Another of the great Tattva deals with Puṇya or merit.[1] The actions which lead to the good karma which bring peace of mind are called puṇya, and there are nine ways of performing these actions.
i. Anna
puṇya.If we give food to deserving people who are hungry, weak, destitute of help and needy, we perform Anna puṇya. The greatest merit is gained when the food is given to monks or nuns, but these must be Jaina ascetics (not Hindu for instance), and in order to gain the fullest benefit from charity the food must be given in such a way as not to involve hiṁsā.[2] It will be remembered that Mahāvīra in a previous birth, when a woodcutter, gained great puṇya by feeding a party of monks who had lost their way. His reward was that in his next incarnation he became a devatā, and after many many rebirths was incarnate as Mahāvīra. For less illustrious services one may in the next life become a merchant, or a ruler, or gain some other coveted position.
iii. Pāṇa
puṇya.In common with many other religions that have arisen in sultry lands, Jainism teaches that a special reward is attached to giving water to the thirsty (Pāṇa puṇya). There is no harm in giving unboiled water to a layman, but boiled water must always be given to an ascetic. The story of Neminātha, the twenty-second Tīrthaṅkara, shows how great the reward is. A king named Śaṅkara and his wife Jaśomatī once showed kindness to some thirsty monks by giving them water in which grapes had been soaked. In their next birth, as a reward, the king was born as Neminātha and his wife as the daughter of a famous king of Soraṭh; in this incarnation, though betrothed, they did not marry, but instead they both became ascetics on the day fixed for their wedding, and eventually obtained mokṣa.
iii. Vastra
puṇya.A great reward is also obtained by giving clothes to the
