Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra
by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words
This is the English translation of the Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Charita (literally “The lives of the sixty-three illustrious People”), a Sanskrit epic poem written by Hemachandra in the twelfth century. The work relates the history and legends of important figures in the Jain faith. These 63 persons include: the twenty four tirthankaras , the t...
Purity of alms
There are so many references to the necessary purity of alms and the faults that must be avoided in that connection, that I append a complete list. This is based on Jacobi’s list in his edition of the Uttar, with additions and corrections. (See Uttar. 24.11 and the commentaries; Yog. 1.38 and com.; and the Sādhupratikramanādi, folio 14 ff.) These faults are sometimes referred to as forty-six, (e.g., in the Uttar, itself), but the number forty-seven is universally recognized at the present time. The explanation of the discrepancy will appear from the list.
There are 16 faults, udgama-doṣas that render food unfit for the monk.
- ādhākarmika, the fault in food, etc., which a layman has prepared especially for religious mendicants.
- auddeśika, addition of food for monks to food already prepared.
- pūtika, is food, etc., which is pure on the whole, but contains particles impure on account of the first fault.
- unmiśra, is food, etc., of which a part only had been prepared for the monk in question.
- sthāpanākarmika, is food, etc., which has been reserved for the monk.
- prābhṛtika, is food, etc., which has been prepared for some festivity celebrated because of a monk’s presence. E.g., if a wedding feast is in preparation, and the date has been advanced because of the arrival of a monk.
- prāduḥkaraṇa, when the layman has to light a lamp, or make a fire, etc., in order to fetch the alms for a monk.
- krīta, when he has to buy the things.
- prāmitya, when he has to borrow the things from some one else.
- parāvṛtti, when he makes any exchange of food, etc.
- abhyāhṛta, when a layman carries food to the monks and gives it.
- udbhinna, when he has to open locks, before he gets at the food, etc., or opens something that is sealed.
- mālāpahṛta, when he has to take the food, etc., from some raised or underground place, or from hanging receptacles.
- ācchidya, when the food, etc., was taken by force from some body.
- anisṛṣṭa, when a man gives anything from a common store without asking the other owners.
- adhyavapūra, when the layman knows in advance that the monk may come and additional food is prepared.
There are also 16 faults, utpādana-doṣas, that occur if the monk uses any means to make the layman give alms.
- dhātrīkarman, when the monk plays with the layman’s children.
- dūtakarman, when he gives him information about what his people are doing.
- nimitta, when he takes the role of a fortune-teller, i.e., he seeks favor by predicting good fortune.
- ājīvikā, when he makes his birth and family, former occupation, learning, etc., known to the layman.
- vanīpaka, when he professes to be the type of person that the layman favors.
- cikitsā, when he cures sick people.
- krodhapiṇḍa, when he extorts alms by threats.
- mānapiṇḍa, when he tells the layman he has made a wager with other monks that he would get alms from him.
- māyāpiṇḍa, when he employs tricks or buffoonery in order to procure alms.
- lobhapiṇḍa, when he goes begging from a desire for good fare.
- saṃstavapiṇḍa, when he flatters the layman, or when he pretends to know some one in his family to gain a favorable introduction.
- vidyāpiṇḍa, when he makes a show of his learning; or when he conjures a god from whom to get alms.
- mantradoṣa, when he does something to oblige the layman.
- cūrṇayoga, when he performs some miracle, or makes himself invisible and then takes away the food. (Cūrṇa refers to magic powder.)
- yogapiṇḍa, when he teaches people spells, tricks, etc.
- mūlakarman, when he teaches them how to obviate evils by roots, charms, etc.; especially the use of a charm in reference to an embryo.
There are 10 faults in the acceptance of the food, grahaṇaiṣaṇā.
- śaṅkita, when he takes food about whose purity there is doubt.
- mrakṣita, when the food is soiled by animate or inanimate matter which is not fit for monks.
- nikṣipta, when the food is placed among animate things.
- pihita, when the food is covered with animate things.
- saṁhṛta, when the layman has to take out from one vessel and put into another the thing to be given.
- dāyaka, when the condition or occupation of the giver forbids accepting alms from him, e.g., a blind man, or a pregnant woman.
- unmiśrita, when the layman mixes up pure and impure food.
- apariṇaṭa, when food has not been properly prepared—when germs of life are not destroyed.
- tipta, when the layman gives food, etc., with a ladle or his hand soiled with butter, honey, etc.
- chardita, when in giving alms he spills milk, etc.
There are four, or five, faults in the use of alms, paribhogaiṣaṇā.
- saṃyojanā, when the monk puts together the ingredients for a good meal.
- apramāṇa, when he accepts more than the prescribed amount of food.
- aṅgāra, when he praises good food, or a rich man for his good food.
- dhūma, when he blames poor food, or a poor man for his food. These two faults are sometimes combined into one, which explains the discrepancy between the numbers forty-six and forty-seven.
- akāraṇa, when he eats choice food on other occasions than those laid down in the sacred texts.