Acharanga Bhasyam: Sūtras 93-100 : Householders In The Garb Of Homeless Ascetics

1.93 je guṇe se āvaṭṭe, je āvaṭṭe se guṇe.

The person who is a coveter of sensual objects is involved in worldly whirlpool; the person who is involved in worldly whirlpool is a coveter of sensual objects.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 93

The person who does not abstain from injury to the plant-world is virtually a householder. This is the topic of the Sūtra 98 of this section. In order to explicitly express the concept that the person relishing the sensual objects indulges in them, the Sūtra explains: the sense, viz., of sound etc., are the objects of the senses. Such senses are like whirlpools that induce various changes and transformations of emotions and thoughts. They are mostly due to injury to the plant-kingdom. The sense of sound, colour, smell, taste and touch become concrete reals as lute, building, flower, fruit and cotton cushion respectively. The person who indulges in injury to the plant-world is attached to the sensum and the person who is attached to the sensum is entangled in the whirlpool. The person who is entangled in the whirlpool is evidently a householder. He cannot be a homeless monk.

The composition of this Sūtra follows the style of circularity (gata-pratyāgata-śailῑ)

1.94 uḍḍhaṃ ahaṃ tiriyaṃ pāῑṇaṃ pāsamāṇe rūvāiṃ pāsati suṇamāṇe saddāiṃ suṇeti.

A person looking upwards, downwards, sideways or east-wards and the like sees sights and hears sounds.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 94

The solution of the problem of location of the sense is given in the present Sūtra. The problem is not soluble without reference to space and direction; and so the Sūtra notices that sensual objects are spread over all directions. A person looking up sees colours; likewise while hearing he hears sounds; while looking downward or side-ways or east-wards, etc., he sees sights and hears sounds. Among the objects of the senses, colour and sound are the prominent ones. In literature, also the visible and the audible poetry are the main types.

1.95 uḍḍhaṃ ahaṃ tiriyaṃ pāῑṇaṃ mucchamāṇe rūvesu mucchati, saddesu āvi.

A person who clings to objects situated upwards, downwards, sideways or east-wards, remains attached to sights and sounds.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra  95

In the previous Sūtra, only the perception of the sensual objects was mentioned. In the present Sūtra, the author explains the clinging due to that perception. There is no harm in the mere perception of the objects. But if the mind is inclined towards the passionate enjoyment of the objects, that is blameworthy. It is, therefore, said that a person intensely longing for the objects gets passionately involved in those objects, visible or audible in different directions.

The living beings have contact with the external world through their senses. Among the senses the eye and the ear are predominant. The contact through language is the binding thread of the society. There is no society for those, who are not equipped with language. Creatures without language form a herd. The objects are directly seen by the eyes. And so the eyes and ears play the principal role in social events.

The Sūtra  also mentions the objects of these two senses. In the Āyāracūlā, there are five gāthās that support this topics. ^[1]

Addiction or clinging (mūrchā) - It is the outcome of lust and hatred.^[2]

The world of sensual objects has been designated as the world of clinging.^[3] Clinging is very easily imbibed by people under the influence of delusion. The sensual objects instigate clinging. Clinging and sensual objects are distinct entities. Though there is distinction between them, they are intimately related and as such metaphorically identical.

1.97 ettha agutte aṇāṇāe.

The person unguarded against the (plant-) world, does not abide by the commandment.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 97

The person, who does not guard himself against the influences of the sensual objects arising from the plant-world is not loyal to the injunction of the scripture.

Unguarded: It means under the sway of lust and hatred.

Commandment: It means the comprehension of the subtle truths or the Āgama, the words of the Jina, that explain the supersensible truths.

The person who, under the sway of the sensual objects, causes injury to the plant-world, is not faithful to the commandments of the Lord. In other words, he is ignorant of the existence of the supersensible objects.

1.98 puṇo-puṇo guṇāsāe, vaṃkasamāyāre, pamatte gāramāvase.

Relishing sensual objects again and again, behaving crookedly, a non-vigilant, one lives a householders life.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 98

The person who indulges in the enjoyment of the sensual objects and violates the discipline again and again is a non-vigilant aspirant involved in householder's life, even though outwardly he is a homeless monk.

Crooked—It means lack of self-retraint. In the terminology of the Āgama, 'ṛjuḥ' (antidote of vakra) means self-restraint or liberation; 'vakra' means lack of restraint or involvement in the worldly life.

It has been explained in the Niśῑtha-bhāṣya^[4] how a person greedy for the taste of vegetable is virtually a householder even though he has formally renounced the home and become a homeless monk.

Look at various self-restrained people ashamed of their violent activities.

1.100 aṇagārā motti ege pavayamāṇā.

Some people style themselves as homeless mendicants.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtras 99,100

See Sūtras 17,18.