163
profound reminder, at once, to the monk, and to all he encounters, that something
extraordinary has happened, is happening.
By implication that nudity—no tapas, or austerity, but a true freedom-inrenunciation—translates into one of Mahavira’s most revered injunctions. He is said
to have declared, “He who injures these (earth-bodies) does not comprehend and
renounce the sinful acts; he who does not inure these, comprehends and renounces
the sinful acts. Knowing them, a wise man should not act sinfully toward earth, nor
cause others to act so, nor allow others to act so. He who knows these causes of sin
relating to earth, is called a reward-knowing sage. Thus I say”
14
. The clear fact that
Mahavira intoned the words “nor allow others to act so” provides a remarkable
insight (if it is true) into the activist stance at the heart of Jain non-violence. Such
proponents certainly are there. Most recently, in September 2018, the 51-year-old
Digambara muni, Tarun Sagar fasted to death after an illness of over a decade. Over
200 monks fast to death each year, a Jain tradition known as Sallekhana
15
. We’d met
him in Mumbai during a pilgrimage and he spoke about interceding in the build-up
of nuclear weapons, and particularly he displayed great agitation over the Reagan
Star Wars program. He was involved in animal rights, issues of ecological legislation, and a host of other pronounced and burning topical issues.
Like his ascetical peers, his ardor, to paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre, was no useless
passion. His path was meant to be viable, and accessible to everyone the world over.
He was engaged in this world. His dharma-tirtha, or holy path, was the result of
daily salutations (namaskara-mantras), compassion, empathy, and charity (jivadaya); of care in walking (irya-samiti), forgiveness (kshama), universal friendliness
to all species (maitri), affirmation (astikya—as opposed to a negative, world-weary
predilection one might assume); the sharing with guests of everything (atithisamvibhaga), critical self-examination at all times (alocana), a vast realm of behavioral restraints (gunavratas), aversion leading to renunciation of everything other
than renunciation itself (vairagya), and constant meditation on these matters
(Dhyana). These many assertions of his daily quest were at the basis of that aspired
to liberation in this life, from this life, to this life—and hence the mathematical
complexity of such a philosophy, with its ultimate probity resting in the realization
14 The Akaranga Sutra, Book I, Lecture 1, Lesson 3, in Jaina Sutras, Translated from Prakrit by
Hermann Jacobi, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 1980, pp. 4–5. First published by Oxford
University Press, 1884, with Translations by Hermann Jacobi. Moreover, when Mahavira spoke of
earth-bodies, he was explicitly referencing every life-form imaginable, from “seeds” and “sprouts”
to “lichens,” “water-bodies and fire-bodies and wind-bodies…” (1.8.1.11–12, Jacobi, 1884).
15 See Times of India, September 1, 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jain-digambara-monk-tarun-sagar-dies-at-51/articleshow/65631337.cms, Accessed March 30, 2019; See
also, “Jainism - Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice
of Sallekhana,” by Ottilingam Somasundaram, A. G. Tejus Murthy,1 and D. Vijaya Raghavan,
Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Oct-Dec; 58(4): 471–474. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.196702,
PMCID: PMC5270277, PMID: 28197009, PMC, NCBI, US National Library of Medicine, https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5270277/. Accessed March 26, 2019.
18.3 Whorls of Existence
profound reminder, at once, to the monk, and to all he encounters, that something
extraordinary has happened, is happening.
By implication that nudity—no tapas, or austerity, but a true freedom-inrenunciation—translates into one of Mahavira’s most revered injunctions. He is said
to have declared, “He who injures these (earth-bodies) does not comprehend and
renounce the sinful acts; he who does not inure these, comprehends and renounces
the sinful acts. Knowing them, a wise man should not act sinfully toward earth, nor
cause others to act so, nor allow others to act so. He who knows these causes of sin
relating to earth, is called a reward-knowing sage. Thus I say”
14
. The clear fact that
Mahavira intoned the words “nor allow others to act so” provides a remarkable
insight (if it is true) into the activist stance at the heart of Jain non-violence. Such
proponents certainly are there. Most recently, in September 2018, the 51-year-old
Digambara muni, Tarun Sagar fasted to death after an illness of over a decade. Over
200 monks fast to death each year, a Jain tradition known as Sallekhana
15
. We’d met
him in Mumbai during a pilgrimage and he spoke about interceding in the build-up
of nuclear weapons, and particularly he displayed great agitation over the Reagan
Star Wars program. He was involved in animal rights, issues of ecological legislation, and a host of other pronounced and burning topical issues.
Like his ascetical peers, his ardor, to paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre, was no useless
passion. His path was meant to be viable, and accessible to everyone the world over.
He was engaged in this world. His dharma-tirtha, or holy path, was the result of
daily salutations (namaskara-mantras), compassion, empathy, and charity (jivadaya); of care in walking (irya-samiti), forgiveness (kshama), universal friendliness
to all species (maitri), affirmation (astikya—as opposed to a negative, world-weary
predilection one might assume); the sharing with guests of everything (atithisamvibhaga), critical self-examination at all times (alocana), a vast realm of behavioral restraints (gunavratas), aversion leading to renunciation of everything other
than renunciation itself (vairagya), and constant meditation on these matters
(Dhyana). These many assertions of his daily quest were at the basis of that aspired
to liberation in this life, from this life, to this life—and hence the mathematical
complexity of such a philosophy, with its ultimate probity resting in the realization
14 The Akaranga Sutra, Book I, Lecture 1, Lesson 3, in Jaina Sutras, Translated from Prakrit by
Hermann Jacobi, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 1980, pp. 4–5. First published by Oxford
University Press, 1884, with Translations by Hermann Jacobi. Moreover, when Mahavira spoke of
earth-bodies, he was explicitly referencing every life-form imaginable, from “seeds” and “sprouts”
to “lichens,” “water-bodies and fire-bodies and wind-bodies…” (1.8.1.11–12, Jacobi, 1884).
15 See Times of India, September 1, 2018, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jain-digambara-monk-tarun-sagar-dies-at-51/articleshow/65631337.cms, Accessed March 30, 2019; See
also, “Jainism - Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice
of Sallekhana,” by Ottilingam Somasundaram, A. G. Tejus Murthy,1 and D. Vijaya Raghavan,
Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Oct-Dec; 58(4): 471–474. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.196702,
PMCID: PMC5270277, PMID: 28197009, PMC, NCBI, US National Library of Medicine, https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5270277/. Accessed March 26, 2019.
18.3 Whorls of Existence