Page:The Heart of Jainism (IA heartofjainism00stevuoft).djvu/216

 Every day he should be very careful to keep the six rules for daily hfe, which are described in a well-known sloka :

'One must worship God, serve the guru, study the scriptures, control the senses, perform austerities and give alms.'

Thirdly, while still on this step, he may advance to Utkrista desavirati, eating only once a day, maintaining absolute chastity, resigning the society even of his own wife, eating nothing that possesses even one life, and finally forming the determination to become a sadhu. This is the highest step that a layman can reach as such, for if it be successfully surmounted, he will become a sadhu.

At this stage, too, moderate anger, deceit, pride and greed are controlled and sometimes destroyed.

We now come to the sixth step on the ladder, Pramatta gunasthdnaka, which can only be ascended by the professed ascetic. Even slight passions are now controlled or de- stroyed, and only certain negligences {Pramdda) remain.

'These five Pramada : Pride, Enjoyment of the senses, Kasaya, Sleep and Gossip, torment the soul in this world '

runs a Magadhi sloka, and the Jaina believe that if a soul is to mount the next step, he must never indulge any of these for more than forty-eight minutes at a time ; if he does, he will not mount, but on the contrary will descend to the lowest step of all.

At the seventh step, Apramatta gunasthdnaka, anger is either absolutely quiescent or actually destroyed, and only in a shght degree do pride, deceit and greed remain. The soul's power of meditation increases, for the bad qualities which lead to sleep are absent, and lastly one is freed from all neghgence.

Among the Digambara some say that women can only mount as high as the fifth stage ; others believe they can reach the eighth step, which is called Niyatibddara gunasthdnaka. It is also called the Apurvakarana, because the man who has his foot on this stair experiences such joy as he has never known before in all his life. As anger disappeared