Page:The Heart of Jainism (IA heartofjainism00stevuoft).djvu/192

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164
THE NINE CATEGORIES OF

they pass to Devaloka, and may hope, if their previous karma was good and their faith in the Jaina creed strong, to pass to mokṣa after fifteen more incarnations.

ii.UṇodarīIf any one fears to face a complete fast, he may yet lessen his karma by partially fasting (Uṇodarī). He may vow, for instance, to take a mouthful less every day, and so gradually decrease the quantity he eats. The Jaina consider this to be very beneficial to the health of the body as well as of the soul.

iii. Vṛittisaṅkṣepa.There is another vow of fasting, or rather of limiting the food one eats (Vṛittisaṅkṣepa), which may be taken in four different ways. If a monk or layman has been in the habit of consuming twenty different kinds of food, he may promise to limit his choice to, say, fifteen (Dravya). Or he may limit the number of places from which he will obtain food (Kṣetra), a sādhu vowing, for instance, that he would only beg in one particular street, and a layman[1] that he would only eat food in Rājkot and Aḥmadābād, and so when travelling between those places refusing food at the junctions en route. Again, one may promise that one will restrict one’s food by time (Kāḷa), a sādhu, for example, eating only the food begged before noon, or a layman promising not to take another meal after his midday one. Or the vow might deal with posture (Bhāva), a monk promising only to receive food that is given to him by some one who is standing upright, and a layman deciding only to eat what his wife offers him in a certain position.

iv. Rasatyāga.An ascetic usually vows when ordained to abstain all his life, save when ill, from melted butter, milk, sugar, molasses, or any other food that specially delights him (Rasatyāga). He does this lest he should grow fat and sleep too much,[2] and his interest in religion grow dim. A layman often promises to abstain for a particular day from the special food he most enjoys.

v. Kāyaklesa.Jaina believe that they may also reduce their karma
  1. Many laymen vow to eat only in their own houses.
  2. There is a Gujaratī proverb: ‘He who eats much will sleep much.’