the terms used to designate
the monk are: anagara (the houseless), samaymin (self-controlled),
nir-grantha (the fetterless) besides others like sramana, muni, sadhu etc.
19. Vide Pt K C. Shastri, Introduction
to Upasakadhya-yana, p. 58.
20. Some of the terms used for the
monastic code of conduct are: anagara-dharma, yati-dharma etc, besides
others like yatyacara, muni-dharma, sadhu-dharma etc.
21. Attributed to Mahavira, who
elucidated and promulgated the Sacred Law in historical times.
22. As mentioned in the Satkhandagama,
Part I, p. 102.
23. The term sravakacara, it may be
noted, is used to denote the code of conduct for the laity and also for
the title of treatises on the same subject.
24 Jaina history may broadIy and
conveniently be separated in three divisions: (i) The early period- 600
B.C. to C. 400 A D., (ii) The medieval period--C. 500A.D. to C.1300 A.D.
and (iii) -The modern period--C 1400 A. D. onwards. For details, vide R.
Williams, Op. cit., Introduction, p. xii.
25. Op. cit., Intro, pp. xvi-xvii.
26 Op. cit., Intro., p. xviii
27. In the story of Selaka here, there
is a clear reference to the 5 anuvratas, 7 siksa-vratas and 11
upasaka-pratimas; and Jina-dharma is referred to as Vinaya-mula-dhamma
which is two-fold: agara-vinaya, and anogara-vinaya, vinaya meaning
ethical discipline.
28. A stage preparatory to ascetic life.
29. Op. Cit., pp I-3l.
30. Op. Cit., Intro, p. xii.
31 (i) Pradhana Sampadakiya, p. 2.
(ii) They have also observed here that a
thorough comparative study of all the extant sravakacara treatises is
still a desideratum.
32. Vide Some Householders mentioned in
ancient Jaina inscriptions and Grantha-prasustis (in Hindi), by Dr.
Rajaram Jain, Vaishali Research Institute Bulletin, No. 3.
33. Bharatiya Jnanapitha, varanasi,
1944, Ed. Pt. Bhujabali Shastri.
34. These titles of manuscripts have no
separate column of the Sravakacara. But these are included among works
under the subject dharma and one has to sift them out.
35. Vide Introd. to
Vasunandi-sravakacaro, p.22
36. Vide Ethical Doctrines in Jainism,
p.110
37. The Doctrine of the Jaina, pp.
285-287
38. Op.cit., Itrod., p. xxvii
39. Intro. to Upasakadhyayana, p. 67.
40. Op. cit., Intro. pp. 54-58.
