Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Jains, slow down your fasts!!



We, humans, are ingenious. I can sit for hours and wonder how farming was discovered, how we stumbled upon various methods of cooking, how we differentiated the edible from the inedible and how one day, finally, we decided that we needed to give up food to have any chance at austerity. Our journey has been one of accidental discoveries, astute application of mind and some stupidity thrown in to balance it out. Humour me, my Jain friends, as I hold our practice of fasting in the bright light of facts and logic. Yeah! Those two beasts! I will borrow generously from our own Jain scriptures to illustrate my point. And in the end, I will ask for your forgiveness.

In Jainism, we have the concept of Navpad. At the lowest rung, sulking like a mischievous last-bencher, is our very own Tap. It is there for a reason. It just about made it to the elite club of the Navpads. Now, this Tap has 12 forms, 6 intrinsic (Bahya Tap) and the other 6 extrinsic (Abhyantara Tap). The Tap that we know which entails upvas, attham, atthai, siddhi tap, etc. is one of the 6 extrinsic forms namely, Anshan. But at this point, I am compelled to share something disturbing. The scriptures tell us that the extrinsic Tap must be in tandem with the intrinsic one. Keeping any one out is a lot like taking a bath but getting back again in the old soiled clothes. Or getting a change of clothes every day but without getting a wash! You must do both in tandem to maintain hygiene. (Smart Alecs, who will point out that it is still better than not taking a bath and also not getting a change of clothes, are forewarned not to torture innocent analogies). For those whose interest is piqued, what follows is a list of intrinsic and extrinsic Tap. Others, kindly adjust!

Bahya Tap:
The six external austerities are:
  1. Anshan, i.e., periodical fasting,
  2. Avamodarya / Unodari, i.e., eating less than your hunger,
  3. Vritti-parisankhyana, i.e., putting restrictions in regard to food, for example, to accept food only if a certain condition is fulfilled.
  4. Rasa-parityaga, i.e., daily renunciation of one or more of six kinds of delicacies, viz., ghee, milk, curds, sugar, salt and oil,
  5. Vivikta-sayyasana, i. e., sitting or sleeping in a lonely or isolated place, devoid of animate beings, and
  6. Kayaklesa, i.e., mortification of the body so long as the mind is not disturbed.
Abhyantara Tapa:
The six internal austerities are
  1. Prayaschitta, i.e., expiation,
  2. Vinaya, i.e., reverence,
  3. Vaiyavrtya, i.e., service of the saints or worthy people,
  4. Svadhyaya, i.e., Self-study.
  5. Vyutsarga, i.e., giving up attachment to the body, etc., and
  6. Dhyana, i.e., Meditation / concentration of mind.

On reading the list, I personally didn't find any of the items out of my league. So, the question beckons. Why this undue stress on Anshan? It is not even the easiest of the lot. Why not stick to Unodari instead? One will not have to go hungry while still making the passing marks. I could flip the question around. Why the other 11 forms of Tap get the snub? The Jain community is otherwise celebrated for its smartness in the world of business but sadly we act like aborigines/Adivasis when it comes to our own religion. Most people do not want to go beyond pooja, samayik, pratikraman, chauvihar, kand-mul tyaag and anshan. Tap, as I mentioned earlier, is the lowest rung of a ladder that is supposed to take us to Charitra (right conduct), the next pad in the hierarchy. Empirical evidence suggests that it is not happening. It is time we retired Anshan altogether for all it is worth. There are 11 other forms clamouring for reservation and acceptance.

And, as I had promised earlier.. Michhami Dukkadam!!!