Kayotsarga Ek Vivechan

Here's a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "Kayotsarga: Ek Vivechan" by Vimal Kumar Choradiya, based on the provided pages:

Title: Kayotsarga: Ek Vivechan (Kayotsarga: A Discussion) Author: Shri Vimal Kumar Choradiya Publisher: Jinavani (via jainqq.org)

This extensive article provides a detailed explanation of Kayotsarga, a significant Jain spiritual practice. The author, Shri Vimal Kumar Choradiya, a former Member of Parliament, elaborates on its purpose, nature, posture, faults, and benefits, highlighting its role in karmic shedding and the ultimate attainment of omniscience and liberation.

Core Meaning and Purpose of Kayotsarga:

The literal meaning of Kayotsarga is the "giving up of the body" (Kaya = body, Utsarga = giving up/renunciation). In a spiritual context, this refers to the renunciation of attachment and identification with the physical body. This profound detachment is practiced for several key reasons:

1. To Mitigate Sinful Actions: To cease and neutralize the negative karma accumulated from actions like walking and moving, which can cause unintended harm to living beings (as per the Iriyavahiyam Sutra).
2. For Purification of the Soul: To purify the soul from the "dirt" of sinful karma, making it more pristine and imbuing it with positive impressions for spiritual advancement (as per Uttarana).
3. For Penance (Prayschitta): To perform penance, thereby severing and eradicating past sins and purifying the soul.
4. For Special Purification (Visodhikarana): To achieve a special purification of the soul's mental states, eradicating negative and impure thoughts and intentions.
5. For Removing Afflictions (Visallyikarana): To free the soul from the "thorns" of deceit, renunciation of desired outcomes (nidan shalya), and false beliefs (mithyatva shalya).
6. For Reverence and Spiritual Goals: To honor, worship, and respect the Arhats (liberated beings) and the Jain scriptures. It is also practiced for the gain of right knowledge (bodhi labh) and for achieving liberation (moksha). This is further categorized by the Vadhamaniye (increasing) aspect, involving reverence with faith, wisdom, fortitude, concentration, and contemplation.
7. For Service and Well-being: For the service of the divine order, to bring peace, to guide virtuous beings towards equanimity, to avoid minor disturbances, for the progress of the pilgrimage sites, and for honoring gurus.

Nature and Posture of Kayotsarga:

• Jain Mudra (Posture): Primarily, Kayotsarga should be performed in the Jain Mudra. This involves standing with the feet approximately four angulas (finger-widths) apart at the front and slightly less at the back.
• Body Stillness: The posture can be standing with arms hanging loosely, or sitting. The key is to remain detached from the body, regardless of the physical position.
• Scriptural Guidance: According to scriptures, Kayotsarga involves renouncing attachment to the body while contemplating the virtues of the Jinas (Tirthankaras) for a prescribed period (e.g., 27 breaths) during daily rituals like Daivasik Pratikraman.
• Endurance of Hardships: While in Kayotsarga, one should equanimously endure all adversities caused by gods, humans, animals, or inanimate objects.
• Detachment is Key: True Kayotsarga is for those who are not attached to their bodies, whether they are being anointed with sandalwood (out of devotion) or being scraped with a rough cloth (out of malice), or whether they are alive or facing imminent death.

Modern Interpretations and Techniques:

• Yuvacharya Mahapragya's Approach (Preksha Meditation): This method involves mentally dividing the body into small segments from head to toe. By focusing the mind on each part and suggesting relaxation (auto-suggestion), the entire body is made to feel limp. This posture is maintained throughout the meditation, with the aim of keeping the body as still and motionless as possible.
• Vipassanā Method: This approach emphasizes "Samma Vayama" (right effort), which is the purification of the mind through introspection, removing negativity, preventing its resurgence, nurturing positivity, and acquiring missing virtues. This involves observing the breath – starting with gross awareness of inhalation and exhalation, then subtle awareness, and finally focusing on the triangular area of the nose. By being aware of the present reality, one gradually experiences subtler truths and even internal biological, chemical, and electromagnetic processes. The goal is to know the unknown from the known through direct experience, leading to "Samma Samadhi" (right concentration).

Substance and Feeling of Kayotsarga:

• Dravya Utsarga (Material Renunciation) and Bhava Utsarga (Mental Renunciation): Both are essential. Without renouncing the body in both material and mental aspects, it remains merely a formal or superficial act.

Exceptions (Apavada) and Prohibitions (Dosha):

• Exceptions: To avoid breaking the vow of Kayotsarga, certain unavoidable actions are permitted, such as breathing, coughing, sneezing, yawning, belching, passing wind, feeling dizzy, fainting, subtle bodily movements, or subtle emissions/sensations.

• Faults to Avoid (Dosh): The text lists 19 specific faults to be avoided during Kayotsarga to maintain its efficacy. These include:

  • Ghodak Dosh: Keeping one leg bent or higher than the other.
  • Lata Dosh: Trembling the body like a creeper.
  • Stambhadik Dosh: Leaning on a pillar or wall for support.
  • Mal Dosh: Touching the ground with the forehead.
  • Uddhi Dosh: Joining the feet together.
  • Nigad Dosh: Spreading the feet too wide.
  • Shabri Dosh: Placing hands on private parts like a tribal woman.
  • Khalin Dosh: Holding a broom (rajoharan) or cloth like reins.
  • Vadhudosh: Lowering the head like a bride.
  • Lambuttar Dosh: Wearing a loincloth or dhoti more than four angulas above the navel.
  • Stan Dosh: Covering the chest like a woman.
  • Sanyati Dosh: Covering the head and limbs completely like a female ascetic or woman.
  • Bhramitanguli Dosh: Moving fingers or eyebrows while counting mantras.
  • Koaa Dosh: Looking around like a crow.
  • Kapittha Dosh: Rolling up the cloth between the legs to prevent the dhoti from getting dirty.
  • Sirakamp Dosh: Shaking the head.
  • Mook Dosh: Making sounds like "hmm."
  • Varuni Dosh: Making bubbling sounds like fermentation.
  • Preksha Dosh: Rolling one's eyes up and down like a monkey.

  Note: Lambuttar, Stan, and Sanyati doshas are not applicable to female ascetics as they must cover all limbs. Vadhudosh, Lambuttar, and Stan doshas are not applicable to laywomen due to modesty.

Impact of Mental States (Sanjna) and Tension:

The article discusses the 16 human desires or mental states (Sanjna): food, fear, sex, possessions, anger, pride, deceit, greed, flow, worldliness, happiness, sorrow, delusion, doubt, grief, and religion. These, along with cravings, wrong perspectives, negligence, passions, and restlessness of mind, speech, and body, lead to internal distress. This, in turn, results in envy, competition, hatred, fear, struggles for power and wealth, and constant desires.

This persistent pressure and tension negatively affect the body's:

1. Hypothalamus
2. Pituitary Gland
3. Adrenal Glands
4. Sympathetic Nervous System

Consequences include:

• Slowdown and eventual cessation of digestion.
• Dry mouth due to salivary gland dysfunction.
• Metabolic disorders.
• Excessive release of liver glycogen, leading to diabetes.
• Rapid breathing and panting.
• Increased heart rate.
• Elevated blood pressure.
• Insomnia, fluctuating blood pressure, heart attacks, paralysis, hemorrhages, anemia, and gas-related ailments.

This leads to a loss of resolve, becoming a slave to the senses, restlessness, instability, a weakened immune system, disrupted peace for oneself and family, physical and mental deterioration, distorted emotional states, and a deviation from the path of liberation.

Benefits of Kayotsarga:

When Kayotsarga is perfected, the distinction between the body and the soul becomes clear. It is a practice of discriminative awareness (Bhed-vigyan), initiating the journey of self-realization.

• Overcoming Mental Afflictions: Kayotsarga is the supreme method for eliminating the mind's attachment, delusion, desires, passions, and countless vices.
• Physical and Mental Purity: It eliminates bodily inertia by reducing phlegm and other impurities, and mental inertia through awareness.
• Equanimity: It develops the capacity to endure happiness and sorrow.
• Enhanced Contemplation: It provides opportune moments for emotional reflection.
• Concentration: It leads to mental concentration for auspicious meditation.
• Stress Relief: It terminates mental, nervous, and emotional stress, leading to the dissolution of possessiveness.
• Rejuvenation: All nerve cells become energized with life force.
• Disease Prevention and Cure: It prevents stress-related ailments and gradually cures existing ones.
• Increased Energy and Vitality: Short periods of Kayotsarga provide more energy and vigor than long, restless sleep.
• Disease Resistance: It strengthens the body's ability to resist diseases like high blood pressure and heart conditions.
• Self-Realization Gateway: Kayotsarga is a path to the soul, a journey from the gross to the subtle.
• Control Over Breath and Life Force: Control over breath leads to detachment, non-possessiveness, and the easy observance of vows like celibacy. It transforms negative tendencies, eradicates hatred, calms anger, and fosters forgiveness.
• Mental Peace and Samadhi: Relaxed breathing leads to a quiescent body, calm life force, and a thought-free mind. Slow breathing signifies patience.
• Awakening of Wisdom (Prajna): Kayotsarga awakens wisdom, which transcends the selective nature of intellect. It fosters equanimity in the face of dualities like gain/loss, happiness/sorrow, praise/criticism, and life/death.
• Path to Liberation: Consistent practice leads to increasing self-absorption, potentially culminating in the Shaileshi state, achieving omniscience, and attaining the bliss of liberation.

The article cites examples of great souls like Mahavir Swami and Gajsukumar Muni who remained unshaken by extreme hardships while practicing Kayotsarga.

Conclusion:

The author concludes by stating that Kayotsarga is meaningful only when practiced during Dharmadhyan (righteous meditation) and Shukladhyan (pure meditation). He offers salutations and commendations to all those who practice Kayotsarga.