Prof. Dr. Klaus Bruhn
The paper was published in Berliner Indologische Studien Vol. 20 (2012), pp. 7-35.
We present in abbreviated form and in translation (Williams Jy: 213) a prose passage of part V: “... making penance, making purification, extracting evil from myself, I stand in the kāyotsarga in order to make an end to sinful acts. With the exception of inhaling and exhaling, coughing and sneezing,... very slight movements of the limbs, the saliva and the eyes and similar [involuntary] acts may my kāyotsarga be unbroken and unimpaired; until I have completed the recitation of the namaskāra to the blessed arhats I shall cast aside my body in the standing position, in silence and in meditation [jhāṇeṇaṃ].” JĀGM (Āv): 344-345.
Kāyôtsarga (negative approach to life, hyperasceticism) is the way to salvation and this possibly in an exclusive manner (no salvation without kāyôtsarga). There is also an incredible contrast between the rich cultural heritage of Jainism (art and literature) and the comparatively frequent emphasis on 'lebensfeindlichem' kāyôtsarga.
The Āvaśyaka Sūtra (1) has kāyôtsarga as part V (supra). Vyutsarga (Pkt. viosagga, Leumann Aup: 152) is apparently very important as a member (as an artificial member) of the tapas complex. Vyutsarga occurs repeatedly within 'internal tapas': in prāyaścitta (p. 40), in śukla dhyāna (p. 43), and as tapas 2.VI. Apart from tapas, vyutsarga and kāyotsarga (no doubt synonyms) are perhaps best described as expressing asceticism-cum-meditation. Dundas observes that “... Jainism, unlike Theravāda Buddhism, has never fully developed a culture of true meditative contemplation” (Jn: 166). Even then kāyotsarga and vyutsarga may imply true meditation. - Prāyaścitta (10) includes viosagga, but in its tenfold form within tapas it is a subject in its own right and requires a separate monograph. See Schubring Do: 281-284 (281-282) and Caillat At: 116-185.
The tapas chapter of Ut, 30, has 6 introductory verses (varia), 21 verses on bāhya tapas and 7 verses on abhyantara tapas. Ut 30: 8-28; 30-36. - Ut 30: 36: >> sayaṇâsaṇa-ṭhāṇe vā je u bhikkhū na vāvare / kāyassa viussaggo chaṭṭho so parikittio. << kāyasya vyutsarga = abandoning of the body; ṣaṣṭha stands for tapas 2.VI (or viosagga, Leumann Aup).
The so-called saṃyaktva (sammatta) chapter of Ut (Ut 29,1-71 [1-73], prose) has, among 71 actions or dispositions (some isolated, some forming groups), the following passage: >> kā'ussaggeṇaṃ, bhante, jīve kiṃ jaṇayai? kā'ussaggeṇaṃ tīya-paḍuppannaṃ pāyacchittaṃ visohei, visuddha-pāyacchitte ya jīve nivvuya-hiyae ohariya-bharu vva bhāra-vahe pasattha-[j]jhāṇovagae suhaṃ-suheṇaṃ viharai << kā'ussagga is the twelfth position (29,12) in the above list (subjects 29,8 to 29,13 are the six āvaśyakas). Pāyacchittaṃ visohei 'gets rid of atonements, i.e. gets rid of transgressions which require atonement.' - 29,1-71 is an encyclopedic moral list, containing technical and more general terms. The apparent rhetorical repetition (29,1-71) is always based on the instrumental case (>> kā'ussaggeṇaṃ, bhante, jīve kiṃ jaṇayai? <<).
Ācārānga I describes in archaic language a special chapter of Mahāvīra's asceticism (including meditation). JĀGM (Āc): 89-102 (254-323); Jacobi (Āc): 79-87. - JĀGM (Āc): 101; Jacobi (Āc): 87: >> akasāyī vigata-gehī ya sadda-rūves' amucchite jhātī [dhyai-] / chauma-tthe vi [vip]parakkamamāṇe ṇa pamāyaṃ saiṃ pi kuvvitthā. << “He meditated free from sin and desire, not attached to sounds and colours; though still a beginner (?), he wandered about, and never acted carelessly.” Quoted verse (akasāyī) and preceding verse (avi jhāti) emphasize meditation; the following verse emphasizes Mahāvīra's spiritual perfection.
Kāyotsarga/vyutsarga and measurement of time: See Schubring Do: 281-282; and Caillat At: 146. - The standing Jina in iconography demonstrates the kāyotsarga (function of the seated Jina not clear). Kāyotsarga: Wiley Di: 122.
Almost the entire Āvaśyaka Sūtra reflects an atmosphere of meditation and ritual. Compare also the detailed description of Mahāvīra's ascetic life as found in the Kalpa Sūtra: Suttāgame II, first Pariśiṣṭa, p. 22; Jacobi (KS): 263: >>... tassa ṇaṃ bhagavantassa... aṇuttarāe guttīe, aṇuttarāe tuṭṭhīe... appāṇaṃ bhāvemāṇassa duvālasa-saṃvaccharāiṃ viikkantāiṃ, terasamassa saṃvaccharassa antarā vaṭṭamāṇassa... sāla-pāyavassa ahe go-dohiyāe ukkaḍuya-nisijjāe [“in a squatting position with joined heels?”] āyāvaṇāe āyāvemāṇassa [“exposing himself to the heat of the sun?”]... kevala-vara-nāṇa-daṃsaṇe samuppanne. << - See also the preceding section of the Kalpa Sūtra (first Pariśiṣṭa, pp. 21-22 >> Tae ṇaṃ se samaṇe Bhagavaṃ Mahāvīre aṇagāre jāe, iriyā-samie, bhāsā-samie, esaṇā-samie... gutte, gutt' indie, gutta-bambhayārī... <<).
The legend says much about the meditation of Bāhubalin, son of Ṛṣabha, and about the circumstances of his spiritual efforts. To mention one point. The feet of the meditating Bāhubalin were covered with an ant-hill, and this difficult, unbearable posture seemed to become permanent (Bruhn Ea: 140-141).
In art, the Jina is shown seated or standing with no true differences. “No distinction is made in the selection of postures, all Tirthankaras being represented in both the postures by both the sects.” See JRM (p. 79) and Bruhn Ea (pp. 131-133). Jina images in all sizes exist in great number and were created since the beginning of our era, mainly in the second millennium. The two postures are called kāyotsarga (Jina standing, one variety) and padmāsana or sattvāsana (Jina seated, two varieties). Other Jina motifs do not exist. The limitations of Jina iconography are generally viewed as an expression of Jaina simplicity and austerity, but the complex style of many images (human figures, animal figures, ornaments) points in another direction. The ornate 'language' of sculpture and architecture (in northern India) is not the pendant of the Jaina world of thought. The contrast between 'simplicior' and 'ornatior' is nevertheless a conspicuous element of Jainism.
(15) Different from the tenfold (and in its contents simple) sāmāyārī (9) is the many-sided assemblage of monastic rules or 'Umgangsformen' (behaviour etc.) constituting section 4 of the Ācāradaśāḥ (15). Section 4 is based on a threefold subdivision of the mendicants (gaṇi, āyariya, antevāsī), not on the dual distinction between monk and layman, or between monk and senior monk. Section 4 (Schubring Ch: 8-11) consists to a great extent of terms.
The Viṇaya-paḍivattīs (v.p.: practice of discipline) of āyariya and antevāsī are preceded in the original text by the gaṇi-saṃpayā (g.s.: qualifications of the gaṇi). The gaṇi-saṃpadā (8 items, 8 x 4 subitems) is not described in our presentation which contains only the (i) āyariya-viṇaya-paḍivattī and the (ii) antevāsī-viṇaya-paḍivattī (both with four items and 4 x 4 subitems).
Suttāgame II: 923-924 (922-924); Tatia As: 31-35, translation etc.; Schubring Ch: 10-11 (8-11): text and translation. - Repetition (supra): H. Jacobi uses the expression 'heaping of synonymous words': Jacobi (Ut) Ch 29, p. 158. “Here we have no less than ten verbs, many of which are synonyms” (... sijjhanti, bujjhanti, muccanti...). See also Simson Di: 48-49, 118-119 (et alia). - The viṇaya-paḍivattīs present a peculiar type of repetition. Compare also the quadruplication in the jhāṇa complex (13).
(16) Supplement: Tattvārthādhigama Sūtra, Chapters VII and IX (ethics). Both chapters of the TS are closely related to canonical terms; we supply a rough list of terms as a guide to our article (TS): Chapter VII (1-34). The chapter is about the mahāvratas and aṇuvratas (VII 1-2, 3, 8-12, 14, 15), about the additional rules for laypersons (VII 16), about the saṃlekhanā (VII 17), about the transgressions of the five aṇuvratas (five times five: VII 20-24), about the transgressions of the three plus four additional vratas for laypersons (seven times five: VII 25-31), and about a wish concerning the next world (wish of laypersons, nidāna, VII 32). - Rātribhojana is not included. - Chapter IX (1-49). Three guptis (IX 4), five samitis (IX 5), tenfold dharma (IX 6), twelve anuprekṣās (IX 7), twenty-two parīṣahas (IX 9), sixfold external asceticism (IX 19), sixfold internal asceticism (IX 20-41 [plus 42 foll.?]).
Studies in early Jainism (canonical and post-canonical) pay considerable attention to different terms (cf. Buddhist literature). Jainism shows an 'explosion' of terms and a predilection for long (sometimes extremely long) compounds. On the other hand, works of poetic art or containing poetry are rare. Jaina literature has no compositions like Suttanipāta, or Therīgāthās and Theragāthās. Dominance of terms in the Jaina canon can be compared with dominance of chains in Buddhist literature (Eimer Be).
Canonical ethics have been studied systematically by W. Schubring (Do: 291-329) and by S. Ohira (Bh: 141-173), and both authors have also supplied concentrated studies in the karman theory (Do: 172-188 and Bh: 174-197). Refer furthermore to the relevant Jainological publications by S.B. Deo, N. Tatia, J. Deleu and others.
A few words on a 'model of salvation' may be useful. The final salvation of the saved souls is the eternal stay in Īṣatprāgbhāra (Pkt. Īsipabbhāra), the often described region at the top of the world, the world of released souls; Schubring Do: 238, 328-329; Leumann Aup: 18. The road to salvation is, in technical language, paved by the destruction of karman, and also by more specific means: Well-known, but complex processes are sallekhanā and kevali-samudghāta; Kamptz St (sallekhanā) and Leumann Aup: 16-17 (a theory of salvation, 'Kevali-Verzückung'). But the great word is 'austerity', if not 'asceticism' (often de facto 'hyperasceticism'). A post-canonical source calls austerity “a cool house for those burnt by the fire of transmigration” (Dundas Jn: 165). Respect (vandanaka, vinaya) for older monks runs like a thread through monastic life (a good example is Āvaśyaka III). - Salvation is not the only subject of early Jainism (besides cosmography, narrative literature etc.), but there is a tendency to describe the great religions as religions of salvation (Glasenapp Jn). It is, therefore, natural to study Jainism inter alia as a way to deliverance.