of the great contrasts between the teaching of Mahāvīra, who, good and great as he was, taught a system, the logical outcome of which is death, and that of the Founder of Christianity, who came that His followers might have life, and have it abundantly.[1]
We now come to the sixth principle of Jaina philosophy, which is the converse of the fifth, the way, namely, in which the inflow of karma into the soul can be impeded. The karma that has already been acquired can be dissipated and so liberation attained, if only no new karma accrue: ‘As a large tank, when its supply of water has been stopped, gradually dries up by the consumption of the water and by evaporation, so the Karman of a monk, which he acquired in millions of births, is annihilated by austerities, if there is no influx of bad karman.’[2]
The fifty-seven ways of impeding karma.The Jaina themselves consider this principle of Saṁvara of supreme importance, and it contains matter that is more often quoted by them than anything else. Long and wearisome as we shall find the lists it contains of the fifty-seven ways of impeding karma, yet they are worth our study, for, having already learnt what the Jaina mean by sin, we shall now learn what they mean by holiness.
The five Samiti.The first five ways of arresting the inflow of karma refer to outward behaviour. A man who would be holy must observe the greatest care whenever he walks anywhere not to injure any living thing (Īryā samiti). This rule is, of course, specially binding on all monks and nuns, for the Jaina have a comfortably lower standard for the laity. Ascetics must enter and leave their monasteries with the greatest care, lest they step on any insect; they must, wherever possible, avoid field-paths and keep to highways, where an animal or an insect can be more easily seen and avoided; they must walk miles round rather than cross