ABSTRACT
The Da flvetåmbara ascetics, gives a detailed account of how the monk should conduct himself in this potentially perilous situation. While engaged in the search for alms, the ascetic has to take the most scrupulous care not to breach the principle of non-violence and must gain food as the bee gets honey from flowers without damaging the blossoms (DVS 1.2-5). As well as exercising all care in the way he walks, the monk is instructed not to receive food from a woman who treads on plants or whose hands are wet or dusty and on returning he must perform pratikraman˝a for any inadvertent transgression which might have been committed (DVS 5.1.33 and 88-9). Continual equanimity must be exhibited and there should be no attempt to visit prosperous families at the expense of the more humble (DVS 5.2.25-6). The monk must inquire about the origins of the food to ensure its purity and not take anything which has been specially prepared for him (DVS 5.1.55-6), although this latter point is often ignored in practice today since, it is argued, only careful advance preparation could ensure that totally pure food and properly filtered water are available to be offered.56
