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26 : PART IV
GUIDELINES TO MAHAVIR-DARSHAN
(5) To abstain from taking four kinds of food at night. The
four kinds are : eatable, tastable, lickable, drinkable. Eata
bles, at least, he must give up at night. (6) To take clean i. e. filtered water (7) To abstain from gambling (8) To follow in the main the five small vows. The vows relate
to non-killing etc. (9) To abstain from hunting (10) To abstain from adultery or lasciviousness (11) To perform some religious exercises daily. (12) To abstain from making his living by any but the following
means (a) agriculture (b) learning (c) trade (d) army (e)
crafts (f) singing (g) music. The eleven Pratimas are :
1. Darsana (faith): A true Jain must have perfect and intelligent, well-reasoned faith in Jainism, i. e. he must have a sound knowledge of its doctrines and their applications in life.
2. Vrata (vow): He must observe the five minor vows ( anu-vratas), the three guna-vratas, and four siksha-vratas. To give details :he must not wilfully destroy any kind of life, must not tell a lie. must not use another person's property without the owner's consent, must be chaste, must limit his necessities of life and avoid the use of food which involves unnecessary killing of living beings. The three guna-vratas are special vows relating to the limitation and determination of his daily work, food and enjoyment. The remaining four vows relate to his worship in the morning, noon and evening, keeping fast on certain days, limiting enjoyables day to day and daily giving charity in the form of knowledge, medicine, comfort and food.
3. Samayika ( worship ) : He must worship regularly in general for forty-eight minutes, three times daily. Worship means self-contemplation and purifying one's ideas and emotions.
4. Poshadhopavasa ( weekly fast): He fasts regularly, as a rule, twice a fortnight each lunar month.
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