Acharanga Bhasyam: Sūtras 8-23 : Advanced Ascetic Course (Dhūta) In Which Treatment Is Prohibited

6.8 aha pāsa tehim-tehim kulehim āyāttāe jāyā -
gaṃḍī aduvā koḍhī, rāyaṃsī avamāriyaṃ. kāṇiyaṃ jhimiyaṃ ceva, kuṇiyaṃ khujjiyaṃ tahā..
udariṃ pāsa mūyaṃ ca, sūṇiaṃ ca gilāsiṇim.vevaiṃ pīḍhasappiṃ ca, silivayaṃ mahumehaṇiṃ..
solasa ete rogā, akkhāyā aṇupuvvaso. aha ṇaṃ phusaṃti āyaṃkā, phāsā ya asamaṃjasā..
maraṇaṃ tesiṃ saṃpehāe, uvavāyaṃ cayaṇaṃ ca ṇaccā. paripāgaṃ ca saṃpehāe, taṃ suṇeha jahā-tahā..

Look! there are people who are born in various families with their bodies afflicted with the following sixteen ailments to reap the fruits of their past karjna life:1. Goitre, 2. Leprosy, 3. Tuberculosis,^[1] 4. Epilepsy,^[2] 5. One-eyedness, 6. Applexy or Paralysis, 7. with defective arms and legs, 8. Hunch-backedness,^[3] 9. Dropsy,^[4] 10. Dumbness,^[5] 11. Inflammation,^[6] 12. Morbid, appetite from over digestion,^[7] 13. Trembling,^[8] 14. Crippledness,^[9] 15. Elephantiasis^[10] and 16. Diabetes.^[11] Sometimes they are afflicted with acute diseases and unpleasant touches. Pondering over their death, knowing their descent on the birth place (e.g. Gods and Infernals), entering into the womb and the karmic result, listen with attention to their description.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 8

Now you see, people born in various high and low family on account of the rise of karma and are attacked with various diseases. They are not able to enjoy their life, even though leading the householders life. In persuance of the context, the Sūtra directly names the people suffering from various diseases such as Goitre, Leprosy etc.

The sixteen diseases are explained in proper order. People afflicted with these diseases are not capable of enjoying worldly objects, even though living as householder. Sometimes acute diseases leading to instantaneous death, or unpleasant touches due to beating and the like and such other sufferings occur to them.

Contemplating on the death of people and their birth, that is attaining to a higher state of life as gods, or the fall to a lower life,^[12] and understanding that all these stages are due to the fruition of karma, you should listen to the process how the fruition takes place. And having heard it you should feel disgust for the enjoyment of worldly things.

6.9 saṃti pāṇā aṃdhā tamaṃsi viyāhiyā.

There are blind beings dwelling in darkness.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 9

Creatures subject to the inflow of karma due to perversity and the like, dwell in darkness, and therefore they are called blind. They are called so because of their incapability to see the truth.^[13]

6.10 tāmeva saiṃ asaiṃ atiacca uccāvayaphāse paḍisaṃvedeṃti.

The living beings, passing through these oweful states once or many times, experience intense or mild touches.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 10

On experiencing once or many times the state of fruition of karma, they feel pain, intense or mild, again and again.

6.11 buddhehiṃ eyaṃ pavedittaṃ.

The Jinas had propounded this.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 11

People ignorant of the self are attached to the sensual objects. Various karmic fruition occur to people thus attached. This has been revealed by the Jinas.

6.12 saṃti pāṇā vāsagā, rasagā, udae udayacarā, agāsagāmiṇo.

There are various living beings such as terrestrial, insects produced by the fermentation of liquid, water-bodied, aquatics and flying in the sky.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 12

There are various species of living beings^[14] on account of the manifoldness of karmic fruition.^[15] For instance, there are creatures born as terrestrials, insects produced by the fermentation e.g. worms etc.

In the Cūrṇi, the words vāsaga and rasaga are explained.^[16] The author of the Vṛtti has also followed the Cūrṇi.^[17] In the Dasavaikālika Sūtra, the word rasaga is mentioned.^[18] It means rasaja. Here 'ja' is transformed into ‘ga’. Therefore, we get the word rasagā. Similarly, in the Sthānaṅga, we get the word ’harivāsaga’ (harivarṣaka). Here 'ja' is transformed into 'ga'.^[19]

There are one-sensed beings that are water-bodied. There are also creatures that are born in water such as fish, tortoise, etc. There are creatures born in water, but live on land. They are amphibians. There are creatures born on land but live in water. They are also aquatics e.g. the great serpents. Birds fly in the sky; among them some live in water too.

6.13 pāṇā pāṇe kilesaṃti.

Beings torment beings.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 13

There are some creatures who torment other creatures; they torture, beat and finally kill them by depriving them of their life. In the medical treatises, there is prescription for eating meat of all the three kinds of animals viz., terrestrial and the like and therefore for the sake of their own health, human beings torture creatures.

6.14 pas a loe mahabbhayaṃ.

Look at the terrible fear in the world.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 14

Look, in the world there is a great terror and fear in the wake of depriving others of their life for the sake of one's own survival, as such act of depriving is responsible for terrible^[20] karmic bondage.

6.15 bahudukkhā hu jaṃtavo.

Living beings are subject to varieties of sufferings.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 15

Living beings are subject to fear because of their sufferings. Suffering consists in diseases and the like. For instance, birth is suffering, old age is suffering, diseases, and deaths are sufferings.^[21]

The creatures, mainly humans are subject to various sufferings, and as such are found to be afflicted with many kinds of diseases.

6.16 sattā kāmehiṃ māṇavā.

People are attached to desires.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 16

They root cause of ailments is the attachment. People are attached to sensual pleasures.^[22] And therefore, they are subject to many sufferings or many ailments. The pain caused by birth, death and ailments is deep in proportion to the attachment.

6.17 abaleṇa bahaṃ gacchaṃti, sarīreṇa pabhaṃgureṇa.

The experience pain due to their weak and fragile body.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 17

The body attached to sensuous pleasure is weak. People experience pain due to their weak and fragile body.

In the Cūrṇi1^[23]and Vṛtti,^[24] 'they meet death' is used in place of 'they experience pain'.

6.18 aṭṭe se bahudukkhe, iti bāle pagabbhai.

A person afflicted with pain is amenable to various sufferings. Ignorant of the source of his sufferings, he speaks arrogantly.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtra 18

Afflicted by the pain caused by ailments, a person suffers from many kinds of sufferings. Such person torture other creatures for the purpose of relief from pain. Such ignorant person, while causing torture to other creatures, boasts and arrogates^[25] that a living being is the support of any other living being.

6.19 ete roge bahū ṇaccā, āurā paritāvae.

Knowing the emergence of various diseases, the afflicted people torture other creatures.

6.20 ṇālaṃ pāsa.

Look, these modes of treatment are not sufficient.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtras 19-20

The afflicted people, knowing the above mentioned manifold ailments as arising, and having felt them, torture the terrestrial and other creatures. The upshot is that creatures torture creature.^[26]

Look, this medical procedure, as it is the source of the torture of living beings is not efficient enough to uproot the ailments. The Vṛtti has given"full consideration to this subject: having known the rise of numerous ailments like goitre, leprosy, tuberculosis etc. and being afflicted by the pain caused by them, people torture creatures for the remedy. On hearing the prescription that the flesh of some birds is a remedy for tuberculosis, people might indulge in horrible killing of animals in the hope of survival. But they do not understand that their ailments is due to the rise of their own karma of definite fruition and the remedy lies in the subsidence of karma. There is, however, definite bondage of evil karma on account of the treatment involving the killing of the animals. The truth has been asserted here, look, by means of pure discriminative insight that all the medical procedures of treatment are not ultimate remedies to tranquilizing the rise of karma'.^[27]

6.21 alaṃ taveehiṃ.

Shun these medical remedies.

6.22 eyaṃ pasa muṇī! mahabbhayaṃ.

Look, monk! These remedies involving injury to living beings produce terrible fear.

6.23 ṇātivāejja kaṃcaṇaṃ.

Do not injure any living being for the sake of remedy.

Bhāṣyaṃ Sūtras 21-23

O monk! what have you to do with these varieties of medical remedies? The meaning is that you should avoid these ways of medical treatment.

O monk! Look, this torture of creatures for remedies is the cause of great terror. The diseases are the causes of the rise of pain-producing karma. There is again the bondage of karma on account of the violence involved in the treatment of the diseases. This is the cause of great terror. In order to conclude the topic it is said -

The torture of creatures is a great terror. Therefore, a self-restrained monk should not torture any creature for the treatment of the disease.

In the Sūtras 8-23, the shaking off as non-treatment has been explained. For clarification of this subject, the tolerance of the hardship of diseases^[28] and the topic of Mṛgāputra^[29] in the Uttarādhyayana should be cited.