The five great vows (Maha-vratas) can be adopted by monks who arevery keen about the uplift of their souls and ready to sacrificeall worldly enjoyments and family ties.
For those who want to remain in family life and for whom completeavoidance of five principle sins are difficult, Jain ethicsspecifies the following twelve vows to be carried out by thehouseholder.

Of this twelve vows, the first five are main vows of limited nature(Anuvratas).  They are somewhat easier in comparison with great vows(Maha-vratas).  The great vows are  for the monks.
The next three vows are known as merit vows (Guna-vratas), so calledbecause they enhance and purify the effect of the five main vowsand raise their value manifold.  It also governs the externalconduct of an individual.

The last four are called disciplinary vows (Shikhsa-vratas).  Theyare intended to encourage the person in the performance of theirreligious duties.  They reflect the purity of one's heart. Theygovern one's internal life and are expressed in a life that ismarked by charity.  They are preparatory to the discipline of anascetic's life.

Three merit vows (Gunavrats) and four disciplinary vows(Shikhsa-vratas) together are known as Seven vows of virtuous conduct(Shilas). A person may adopt these vows, according to his individual capacityand circumstances with the intent to adopt ultimately as a great vows.The layperson should be very careful while observing and followingthese limited vows.  These vows being limited or restricted vowsmay still leave great scope for the commitment of sins andpossession of property.

The twelve vows are described as follows:
Five Main Vows of Limited Nature (Anuvratas):
1. Non-violence Anuvrat  - Ahimsa Anuvrat (Sthula Pranatipat Viraman)       
2. Truthfulness Anuvrat  - Satya Anuvrat (Sthula Mrisavada Viraman)       
3. Non-stealing Anuvrat  - Achaurya Anuvrat (Sthula Adattadana Viraman)       
4. Chastity  Anuvrat     - Bhramacharya Anuvrat (Sthula Maithuna Viraman)       
5. Non-attachment Anuvrat- Aparigraha Anuvrat (Sthula Parigraha Viraman)

Three Merit Vows (Guna-vrats):
6. Dik Vrata - Limited area of activity vow
7. Bhoga-Upbhoga Vrata  - Limited use of consumable and non-consumable items vow
8. Anartha-danda Vrata  - Avoidance of purposeless sins vow

Four Disciplinary Vows (Siksha-vratas):
9. Samayik Vrata - Meditation vow of limited   duration
10. Desavakasika Vrata - Activity vow of limiting space
11. Pausadha Vrata - Ascetic's life Vow of limited   duration
12. Atithi Samvibhaga Vrata - Limited charity vow

1. Non-violence Anuvrat (Ahimsa Anuvrat):
In this vow, a person must not intentionally hurt any living being(plants,animals,humans etc.)  or their feeling either by thought,word or deed, himself, or through others, or by approving such anact committed by somebody else.
Intention in this case applies selfish motive, sheer pleasure andeven avoidable negligence.
He may use force, if necessary, in the defense of his country,society, family, life, property, religious institute.
His agricultural, industrial, occupational living activities doalso involve injury to life, but it should be as minimum aspossible, through carefulness and due precaution.
Four stages of violence are described:

• Premeditated Violence       to attack someone knowingly  
• Defensive Violence       to commit intentional violence in defense of one's own life  
• Vocational Violence       to incur violence in the execution of one's means of       livelihood  
• Common Violence       to commit violence in the performance of daily activities

Premeditated violence is prohibited for all.  A householder ispermitted to incur violence defensively and vocationally providedhe maintains complete detachment.  Common violence is accepted forsurvival, but even here, one should be careful in preparing food,cleaning house, etc.  This explains the Jain's practices offiltering drinking water, vegetarianism, not eating meals at night,and abstinence from alcohol.
Nonviolence is the foundation of Jain ethics.  Lord Mahavir says:`one should not injure, subjugate, enslave, torture or kill anyliving being including animals, insects, plants, and vegetables.'This is the essence of religion.  It embraces the welfare of allanimals.  It is the basis of all stages of knowledge and the sourceof all rules of conduct.  The scriptures analyze the spiritual andpractical aspects of nonviolence and discuss the subject negativelyand positively.

2. Truthfulness Anuvrat (Satya Anuvrat):
The second of the five limited vows is Truth.  It is more thanabstaining from falsehood. It is seeing the world in its realform and adapting to that reality.  The vow of truth puts aperson in touch with his inner strength and inner capacities.
In this vow, a person avoids lies, such as giving false evidence,denying the property of others entrusted to him, avoid cheatingothers etc.  The vow is to be followed in thought, action, andspeech, and by doing it himself or by getting it done throughothers.
He should not speak the truth, if it harms others or hurts theirfeelings.  He should, under these circumstances, keep silence.

3. Non-stealing (Achaurya / Asteya) Anuvrat:
In this vow, a person must not steal, rob, or misappropriate othersgoods and property.  He also must not cheat and use illegal meansin acquiring worldly things, nor through others or by approvingsuch an act committed by others.

4. Chastity (Bhramacharya) Anuvrat:
The basic intent of this vow is to conquer passion and to preventthe waste of energy.  Positively stated, the vow is meant to impartthe sense of serenity to the soul.
In this vow, the house holder must not have a sensual relationshipwith anybody but one's own lawfully wedded spouse.  Even with one'sown spouse, excessive indulgence of all kinds of sensual pleasureneed be avoided.

5. Non-possession / Non-attachment (Aparigraha) Anuvrat:
Non-possession is the fifth limited vow.  As long as a person doesnot know the richness of joy and peace that comes from within, hetries to fill his empty and insecure existence with the clutter ofmaterial acquisitions.
Lord Mahavir said, security born of material things is a delusion.To remove this delusion, one takes the vow of non-possession andrealizes the perfection of the soul.
One must impose a limit on one's needs, acquisitions, andpossessions such as land, real estate, goods, other valuables,animals, money, etc.  The surplus should be used for thecommon good.  One must also limit the every day usage of number offood items, or articles and their quantity.
This Jain principle of limited possession for householders helps inequitable distribution of wealth, comforts, etc., in the society.Thus Jainism helps in establishing socialism, economic stability, andwelfare in the world.
Non-possession, like non-violence, affirms the oneness of all lifeand is beneficial to an individual in his spiritual growth and tothe society for the redistribution of wealth.

6. Dik Vrata  - Limited Area of Activity Vow
This vow limits one's worldly activities to certain area in all theten directions; north, south, east, west, north-east, north-west,south-east, south-west, above and below.  He gives up committingsins in any place outside the limited areas.  This vow provides aspace limit to the commitments of sins not restricted by thelimited vows of non-violence.  Thus outside the limited area, thelimited vows assumes the status of full vow (Maha-vratas).

7. Bhoga-Upbhoga Vrata  - Limited use of Consumable/Non-consumable items vow 

• Generally one commits the sin by one's use or enjoyment ofconsumable (Bhoga) and non-consumable (Upbhoga) things.
• Consumable (Bhoga) means enjoyment of an object which can only beused once, such as food, drink, fruits and flowers.
• Non-consumable (Upabhoga) means enjoyment of an object which can beused several times, such as furniture, cloths, ornaments,buildings etc.
• One should, therefore, limit the use of these two items inaccordance with his own need and capacity by taking this vows.
• This vow provides the time limit to the commitments of sins notrestricted by Aparigraha Anuvrata.

8. Anartha-danda Vrata  - Avoidance of Purposeless Sins Vow
One must not commit unnecessary or purposeless sin or moraloffense as defined below.

• Thinking, talking, or preaching evil or ill of others.
• Doing inconsiderate or useless acts such as walking on the grass   unnecessarily.
• Manufacturing or supplying arms for attack.
• Reading or listening, improper literature, or carelessness in   ordinary behavior.
• Thus this vow is of great practical importance.  It makes life morevigilant and sin-proof.

9. Samayik Vrata - Limited Meditation Vow
Meditation of the soul and its relationship with nature is known asSamayik.
By giving up affection and aversion (Rag and Dvesha), observingequanimity in all objects, thinking evil of no one, and being atpeace with the world, one should practice this vow of meditation(Samayik).
This vow consists in sitting down at one place for at least 48minutes concentrating one's mind on religious activities likereading religious books, praying, or meditating.  This vow may berepeated many times in a day.  It is to be observed by mind, body,and speech.
The meditation of 48 minutes makes a person realize the importanceof a life long vow to avoid all sinful activities and is a steppingstone to a life of full renunciation.

10. Desavakasika Vrata - Limited Duration of Activity Vow
This vow sets the new limit within the limitations already set byDik Vrata and Bhoga-Upbhoga Vrata.  The general life longlimitation of doing business in certain areas and the use ofarticles are further restricted for a particular days time of theweek.
This means that one shall not, during a certain period of time, doany activity, business, or travel beyond a certain city, street,house or have anything to do with the enjoyment of objects beyondthat limit.

11. Pausadha Vrata - Limited Ascetic's Life Vow
This vow requires to live the life of a monk for a day.  Duringthis time one should retire to a secluded place, renounce allsinful activities, abstain in seeking pleasure from all objects ofthe senses, observe due restraint of body, speech and mind.  Aperson follows five great vows (Maha-vratas) completely during thistime.  He passes his time in spiritual contemplation, performmeditation (Samayik), engage in self study, and worship Gods(Arihants and Siddhas).
This vow promotes and nourishes one's religious life and providestraining for ascetic life.

12. Atithi Samvibhaga Vrata - Limited Charity Vow
One should give food, clothes, medicine, and other articles of itsown possession to monks, nuns, and a pious person.  The foodoffered should be pure and with reverence.
One should not prepare any foods specially for monks because monksare not allowed to have such foods.  Donating of one's own food andarticles to monks and others, provides an inner satisfaction andraises one's consciousness to higher level. It also saves him fromacquiring of more sins if he would have used the same for hisnourishment, comfort and pleasure.

Peaceful Death:
In the final days of life, a householder observes peaceful death.
The house-holder can attain a peaceful death (Sallekhana) if hetruly follows the above twelve vows.  The peaceful death ischaracterized by non-attachment to the worldly objects and by asuppression of the passions at the time of death.  The last thoughtshould be of a calm renunciation of the body, and this thoughtshould ever be present long before death supervenes.

Conclusion:
By performing these twelve vows, a lay follower may live arighteous life and advance towards a fuller and more perfect life,and conquer desire.
While earning wealth, supporting family, and taking up arms toprotect himself, his family, his country, etc.  against intruder,he is taught self restraint, love and enmity.
On one hand, he is debarred from doing any harm to himself, to hisfamily, to his country, or to humanity by his reckless conduct.  Onthe other hand, by giving up attachments he gradually prepareshimself for the life of ascetics.
If one goes deeper into the rules laid down, he will find thatpractice of limiting the number of things to be kept or enjoyed byhimself eliminates the danger of concentration of wealth at onepoint, which will help to minimize poverty and crime in thesociety.  Thus limiting the desires of individuals, results in aideal society.