Page 239 - Islam and Far Eastern Religions

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“The Jain ascetic allows himself to be bitten by gnats and mosquitoes rather
than risk their destruction by brushing them away. … for example, in 1834
there existed in Kutch a temple hospital which supported 5000 rats…” 107

Jain priests have even stricter rules governing their everyday lives.
For instance, they do not eat at night as they think they might swallow
some small insect or other living being, and in some sects of Jainism
they can only eat once a day. Most Jain priests do not wear any clothes,
preferring instead to go about totally naked; others wear a tiny loin-
cloth. The reason behind this nakedness is that they do not want to

Jains believe that they can save
their souls through superstitious
practices, but in reality they are
merely torturing themselves for
nothing.