External  Austerities

Fasting Completely (Anasan):

Anasan means fasting, renouncing food and water, etc., for a day, for many days or throughout one’s life. One day of total fasting is called upavas. Fasting completely until death is done when life is close to an end. Such fasting is considered very auspicious and is called Physical Anasan.

Bhav Anasan refers to the total control of our inner desires for a short or a long time. If this austerity is cultivated then only we will be able to strive for spiritual uplift.

Partial Fasting (Unodari):

Unodari means eating less than what one’s hunger is. The Jain dharma prescribes thirty-two handfuls of food per day and in order to perform this austerity, one may eat a few handfuls less than the prescribed amount.

Bhav Unodari means to limit our desires to some extent. It may be more difficult to do this than to control them totally, but once this starts then we will be able to limit our desires for the things in our daily life.

Limiting the number of items of the food (Vruti Sankshep)

n Vruti Sankshep, we put a limit on the number of items we may eat during a single sitting or throughout the day.

Bhav Vruti Sankshep means to limit our desires for some part of a day or a whole day. This austerity will help us to control our desires so that our mind will keep from wandering.
Limiting desired tasty food (Ras Parityag)

Ras Parityag means to renounce tasty foods which one likes very much. It can be done partially or in total for a short time or prolonged period of time.

Bhav Ras Parityag is more difficult to perform than the other austerities because in this we limit our most desired thoughts. An austerity of this nature will help us to control our passions even in the most tempting situations.

Bodily Endurance (Kayakalesh)

Kayakalesh means to stand or sit in a particular posture for a long period of time. This austerity may cause pain, but one should ignore the pain.
In Bhav Kayakalesh one stands firm in controlling passions even if temptations are great.

Controlling of Senses (Pratisanlinata)

In Pratisanlinata one controls all types of senses in order to prevent pleasant and unpleasant temptations. In order to perform this austerity one may stay in isolation for one or more nights.

In Bhav Pratisanlinata one controls oneself from lying, telling the distorted truth, or from participating in sensual activities. Thus this austerity helps to control passions like anger, pride, deception, and greed.