Page 54 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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existed could one suffer willingly so that the opponent could be persuaded to see truth from the
perspective of the Satyagrhi. It is obvious that a true Satyagrahi had to have courage and conviction.

(d) Anuvrat or small Vows

The Jain path for a lay seeker embraces the five-fold vows or the panch anuvrat. Anu means
minor, and the vows are minor only n the sense that they are much less rigorous than those practiced by

the monks. The first two of the five vows are ahimsa and satya. The third anuvrat is achaurya or
non-stealing, which derives directly from the concepts of truth and nonviolence. The fourth anuvrat is

chastity or brahmacharya. The word brahmacharya literally means to walk on the Lord’s way and
implies a complete dedication of the body, mind and soul to that goal. Chastity promotes self-

disciplineand self-control and helps the seeker bestow his undivided allegiance to the path ofliberation.
In the Jain code of ethics for the lay seeker, brahmacharya implies abstention from wanton

indulgence in carnal desires. In his own life, Vinobaji aimed at an even higher goal, for he believed in
rigorously practicing what he professed. To him brahmacharya was the essential attribute of a

satyagrahi. As he put it: “Without brahmacharya the Satyagarhi will have no luster, no inner strength
to stand unarmed against the whole world. ... His strength will fail him at the right moment.” The fifth

and final anuvrat in the Jain code of ethics is parigrah pariman or limit on possessions. Jain ethical
code is based on the realization that the very existence of the soul in its mundane, unliberated form

entails an association to possessions. It is the indulgence in them that breeds avarice and greed and
therefore untruth and violence. A self-imposed limit on possessions helps free the seeker from these

passions and imparts him a rare sense of tranquility and contentment. Vinoba’s life is a model of the
practice of aparigrah.

Vinobaji was a doer as much as a thinker, perhaps more of a doer. To him the code of ethics
that he believed in was not something merely to be studied for intellectual curiosity. In his own life, he

followed the code to the best of his ability. It is a measure of his inner strength and his absolute integrity
and honesty that when on occasions his self-discipline failed him he was first to admit it not only to

himself, but to the whole world, and to strive with renewed vigour and resolve to adhere to the code.
The panch anuvrat along with Vinobaji’s own vows of love for swadeshi, fearlessness and elimination

of untouchability became the way of life for all those who lived in his ashrams. The practice of the
vows was seen not as a deprivation or a sacrifice, but a source of strength and joy.

Vinoba’s message inspired by the Jain tenets of anekantvada, truth and nonviolence and
founded on the philosophy of oneness of life and universal love are perhaps timeless, but never more

relevant than in today’s world. If we pause to reflect, we will find ourselves living in a society burdened
with dogma and intolerance, violence and strife. The perverting influence of religious passions stalks

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