Aparigraha: Non-Possession, Wealth and Giving in Jainism

Aparigraha, "non-possession" or "non-grasping", is the fifth of the great vows of Jainism. For monks and nuns it means owning almost nothing; for laypeople it means setting voluntary limits on wealth and consumption and cultivating detachment from what they do own. Because the Jain community has for centuries been prominent in trade, banking and the professions, aparigraha has shaped a distinctive ethic of wealth in which prosperity is accepted but is expected to flow outward in giving — to ascetics, temples, learning and animals.

Aparigraha: The Fifth Vow and Its Meaning§

The five great vows (mahavratas) taken by Jain ascetics, set out in Ahimsa and the Jain Vows, are non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing, celibacy and non-possession. Non-possession is in one sense the culmination of the others: Jain teachers regard attachment to things, people and one's own body as the root from which violence, falsehood and theft grow.

The Tattvartha Sutra gives the classic definition: possessiveness is murccha, a word that means infatuation or stupefaction. What binds the soul is not the object but the grasping attitude towards it. The commentators distinguish internal possessions, such as wrong belief, anger, pride, deceit, greed, laughter, fear, sorrow and sexual desire, from external possessions: land, houses, silver and gold, wealth, grain, servants, livestock, clothes and utensils. The internal kind is the more fundamental; external goods matter because they feed and express it.

For a monk or nun, the vow means renouncing all property. Shvetambara ascetics keep only a few robes, bowls, a broom and books; Digambara monks of the highest grade keep only a whisk of peacock feathers and a water gourd, renouncing even clothing, as described in Jain Monks and Nuns. Even these items must be used without a sense of ownership.

Limiting Possessions: The Lay Vows of Restraint§

Lay Jains are not expected to renounce property, but the twelve lay vows include a "limited" form of aparigraha, the parigraha-parimana vrata: the householder fixes a maximum for land, money, gold, livestock and other goods, and any excess is to be given away. Medieval manuals of lay conduct, the shravakacharas surveyed by Robert Williams in Jaina Yoga, describe how these limits were set and renewed.

Related vows extend the principle. The digvrata limits the distances one will travel in each direction, reducing the field in which one might cause harm or pursue gain. The bhogopabhoga-parimana vrata limits consumable and durable goods — kinds of food, clothes, ornaments and vehicles. Many observant Jains still make a daily or seasonal resolution (niyama) listing what they will use, a practice that turns non-possession into a habit of daily attention.

The lay vows also restrict how wealth may be earned. Classical texts list fifteen "occupations of heavy karma" (karmadanas) to be avoided, including making charcoal, clearing forests, digging and quarrying, draining lakes, setting fires, trading in ivory, lac, liquor and poisons, and keeping animals for hire. These rules, together with the general priority of non-violence, steered Jain families away from agriculture and many crafts and towards commerce, money-lending and jewellery.

Jain Merchants and the Ethics of Business§

From the medieval period onward Jains were prominent among the merchant and banking communities of western India. Historical figures illustrate the pattern. The brothers Vastupala and Tejapala, thirteenth-century ministers in Gujarat, used their wealth to build some of the finest marble temples of Mount Abu, Girnar and Shatrunjaya. Shantidas Jhaveri (died 1659), an Ahmedabad jeweller and financier, dealt with the Mughal court and built temples in his city. In eighteenth-century Bengal, the Jain banking house of the Jagat Seths was among the most powerful financial institutions in India.

The anthropologist James Laidlaw, in Riches and Renunciation (1995), studied Jain merchants of Jaipur and asked how a religion of renunciation could sustain such a prosperous community. His answer emphasised that the two are bound together. Commercial reputation depends on qualities that Jain teaching praises — honesty, frugality, self-control and trustworthiness — and religious display, especially generous giving and public fasting, establishes a family's creditworthiness and standing. At the same time, the ascetic ideal is constantly present in the lives of monks and nuns whom the merchants support, and in the expectation that a lay Jain will grow less attached to wealth in later life. Laidlaw and others have stressed that the tension is real and felt, not simply resolved.

Dana: The Jain Theology of Giving§

Giving is the natural complement of non-possession. The twelfth lay vow, atithi-samvibhaga, "sharing with the guest", obliges the householder to share food and necessities with ascetics. The model is the first gift of food to the first Tirthankara, told in Rishabhanatha. Gifts to ascetics follow strict rules: the food must be prepared for the household, not specially for the monk or nun, and offered at the right time with respect, so that the giver's devotion and the recipient's discipline are both preserved.

Jain writers classify gifts in several ways. One widely cited scheme names four kinds: food, medicine, knowledge (including the copying and donation of scriptures) and abhaya, the gift of fearlessness — protecting a living being from harm. Shvetambara tradition also speaks of "seven fields" (sapta-kshetra) in which wealth should be sown: images, temples, scriptures, monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.

Giving is often public. During festivals such as Paryushana, the right to perform particular ritual honours — leading a procession, performing the first ablution of an image, or carrying the silver emblems of the dreams of Mahavira's mother — is commonly allotted by bidding, with the proceeds going to religious funds. Large temple complexes are managed by trusts such as the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi, which has administered Shatrunjaya and other sites since at least the eighteenth century.

Compassion in Practice: Panjrapoles and Animal Hospitals§

The gift of fearlessness has a distinctive institutional form in the panjrapole (pinjrapol), a shelter where old, sick or unwanted cattle and other animals are cared for until their natural death. Such shelters have existed for centuries in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and European travellers in western India from the seventeenth century onward remarked on them. Jain communities also fund bird hospitals, the best known being the Jain charity bird hospital in Delhi's Chandni Chowk, founded in 1929, and sponsor the purchase and release of animals destined for slaughter, an act known as jivadaya, "compassion for living beings".

These institutions join aparigraha to ahimsa: wealth that is not held for oneself is used to protect life. Terapanthi teachers, following Acharya Bhikshu, have questioned whether such acts are spiritually meritorious or simply good social works, a debate described in Sthanakvasi and Terapanth; but in practice support for animal welfare is very widespread among Jains of all traditions.

Aparigraha in the Modern World§

In the twentieth century aparigraha took on new meanings. Mohandas Gandhi, who grew up among Jains in Gujarat, made non-possession one of the vows of his ashrams. Jain writers have presented aparigraha as an answer to consumerism and environmental crisis, arguing that limiting one's needs reduces harm to other living beings. In 1990 the Jain jurist and diplomat L. M. Singhvi presented a Jain Declaration on Nature setting out these principles, and the essays collected by Christopher Key Chapple in Jainism and Ecology (2002) examine both their strengths and their limits.

Jain diaspora communities in Britain, North America and East Africa have continued the tradition of giving through temples, educational institutions and charities. For many Jains the vow remains a personal discipline more than a social programme: a daily practice of asking how much is enough, and of loosening the grip of attachment that, in Jain teaching, keeps the soul bound.

Frequently asked questions§

What does aparigraha mean in Jainism?§

Aparigraha means non-possession or non-attachment. For ascetics it means owning almost nothing; for laypeople it means limiting possessions and consumption and remaining inwardly detached from wealth.

Can Jains be wealthy?§

Yes. Jain teaching does not forbid wealth for laypeople, but it asks them to set limits, earn by non-violent means and give generously. Many Jain families have been successful in trade and finance for centuries.

What is a panjrapole?§

A panjrapole is a Jain-supported animal shelter where old, sick or abandoned animals, especially cattle, are cared for until they die naturally. Such shelters are common in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

What are the four kinds of giving in Jainism?§

A widely cited scheme lists the gifts of food, medicine, knowledge and fearlessness. The last means protecting living beings from harm.

Sources and further reading§

• Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society among the Jains — James Laidlaw, 1995
• Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Sravakacaras — R. Williams, 1963
• Jainism and Ecology: Nonviolence in the Web of Life — Christopher Key Chapple, 2002
• Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture — Lawrence A. Babb, 1996
• Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India — John E. Cort, 2001
• The Jaina Path of Purification — Padmanabh S. Jaini, 1979