Aparigraha

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In Hinduism and Jainism, aparigraha (Sanskrit: अपरिग्रह) is the virtue of non-possessiveness, non-grasping or non-greediness.[1]

Aparigrah is the opposite of parigrah, and refers to keeping the desire for possessions to what is necessary or important, depending on one's life stage and context. The precept of aparigraha is a self-restraint (temperance) from the type of greed and avarice where one's own material gain or happiness comes by hurting, killing or destroying other human beings, life forms or nature.[2]

Aparigraha is related to and in part a motivator of dāna (proper charity), both from giver's and receiver's perspective.[3][4]

Etymology and meaning[edit]

Aparigraha is a compound in Sanskrit, made of "a-" and "parigrah". The prefix "a-" means "non-", so "aparigrah" is the opposite of "parigrah", so aparigraha is speech and actions that oppose and negate parigraha.

The word parigrah means ‘to amass’, ‘to crave’, ‘to seek’, ‘to seize’, and ‘to receive or accept’ material possessions or gifts from others.[5] The word also includes the idea of doing good with the expectation of benefit or reward, not just for the sake of merely doing good. Parigraha includes the results as well as the intent; in other words, it means the attitudes of craving, possessiveness, and hoarding, but also the things that have been acquired because of those attitudes.[5] The concept of aparigraha as one of the means to liberate the soul from the cycle of birth and death was first laid down by first tirthankara in Jainism, Rishabhdeva.[6]

Monier-Williams states that the word "parigraha" has roots in the Vedic texts as well, referring to fencing an altar, enclosing something, assuming or putting on a dress or receiving something.[7] In the Brahmanas and later texts, the term contextually means accepting or taking a gift, acquiring, possessing, claiming, controlling something such a property, or assistance, or constraining force on others.[7] In some texts, the root reflects the state of marriage or having a family.[7]

The virtue of aparigraha means taking what is truly necessary and no more. In Yoga school of Hinduism, this concept of virtue has also been translated as "abstaining from accepting gifts",[8] "not expecting, asking, or accepting inappropriate gifts from any person", and "not applying for gifts which are not to be accepted".[9] The concept includes in its scope non-covetousness,[10] and non-possessiveness.[11] Taylor states, aparigraha includes the psychological state of "letting go and the releasing of control, transgressions, fears" and living a content life unfettered by anxieties.[12]

Jainism[edit]

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Aparigraha is one of the virtues in Jainism. It is also one of the five vows that both householders (Śrāvaka) and ascetics must observe. This Jain vow is the principle of limiting one’s possessions (parimita-parigraha) and limiting one’s desires (iccha-parimana).[5]

In Jainism, worldly wealth accumulation is considered as a potential source of rising greed, jealousy, selfishness and desires.[13][14] Giving up emotional attachments, sensual pleasures and material possession is a means of liberation, in Jain philosophy.[15] Eating enough to survive is considered more noble than eating for indulgence.[13] Similarly, all consumption is more appropriate if it is essential to one's survival, and inappropriate if it is a form of hoarding, show off or for ego. Non-possession and non-attachment are a form of virtue, and these are recommended particularly in later stages of one's life.[13] After ahiṃsā, Aparigraha is the second most important virtue in Jainism.[15]

Hinduism[edit]

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In the Yoga Sūtras (II.30), aparigraha is listed as the fifth Yamas or code of self-restraint, after with Ahimsa (nonviolence), Satya (non-falsehoods, truthfulness), Asteya (not stealing), and Brahmacharya (sexual chastity in one's feelings and actions).[9][16]

अहिंसासत्यास्तेय ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहाः यमाः ॥३०॥

Non-violence, Non-falsehood, Non-stealing, Non-cheating (celibacy, chastity), and Non-possessiveness are the five Yamas. (30)

— Patanjali, Yoga Sutra 2.30[17]

Aparigraha is thus one of the five essential restraints (yamas, "the don'ts") in Hinduism, that with five essential practices (niyamas, "the dos") are suggested for right, virtuous, enlightened living. While Yoga Sutras distills the ten yamas and niyamas, these virtues appear, in various discussions, in Vedic texts.[18] It is part of ethical theory in Hinduism.[19]

James Wood states,[9] aparigraha is the virtue of abstaining from appropriating objects because one understands the disadvantages in "acquiring them, keeping them, losing them, being attached to them, or in harming them". Patanjali suggests that greed and coveting material wealth increases greed and possessiveness, a cycle that distracts from good reasons for activity that should motivate a person, and ultimately to a state where a person seeks material wealth without effort and by harming, hurting or impoverishing someone else, or some living creature.[9] Yoga Sutra's sutra 2.39 states,[20]

अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथंतासंबोधः ॥३९॥

With constancy of aparigraha, a spiritual illumination of the how and why of motives and birth emerges. (39)

— Patanjali, Yoga Sutra 2.39[21]

Restraint from possessiveness and greed, or aparigraha, leads one away from harmful and injurious greed, refraining from harming others, and towards the spiritual state of good activity and understanding one's motives and origins.[9][21] The virtue of non-coveting, non-possessing is a means of Sādhanā, path of spiritual existence.[21] In outer world, aparigraha manifests as non-possessiveness with simple living; while in psychological terms, it is a state of non-attachment, non-craving and one that envelops the sense of contentment.[22]

Relation to charity and conservation[edit]

Some[23] suggest aparigraha implies the concepts of charity (dāna) and conservation. Taking and wasting more of nature, or from others, is inconsistent with the ethical precept of aparigraha.[24][25]

Scholars[15] suggest aparigraha allies with ideas that inspire environmental and ecological sustainability. Aparigraha suggests the reduction of waste and adds a spiritual dimension to preventing destructive consumption of ecosystems and nature.

Difference from Asteya[edit]

Asteya is also one of the five vows taken by Jain ascetic monks to attain liberation.[26] It is the virtue of non-stealing and not wanting to appropriate, or take by force or deceit or exploitation, by deeds or words or thoughts, what is owned by and belongs to someone else.[27] Aparigraha, in contrast, is the virtue of non-possessiveness and non-clinging to one's own property, non-accepting any gifts or particularly improper gifts offered by others, and of non-avarice, non-craving in the motivation of one's deeds, words and thoughts.[9][28]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Arti Dhand (2002), The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism, Journal of Religious Ethics, 30(3), pages 347-372
  2. ^ Sharon Lauricella (2013), Judging by the way animals are treated: Gandhi as a manifestation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Gandhi Marg Quarterly, 35(4): 655–674
  3. ^ SC Jain (2012), Spiritual Guidance in Achieving and Sustaining Organizational Excellence, Purushartha: A Journal of Management Ethics and Spirituality, 4(2): 1-16
  4. ^ N Kazanas (2013), Vedic Tradition and Civilization, in On India: Self-Image and Counter-image (Editor: AN Balslev), SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-8132110927, pages 27-41
  5. ^ a b c K Jain, Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. 30, Issue 11, pages 139-146
  6. ^ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=-YnWAAAAMAAJ&q=aparigraha+Rishabhdev&dq=aparigraha+Rishabhdev&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEuaq_ofnaAhUVTI8KHUgCDagQ6AEIQjAG
  7. ^ a b c Sir Monier Monier-Williams, Parigraha, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), ISBN 978-8120831056, page 593
  8. ^ The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali Verse 2.30
  9. ^ a b c d e f The yoga system of Patanjali James Wood (Translator), Harvard University Press, pages 178-182
  10. ^ Kumar, Mathur et al (2010), New Horizons in Indian Management, ISBN 978-8178357119, page 280
  11. ^ Nancy Gerstein (2005). Guiding Yoga's Light: Yoga Lessons for Yoga Teachers. Pendragon. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-9722809-8-3.
  12. ^ Jennifer Taylor (2008), End-of-Life Yoga Therapy: Exploring Life and Death, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY, No. 18, pages 97-103
  13. ^ a b c MR Mehta (in Editor: P. Kapur), Value Education, Volume 1, ISBN 81-7835-566-3, pages 329-330
  14. ^ Aparigraha - non-acquisition, Jainism, BBC Religions
  15. ^ a b c Mark Juergensmeyer and Wade Clark Roof (Editors), Encyclopedia of Global Religion, SAGE Publications, ISBN 978-0761927297, page 609
  16. ^ Georg Feuerstein and Jeanine Miller (1997), The Essence of Yoga, ISBN 978-0892817382, Chapter 1
  17. ^ Yoga Sutra, Sadhana Pada, sutra 30
  18. ^ Mathew Clarke (2014), Handbook of Research on Development and Religion, Elgar Reference, ISBN 978-0857933577, page 83
  19. ^ Andrea Hornett (2013), Ancient Ethics and Contemporary Systems: The Yamas, the Niyamas and the forms of Organization, in Leadership through the Classics (Editor: Prastacos et al), Springer, ISBN 978-3642324444, Chapter 5, pages 63-69
  20. ^ Non-Possessiveness: Let Go of What Keeps You From Moving Forward Irene Petryszak, Yoga International (2014)
  21. ^ a b c The yoga system of Patanjali James Wood (Translator), Harvard University Press, pages 187-188
  22. ^ KM George (2014), Toward a Eucharistic Missiology, International Review of Mission, 103(2), 309-318
  23. ^ Shonil A. Bhagwat, Yoga and Sustainability, The Journal of Yoga, Fall/Winter 2008, Volume 7, Number 1, pages 1-14
  24. ^ C. Betal (2008), CONSERVATION OF ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT THROUGH YOGIC LIFESTYLE, Journal of Environmental Research And Development Vol, 2(4), pages 905-911
  25. ^ DK Taneja (2014), Yoga and health, Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 39(2), pages 68-73
  26. ^ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=abLZNdYxay8C&pg=PA189&dq=Jainism+asteya&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp8Mb9ovnaAhVL6Y8KHTyVCHkQ6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=Jainism%20asteya&f=false
  27. ^ Donna Farhi (2011), Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit: A Return to Wholeness, MacMillan, ISBN 978-0805059700, pages 10-11
  28. ^ David Frawley, Yoga and the Sacred Fire: Self-Realization and Planetary Transformation, Motilal Banarsidas, ISBN 978-8120827462

Further reading[edit]

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