Page:The Heart of Jainism (IA heartofjainism00stevuoft).djvu/147

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FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS
119

it might mean either ‘goat’ or ‘grain’. The result of this deviation from the strict truth was that the king’s throne fell to the ground, but if you look in a dictionary you will see the word bears a double meaning to this day!

The rules regarding truthfulness and untruthfulness differ for monks and laity, as we shall see when we come to discuss the twelve vows.

iii. Adattādāna.Dishonesty (Adattādāna) is another class of sin which is forbidden to all Jaina; besides actual theft, this sin includes keeping lost property or treasure trove, smuggling, cheating, taking bribes, and all treason and law breaking. It was explained to the writer that the reason why treason and law breaking were included under this category was that originally they led to much financial profit, and all illegitimate financial profit was stealing; nowadays they are not so advantageous, but they are still strictly prohibited. Under this head is also forbidden all sharp practice in business, together with the misappropriation of trust funds and the use of charitable funds for private gain.

iv. Abrahmaċarya.Another sin that also bears a different connotation for the professed religious and the layman is unchastity (Abrahmaċarya); for whereas a layman is bound to maintain his own wife in all honour and happiness, it is sin for a sādhu to allow so much as the hem of his garment to touch a woman. When we deal with the vows, we shall notice how much Eastern and Western monasticism have in common on this point.

v. Parigraha.The Jaina realized how many sins sprang from excessive love of one’s own possessions. They taught that if a monk kept one garment or one vessel above the allowed number, or if he even became over attached to one that he lawfully possessed, he committed the sin of Parigraha, or covetousness. In the same way the layman was instructed that if he showed uncontrolled grief when one of his cattle died or his money disappeared, he too had given way to greed.

vi. Krodha.As one studies more closely the Jaina idea of what sin