iv. Maithuna
viramaṇa
vrata. The vow of chastity (Maithuna viramaṇa vrata) follows, by which a man promises to be absolutely faithful to his own wife at all times and never to allow any evil thoughts in his own mind about goddesses. The vow may be broken in five ways: consummating marriage with a young child, or forming a temporary connexion with a widow or other woman whom it is impossible truly to marry; unfaithfulness before marriage; match-making and marriage brokerage; excessive sexual indulgence; and lastly, evil talk. The breaking of this vow carries with it penalties too horrible to put on paper. Many of the enlightened Jaina are beginning to feel very strongly the evils of early marriage; and here again one would venture to suggest to them that their protest cannot be fairly termed an innovation when the abuse of early marriage is expressly forbidden in this vow.
v. Parigraha
viramaṇa
vrata.The Jaina have shrewdly realized that the true way of increasing our wealth is by curbing our desires. The fewer things we allow ourselves to use, the fewer our desires become, and, safe within the circumscribing walls we ourselves have built round our potential possessions, we find not only peace of mind but also safety from many temptations. Why should we steal when we already have all we desire, or why cheat and defraud in the race for wealth, if we already are as wealthy as we will ever allow ourselves to become? After all, few people forge or gamble to gain money to give in alms. When we remember that the Jaina creed has forced its holders to become a commercial people, we see the special value this vow of limitation, Parigraha viramaṇa vrata, might have, if it were really lived up to. Unfortunately it has not been kept sufficiently to prevent the name of Baniyā being considered a synonym for a money-grubber.
The vow may be translated:
