15. Penance and Fasting in Jainism

The Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa compares austerities with water and states that they serve the purpose of purifying rather washing the dirt of the soul³. The austerities to be practised by a monk are twelve in number and are of two types: those pertaining to the body (bajjha), and those pertaining to the mind (abbhamtara) 4. These twelve austerities are as follows : (i) Fasts (anasana), (ii) eating less than the normal (omoyariya), (iii) cutting down the amount of food (vittisamkheva), (iv) giving up dainty food (vasapariccao) 1. Ibid., 341. 2. Ibid. 3. tavasalilapakkhaliyakilesa sancayassa; Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 256. 4. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 91, 266.

502 (v) mortifying the body (kayakilesa), (vi) occupying less space while sitting etc. or self-control (samlinaya), (vii) expiation (payacchitta), (viii) modesty (vinaya) (ix) service to others (veyavacca), (x) study (sajjhaya) (xi) meditation (jhana), and (xii) indifference towards the body (viusagga). Of these the first six are external and the remaining are internal 1. These various types of austerities have been explained below with the help of the data from the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa Fasts: Migaddhaya, after becoming a monk, observed fast h upto the sixth meal (chattam chattthena), took the sixth meal and again continued fasting 2. In addition to this, 3 he also followed the ujjhiyadhamma which means that , Migaddhaya was offered food for the breaking of fast at the time of the sixth meal by other monks and he in turn went on a begging tour at the time of seventh meal (sattami pimdesana) and accepted food of a very course type (ujjhiyadhamma bhikkha) which he gave back to the monks, who had to 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 274. Similar other fasts like the fast upto the the fourth meal (cauttha) and that upto the eighth meal (atthama) have also been referred. These were observed by the lay followers. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 256, 326. These were also practised by the monks. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 274. 3 Ibid.

503 offered him food on the previous day 1. Other fasts of 2 a duration of a month or even an year ³ have also been year³ referred to. Fasts observed over a very long span of time and planned in distinctive manners, and having technical names such as sihanikkiliya², camdayana and rayanavali, have also been referred to. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 274 3. Ibid., 326. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 23, 284. 4. Ibid., 339. In the sihanikkiliya type as the name suggests the monk observed fasts in a mode similar to the way a lion walks. He repeated the previous fast observing the next fast like the lion, who, after walking some distance, looks back. So a monk while observing fasts of increasing duration, e.g. from the fast upto the second to that upto the 10th meal, proceeds as follows 2,3,2; 4,3,5 and so on. There are two types of sihanikkiliya e.g. (i) where the fasts grow from one to seventeen, (ii) where the fasts grow from two to ten. The greater (i) variety of sihanikkiliya lasts for six years two months and twelve days, Deo., op. cit. P.197-98 5. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 331. Camdayana is the same as camdapadima referred to in the canonical literature of the Jainas and is also famous in Hindu dharmasastra literature as candrayana. In camdapadima a monk decreased and increased the number of morsels according to the decrease of increase in the shape of the moon : in the bright fortnight the morsels increased while in the dark one they decreased. The canons further conceive the padima in two varieties viz. of the shape of barley (Javamajjna) of the shape of thunderboldt (vaivamajjha)

504 Other forms of bodily mortification : Some other austerities, such as standing on one leg facing the sun and raising the arms, are also referred to in Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa¹, along with the practice of forbearance of the parisahas², which are twenty-two in number 3. Contd. In the first variety of camdapadima a monk starts his padima on the first day of the bright half of the month. On the full moon day he eats maximum number of morsels, which slowly decrease in number in the dark fortnight. The chart thus is similar to the shape of a barley grain. In the second variety the maximum number of morsels fall at the ends, i.e. the arrangement of morsels thus takes the shape becomes similar to that of a thunderbolt. See, Deo, op. cit., 191. 6. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 331. This lasts for five years, two months and twenty eight days, and the facts are so arranged that if put on a graph the arrangement looks like the shape of a diamond necklace. See, Deo, op. cit., p.197. op.cit.,h197. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 16,150. orne. 2. Monk Goyama is referred to have forbeared the trouble of alabha, i.e., not getting what is wanted. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 113. 3. Uttarajjhayana, Chap. I.1.

505 Veya Vacca: Veyavacca is a type of internal penance, which deserves a special reference because of its nature. A person who has accepted the vow of Veyavacca had to serve the ailing monks. The story of monk Namdisena 1 is a good example of the missionary spirit underlying the vow. According to this story, two gods in the guise of monks one of them acting as a patient of dysentery havoss harass Gayama only to meet defeat at his hands, and they, therefore, return satisfied with his truthfulness to his vow. The Padimas : Padimas were another type of mortification where there was a combination of fast, meditation and bodily postures², these were according to Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, practiced in a place where there are no insects ³, no disturbance from the people 4, or in a place like the garden-temple of Sumana jakkha 5, or even near a cemetery. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 118. 2. Monk Kittihara is described as observing a fast for an year along with padima, Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 326. Amiyateya, a Vidyadhara king observes a vow of a fast for a month accompanied by a Sattaraimdiya padima to attain the Mahajalavijja, Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 318. 3. Ibid., 256. 5. Ibid., 88. 4. Ibid., 261. 6. Ibid., 295.

506 Cases of extreme practice of Padima are cited in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa For instance, a monk was so much unaware of the external world in the practice of padima that he was treated for kustha by a physician's son, without his coming to know of it. In practice of padima one was to stand letting loose one's limb or with indifference to the body (vosatthakaya, vosattha cattadeha)- ³ for a particular period. The 2 various types of padimas which are referred to are sagara ahoraiya, egaraiya, sattarardimdiya and samvace hariya 5 -8 mahapadima -6 4 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 177. 3. Ibid., 332-333. 2. Ibid., 88. 4. Ibid., 256. 5. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 261. Eleventh of the twelve bhikkhupadimas Lasting for a day and night, Deo, S.B., Op. cit., P. 194. 6. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 319. The last of the twelve bhikkhupadimas. It lasted for a night. Deo, S.B., 8p. cit. P. 194. 7. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 318. Eighth of the twelve bhikkhupadimas. It lasted for one week. A monk, while observing this, took one datti of food & drinks & practised it outside the village in various postures like lying supine (uttanasana) on one side (parsvasana) & sitting with closed legs (nisadyasana). See Deo, S.B., Op. cit., P. 194. 8. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 326, 332-33.

507 of a quite of a different type was the egallaviharapadima, which was to be practised in isolation from the -1 rest of the members of the fraternity. A case when detachment from the samgha was done for the practice of -2 padima² is that of monk Samjayamta, who had accepted jinakappa³.