External Austerity are:
Anasan means fasting, renouncing
food and water, etc., for a day, for many days or throughout one's life. One
day of total fasting is called upavas. Fasting completely until death is done
when life is close to an end. Such fasting is considered very auspicious and
is called Physical Anasan.
Bhav Anasan refers to the total
control of our inner desires for a short or a long time. If this austerity is
cultivated then only we will be able to strive for spiritual uplift.
Partial Fasting (Unodari):
Unodari means eating less than
what oneís hunger is. The Jain dharma prescribes thirty-two handfuls of food
per day and in order to perform this austerity, one may eat a few handfuls
less than the prescribed amount.
Bhav Unodari means to limit our
desires to some extent. It may be more difficult to do this than to control
them totally, but once this starts then we will be able to limit our desires
for the things in our daily life.
Limiting the number of
items of the food (Vruti Sankshep)
In Vruti Sankshep, we put a limit
on the number of items we may eat during a single sitting or throughout the
Bhav Vruti Sankshep means to limit
our desires for some part of a day or a whole day. This austerity will help us
to control our desires so that our mind will keep from wandering.
Limiting desired tasty
food (Ras Parityag)
Ras Parityag means to renounce
tasty foods which one likes very much. It can be done partially or in total
for a short time or prolonged period of time.
Bhav Ras Parityag is more
difficult to perform than the other austerities because in this we limit our
most desired thoughts. An austerity of this nature will help us to control our
passions even in the most tempting situations.
Kayakalesh means to stand or sit
in a particular posture for a long period of time. This austerity may cause
pain, but one should ignore the pain.
In Bhav Kayakalesh one stands
firm in controlling passions even if temptations are great.
Controlling of Senses
In Pratisanlinata one controls all
types of senses in order to prevent pleasant and unpleasant temptations. In
order to perform this austerity one may stay in isolation for one or more
In Bhav Pratisanlinata one
controls oneself from lying, telling the distorted truth, or from
participating in sensual activities. Thus this austerity helps to control
passions like anger, pride, deception, and greed.