Jaina Sutras Part IJainismAccepted ScripturePrakritShareAcharanga Sutra 13Hermann Jacobi / SBE vol. 22 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableHermann Jacobi / SBE vol. 22LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Acharanga Sutra 1Acharanga Sutra 2Acharanga Sutra 3Acharanga Sutra 4Acharanga Sutra 5Acharanga Sutra 6Acharanga Sutra 7Acharanga Sutra 8Acharanga Sutra 9Acharanga Sutra 10Acharanga Sutra 11Acharanga Sutra 12Acharanga Sutra 13Acharanga Sutra 14Acharanga Sutra 15Acharanga Sutra 16Acharanga Sutra 17Acharanga Sutra 18Acharanga Sutra 19Acharanga Sutra 20Acharanga Sutra 21Kalpa Sutra 1Kalpa Sutra 2Kalpa Sutra 3Kalpa Sutra 4Kalpa Sutra 5›Acharanga Sutra: Fifth Lecture - Begging of ClothesAcharanga Sutra 13ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1FIFTH LECTURE, CALLED begging of clothes ^ First Lesson. A monk or a nun wanting to get clothes, may beg for cloth made of wool, silk, hemp, palm-leaves, cotton, or Arkattila, or such -like clothes. If he be a youthful, young, strong, healthy, well-set monk, he may wear one robe, not two ; if a nun, she should possess four raiments, one two cubits broad, two three cubits broad, one four cubits broad ^. If one does not receive such pieces of cloth, one should afterwards sew together one with the other, (i) A monk or a nun should not resolve to go further than half a yo^na to get clothes. As regards the acceptance of clothes, those precepts which have been given in the (First Lesson of the First Lecture, called) Begging of Food ^ concerning one fellow- ascetic, should be repeated here ; also concerning many fellow-ascetics, one female fellow-ascetic, many female fellow-ascetics, many Sr3.m3.fia.s and Brah- ma/^as ; also about (clothes) appropriated by another person ^ (2) A monk or a nun should not accept clothes which the layman, for the mendicant's sake, has bought, ^ Vatthesawa. ^ The first to wear in the cloister, the second and third for out- of-door, the fourth for assemblies, ^ See II, I, I, § II. * See II, i, i, § 13. 2158 AZARANGA SUTRA washed, dyed, brushed, rubbed, cleaned, perfumed, if these clothes be appropriated by the giver him- self But if they be appropriated by another person, they may accept them ; for they are pure and accept- able. (3) A monk or a nun should not accept any very ex- pensive clothes of the following description : clothes made of fur, fine ones, beautiful ones ; clothes made of goats' hair, of blue cotton, of common cotton, of Bengal cotton, of Pa//a, of Malaya fibres, of bark fibres, of muslin, of silk; (clothes provincially called) Desaraga, Amila,Ga^ala, Phaliya, Kayaha ; blankets or mantles. (4) A monk or a nun should not accept any of the following plaids of fur and other materials : plaids made of Udra, Fes3. fur \ embroidered with Fesa. fur, made of the fur of black or blue or yellow deer, golden plaids, plaids glittering like gold, interwoven with gold, set with gold, embroidered with gold, plaids made of tigers' fur, highly ornamented plaids, plaids covered with ornaments, (5) For the avoidance of these occasions to sin there are four rules for begging clothes to be known by the mendicants. Now, this is the first rule : A monk or a nun may beg for clothes specifying (their quality), viz. wool, silk, hemp, palm-leaves, cotton, Arkattila. If they beg for them, or the house- holder gives them, they may accept them ; for they are pure and acceptable. 3This is the first rule. (6) Now follows the second rule : ^ According to the commentary udra and pe^-a are animals in Sindh. A monk or a nun may ask for clothes which they have well inspected, from the householder or his wife, &c. After consideration, they should say : ' O long- lived one ! (or, O sister !) please give me one of these clothes !' If they beg for them, or the house- holder gives them, they may accept them ; for they are pure and acceptable. This is the second rule. (7) Now follows the third rule : A monk or a nun may beg for an under or upper garment. If they beg for it, &c. (see § 7). This is the third rule. (8) Now follows the fourth rule : A monk or a nun may beg for a left-off robe, which no other KSrama;^a or Brahma/ea, guest, pauper or beggar wants. If they beg, &c. (see § 7). This is the fourth rule. A monk or a nun who have adopted one of these four rules should not say, &c. (all as in II, i, 11, § 12, down to) we respect each other accordingly. (9) A householder may perhaps say to a mendicant begging in the prescribed way : ' O long-lived Sra- ma/za ! return after a month, ten nights, five nights, to-morrow, to-morrow night ; then we shall give you some clothes.' Hearing and perceiving such talk, he should, after consideration, say: 'O long-lived one ! (or, O sister !) it is not meet for me to accept such a promise. 4If you want to give me (something), give it me now ! ' After these words the householder may answer : ' O long-lived 6'rama?2a ! follow me ! then we shall give you some clothes.' The mendicant should give the same answer as above. After his words the householder may say (to one l60 AA-ARANGA SUTRA of his people): 'O long-lived one! (or, O sister!) fetch that robe ! we shall give it the Srama^iB., and afterwards prepare one for our own use, killing all sorts of living beings.' Hearing and perceiving such talk, he should not accept such clothes ; for they are impure and un- acceptable, (lo) The householder ^ may say (to one of his people) : ' O long-lived one ! (or, O sister !) fetch that robe, wipe or rub it with perfume, &c. (see II, 2, i, J 8) ; we shall give it to the 6'rama;/a.' Hearing and perceiving such talk, the mendicant should, after consideration, say : ' O long-lived one ! (or, O sister !) do not wipe or rub it with perfume, &c. If you want to give it me, give it, such as It is 1 After these words the householder might never- theless offer the clothes after having wiped or rubbed them, &c. ; but the mendicant should not accept them, for they are impure and unaccept- able. (11) The householder may say (to another of his people) : ' O long-lived one ! 5(or, O sister !) bring that robe, clean or wash it with cold or hot water I ' The mendicant should return the same answer as above (in J 11) and not accept such clothes. (12) The householder may say (to another of his ^ Here and in the following paragraph the original adds netta, which may be = nitva, bringing (the clothes); but the following words seem to militate against this rendering. For the house- holder's order to fetch (ahara) the clothes would be superfluous, if he had already brought (netta) them. Unless ahara has here some other meaning than the common one, perhaps 'take it/ netta can- not be translated ' having brought them.* people) : ' O long-lived one ! (or, O sister !) bring that cloth, empty it of the bulbs, &c. (see II, 2, i, § 5); we shall give it to the Sra.ma.na..' Hearing and perceiving such talk, the mendicant should say, after consideration : ' O long-lived one ! (or, O sister !) do not empty that cloth of the bulbs, &c. ; it is not meet for me to accept such clothes.' After these words the householder might nevertheless take away the bulbs, &c., and offer him the cloth; but he should not accept it; for it is impure and unacceptable. (13) If a householder brings a robe and gives it to the mendicant, he should, after consideration, say : * O long-lived one ! 6(or, O sister !) I shall, in your presence, closely inspect the inside of the robe.' The Kevalin says : This is the reason : There might be hidden in the robe an earring or girdle or gold and silver, &c. (see II, 2, i, § 11), or living beings or seeds or grass. Hence it has been said to the mendicant, &c., that he should closely inspect the inside of the robe. (14) A monk or a nun should not accept clothes which are full of eggs or living beings. Sic. ; for they are impure, &c. A monk or a nun should not accept clothes which are free from eggs or living beings, &c., but which are not fit nor strong nor lasting nor to be worn^ — which though pleasant are not fit (for a mendicant) ; for they are impure and unacceptable. (15) * If they contain stains of mustard or A75^ana, &c. The com- mentator quotes two j-lokas which, as I understand them, assign to the different parts of the cloth different significations as omina. They run thus : -^attari deviya bhaga do ya bhaga ya ma«usa I asurawa ya do bhaga rrngg/ie vatthassa rakkhaso II devesu uttamo lobho mawusesu ya ma^^^imo I asuresu ya gala;ma»z marawaw ^a«a rakkhase II [22] MA 162 AS-ARANGA SUTRA. A monk or a nun may accept clothes which are fit, strong, lasting, to be worn, pleasant and fit for a mendicant; for they are pure and acceptable. 7(16) A monk or a nun should not wash his clothes, rub or wipe them with ground drugs, &c., because they are not new. A monk or a nun should not clean or wash his clothes in plentiful water, because they are not new. (17) A monk or a nun should not make his clothes undergo the processes (prohibited in § 17), because they have a bad smell. (18) A monk or a nun wanting to air or dry (in the sun) their clothes, should not do so on the bare ground or wet earth or rock or piece of clay con- taining life, &c. (see II, i, 5, J 2). (19)^ A monk or a nun wanting to air or dry (in the sun) their clothes, should not hang them for that pur- pose on a post of a house, on the upper timber of a door-frame, on a mortar, on a bathing-tub, or on any such-like above-ground place, which is not well fixed or set, but shaky and movable. (20) A monk or a nun wanting to air or dry (in the sun) their clothes, should not lay them for that pur- pose on a dyke, wall, rock, stone, or any such-like above-ground place, &c. (21) A monk or a nun wanting to air or dry (in the sun) their clothes, should not do it on a pillar, a raised platform, a scaffold, a second story, a flat roof, or any such-like above-ground place, &c. (22) ^ If the garment falls on the ground, it would come in contact with dust, &c., then it would contain living beings and be no more pure. 8Knowing this, he should resort to a secluded spot, and circumspectly air or dry his clothes there on a heap of ashes or bones, &c. (see II, i, i, { i), which he has repeatedly inspected and cleaned. This is the whole duty, &c. Thus I say. (23) Second Lesson. A monk or a nun should beg for acceptable clothes, and wear them in that state in which they get them ; they should not wash or dye them, nor should they wear washed or dyed clothes, nor (should they) hide (their clothes) when passing through other vil- lages, being careless of dress. This is the whole duty for a mendicant who wears clothes \ A monk or a nun wanting, for the sake of alms, to enter the abode of a householder, should do so outfitted with all their clothes ; in the same manner they should go to the out-of-door place for religious practices or study, or should wander from village to village. Now they should know this : A monk or a nun dressed in all their clothes should not enter or leave, for the sake of alms, the abode of a house- holder, &c. &c., on perceiving that a strong and widely spread rain pours down, &c. (see II, i, 3, § 9). (i) If a single mendicant borrows for a short time a robe 2 (from another mendicant) and returns after staying abroad for one, two, three, four, or five days, ^ See I, 7, 4, § I. "^ Pa^ihariya;;?, which is translated pratiharuka. 9There are various readings as parihariya, pad?ihariya; but the meaning of the word remains uncertain, and my translation is but conjectural. M 2 164 AX'ARANGA stjTRA. he (the owner) should not take such a robe for himself, nor should he give it to somebody else, nor should he give it on promise (for another robe after a few days), nor should he exchange that robe for another one. He should not go to another mendicant and say : ' O long-lived Sra.m3.n3. ! do you want to wear or use this robe ?' He (the owner of the robe) should not rend the still strong robe, and cast it away ; but give it him (who had borrowed it) in its worn state ; he should not use it himself. (2) The same rule holds good when many mendicants borrow for a short time clothes, and return after stay- ing abroad for one, &c., days. All should be put in the plural. (3) * Well, I shall borrow a robe and return after stay- ing abroad for one, two, three, four, or five days ; perhaps it will thus become my own.' As this would be sinful, he should not do so. (4) A monk or a nun should not make coloured clothes colourless, or colour colourless clothes ; nor should they give them to somebody else thinking that they will get other clothes ; nor should they give it on promise (for other clothes) ; nor should they exchange them for other clothes ; nor should they go to somebody else and say : ' O long-lived Sra.m3,n3. ! 10do you want to wear or use these clothes ?' They should not rend the still strong clothes, and cast them away, that another mendicant might think them bad ones. (5) If he sees in his way thieves, he should not from fear of them, and to save his clothes, leave the road or go into another road, &c. (see O, 3, 3, f 13), but undisturbed, his mind not directed to outward things, he should collect himself for contemplation ; then ■he may circumspectly wander from village to village. (6) If the road of a monk or a nun on the pilgrimage lies through a forest in which, as they know, there stroll bands of many thieves desirous of their clothes, they should not from fear of them, and to save their clothes, leave the road or go into another road, &c. (all as in § 6). (7) If these thieves say: 'O long-lived Sra.m3.n3. \ bring us your robe, give it, deliver it!' he should not give or deliver it. He should act in such cases (as prescribed in II, 3, 3, ^^ 15 and 16). This is the whole duty, &c. Thus I say. (8) End of the Fifth Lecture, called Begging of Clothes. A l66 Aii-ARANGA SUTRA ‹Previous chapterAcharanga Sutra 12Next chapterAcharanga Sutra 14›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public-domain 1884 English translation