Article: The ‘Perfect Ascetic’

The ‘true monk’
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The perfect ascetic should perform the six obligatory actions – āvaśyaka – on a daily basis. They imply a ritual involving gestures and speaking certain phrases. They are:

1. attainment of calmness – sāmāyika
2. praising the 24 Jinas – caturviṃśati-stava
3. veneration of mendicants – vandana
4. repentance – pratikramaṇa – for all the lapses that might have happened during the past day, night, fortnight or month, depending on the kind of repentance concerned
5. ascetic posture signifying the rejection of the body – kāyotsarga
6. renouncing certain foods or activities for a defined period of time – pratyākhyāna.

The action of repentance is the central duty and the main ritual mendicants perform each day. Lay devotees may also perform pratikramaṇa daily.

This set of actions is part of the daily routine of the perfect ascetic, as explained in chapter 26 of the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra, which is the classic work on the topic. Chapter 29, called ‘The Exertion in Righteousness’, is another description of all the elements that make up the life of a perfect ascetic.

Detail of a Śvetāmbara broom
Image by Nalini Balbir © Nalini Balbir

The ‘precautions’ – samiti – are a category of rules that complement the three ‘protections’ for monks and nuns. It is often said that the eight together form the groundwork for the regulation of monastic behaviour. They are treated in chapter 24 of the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra, a fundamental scripture of the Śvetāmbara sect regarding the basics of the ascetic life.

Although there is overlap between the two categories of ‘protections’ and ‘precautions’, there is also an important difference. In the ‘protections’ the most significant aspect is not doing wrong, whereas in the ‘precautions’ it is the positive quality of doing what is right that is essential.

The ‘precautions’ relate to five areas of daily life. The basic idea is that ascetics should always be extremely careful in whatever they do. The terms are rather general and their precise meanings have therefore been discussed throughout the tradition.

Digambara monks walking
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This rule means that ascetics should always walk slowly, without hurry, in case they harm other people or, more generally, living beings. For example, mendicants should always inspect their path so they do not destroy minute life-forms by accident.

Giving alms to a monk
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This includes all rules on the seeking and receiving of alms. For instance, ascetics should be careful not to disturb lay people when visiting their houses on their daily alms rounds. The monks and nuns should accept only boiled water and food that has the qualities the rules require.

Scenes of forgiveness
Image by Wellcome Trust Library © Wellcome Library, London

Since this phrase is very general, it has given rise to different understandings. The main idea is that mendicants must be careful to avoid hurting minute life-forms. Thus the first thing ascetics should do when picking things up and placing them somewhere else is to carry out a preliminary inspection – pratilekhanā. Monks and nuns should examine both the objects and the place where they want to put them so that no living creature is injured by this activity.

In practice, the tradition understands that this rule relates to the monastic equipment all monks and nuns use. Thus the Śvetāmbara and Digambara understandings of the rule differ because their mendicants have different equipment.

Perfect beings and paths to liberation
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The steadiness of mind and calmness that characterise the ‘perfect ascetic’ will come only if he or she has been able to conquer the four passions – kaṣāyas – of:

1. anger – krodha
2. pride – māna
3. deceitfulness – māyā
4. greed – lobha.

They can affect the soul with four degrees of intensity, ranging from the lowest to the highest.

Controlling the passions helps the individual reach the complete detachment from the affairs of the world that is the goal of monastic life. Worldly concerns include all physical needs – including the need to stop pain – and emotions. Reaching a permanently, completely calm condition where the passions are not felt at all – total detachment – means that no more karma sticks to the soul and the karma already attached is destroyed. This enables the individual to progress spiritually towards the end-goal of liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Meditating monk ignores temptation
Image by Victoria and Albert Museum © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The most serious lapse in ascetic conduct comes from interaction with the opposite sex. It recognises that the lifelong vow of celibacy is generally believed to be the most difficult to keep. Though most texts discuss male mendicants only, the rules specified for monks can be thought of as applying to nuns, as this is usually the case in practice.

Male and female ascetics do not mix and they are never seen together. Jain mendicants live in small single-sex groups. Monks and nuns have separate lodgings, which are generally not on the same premises. During religious assemblies, they sit in two separate groups on each side of the centre.

Contact with women represents a crucial danger for monks, as this quotation shows:

In this world men have a natural liking for women; he who knows and renounces them, will easily perform his duties as a Śramaṇa [= ascetic].

Uttarādhyayana-sūtra, chapter 2, verse 16
translation by Hermann Jacobi

One of the most famous stories of a monk tempted to break his vow of celibacy is that of Rathanemi. Brother of Nemi, the 22nd Jina, he was charmed by Rājīmatī, herself a nun. She was the one who put him back on the right path.

Śvetāmbara nuns meditate
Image by Claude Renault © CC BY 2.0

One efficient way to destroy the karmas that have entered an ascetic’s soul is for him or her to practise penances or austerities – tapas. There are 12 types, detailed in Chapter 30 of the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra.

Six varieties are external, and relate to control of food or mortification of the body.

The other six varieties of austerities are internal. Some are concerned with areas covered in categories mentioned above.

Behaviour of a ‘bad monk’
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Few Jains choose the life of a mendicant, which is why monks and nuns are revered. Mendicants accept that the ideal of the ‘perfect ascetic’ is an extremely hard one to live up to. The concept of the ‘bad ascetic’ is the opposite extreme. Though they may fall short of the ideal, most Jains who become monks and nuns are neither perfect nor bad.

The Uttarādhyayana-sūtra again provides an outline of monastic behaviour. Chapter 17 gives a vivid picture of all that a bad ascetic does. This topic is often attractively dealt with in manuscript paintings in copies of the text. The behaviour of such mendicants is the opposite of all the rules mentioned above.

The conclusion is:

Such a monk, who, like the heretics, does not protect himself from sins, who though having the appearance of a monk is the lowest among his worthy brethren, is despised in this world like poison; he is nobody in this world and in that beyond. But he who always avoids these sins, and is pious among his brethren, is welcomed in this world like nectar; he conquers this world and the next.

translation by Hermann Jacobi