Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c5.s6: The Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c5.s6

Language: English

The Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras

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Then we come to the epoch-making schism between the Śvetāmbara and Digambara sects of the Jains. The Digambaras maintained that absolute nudity is a necessary condition of sainthood which the Śvetāmbaras denied and held that the use of clothes does not impede the highest sanctity It may be noted that the history of the division in the Jain order into Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras is traceable to an early period of Jain religion. We have seen as to how Pārśvanātha allowed his monks to wear an under and upper garment,⁷⁴ whereas Mahāvīra preferred to go about naked, and this difference of opinion between the two Jinas probably developed into two great sects.

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⁷⁴ Cf the ‘tecīvara’ of a Buddhist Bhikkhu consisted of an upper cloak (uttarāsaṅga), a waist cloth (saṅghāṭī) and an under garment (antaravāsaka), all being oblong in shape (Mahā-vagga, VIII, 14 2)

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It is stated in the Ācārāṅga⁷⁵ that “a mendicant who moves about naked (acela) and is firm in control, it will not occur to him ‘my clothes are torn, I shall beg new ones, I shall beg for thread, I shall beg for a needle, I shall mend them, I shall repair them’,” which shows that in the early days both kinds of monks, viz, Jinakalpa and Sthavirakalpa⁷⁶ were allowed to remain in the Jain Sangha, and there were no strict rules about one’s wearing clothes or going undressed. The injunction that “‘my clothes being torn, I shall soon go naked,’ or ‘I shall get new one’s’ such thoughts should not be entertained by a monk”⁷⁷ also testifies the above assertion What we gather from the Jain texts Mahāvīra seems to be the first exponent of nudity, as a cult feature in the Jain Church, although as we have seen even the monks of the order of Pārsava practised Jinakappa After Mahāvīra the name of Mahāgiri, a disciple of Thūlabhadda is cited who towards the end of his life entrusted the gana to Suhatthi and practised Jinakappa at Dasannapura⁷⁸ The practice of Jinakappa was also prevalent at the time of Ajja Rakkhiya. We learn from the *Āvaśyaka Cūrṇi*⁷⁹ that when Ajja Rakkhiya initiated his family, his father was not willing to discard clothes due to modesty; he felt shy to move about naked in the presence of his daughters and daughters-in-law. Later on, with great persuasion he accepted a *kaḍipatta* which was replaced by a *colapaṭṭa* in course of time.

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⁷⁵ 6 3 182 trans by Jacobi, p 57

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⁷⁶ The Jinakalpa monks are of two kinds (1) Those who use the hollow of their hand for an alms-bowl (pāṇipātra) and (2) those who use alms-bowl (pātrigrahadhārī) Each is further sub-divided into two (a) those who go without clothes (amāvarana) and (b) those who wear clothes (sapāvarana) The former have the broom (rajoharaṇa) and a piece of cloth before their mouth (mukhavastrikā), whereas the latter have one, two or three garments (kela) besides the rajoharaṇa and the mukhavastrikā Those who use the alms-bowls and go without clothes possess twelve religious articles as follows vāri, pātrabhandhaka, pārasthe-ori, pāhakes-uṅka, patalaka, rajastīra and gocchaka and rajoharaṇe and mukhavastrikā and on two or three garments mentioned above (Brh Bhā 3, 3962 f) About the Sthavirakalpa monks it is said in the Āyā Sū (7 4 208 f) that a mendicant who possesses three robes and a bowl is truth under should not think of begging a fourth robe After the winter is gone and the summer has set in a monk should leave off the old garment, being clad with an upper and under garment (santaruttara), or with the undermost garment (omacele) or with one garment (ekasāṭī) or without garments (acele) he should aspire for freedom from the bonds of karmas A mendicant who possesses two robes and a bowl as third article should not think of begging for the third robe, etc (ibid 7 3 213) A mendicant who possesses one robe and a bowl as second article should not think of begging the second robe, etc, (ibid 7 6 213) If a naked monk thinks that he can bear the pricking of grass cold and heat, stinging of flies and mosquitos or any other painful thing but cannot leave off the privities uncovered then he can cover his privities with kaṭibandhana (ibid 7 7 220), also see Schubring op cit p 163 f It should be noted, however, that later on, the number of articles in a monk’s equipment increased and as a result of which we notice in the Brhatkalpa Bhāṣya (3 3964) that kaṭibandhana is replaced by colapaṭṭaka and besides the above-mentioned twelve articles mātraka was allowed to the monks

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⁷⁷ According to the Digambaras both Jinakalpa and Sthavirakalpa monks must go about naked (see Devasena’s Bhāvasaṅgraha (119 33), also Kamtaprasad Jain’s article in the Jaina Antiquary, Vol IX, No 11)

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⁷⁸ Uttarā Sū 2-12. Āva. Cū. II, p. 155 f.

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⁷⁹ p. 406 f.

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Then we come to Sivabhūi, who is said to have led the *boḍiyas* after six hundred and nine years of Mahāvīra’s death, in Rahavirapura. It is said that Sivabhūi was in the service of the king of Rahavirapura and he used to return home very late at night. One day his wife did not open the door of the house and Sivabhūi straight away went to the residence of the monks and asked for *pavvajjā*. The monks refused to ordain him thus, whereupon Sivabhūi by himself plucked out his hair and automatically he became a monk, and practised *Jinakappa*. His sister followed him by joining his order. Koḍiṇṇa and Koṭṭivīra are stated to be the first two disciples of Sivabhūi.⁸⁰

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⁸⁰ *Āva Bhā* 145 f., *Āva Cū* p. 427 f.

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This is the legend about schism told by the Śvetāmbaras. The Digambaras relate another legend about the origin of the schism which differs from that of the Śvetāmbaras. According to this, during the reign of Candragupta in Ujjenī Bhadrabāhu predicted that there would be a terrible famine in the country which would last for twelve years. At this Viṣākhācārya, a disciple of Bhadrabāhu led the Saṅgha to the Puṇṇāta kingdom, while Rāmilla, Sthūlabhadra and Bhadrācārya, emigrated to the country of Sindhu. In course of time when all of them returned to Ujjenī, there was still famine in the country, so they allowed the monks to wear a piece of garment (*ardhaphālakam puraḥ kṛtvā*) while going for alms. When the famine was over, however, the monks were asked to give up the use of the garment since it was not in pursuance of the strict requirement of Mahāvīra’s order, but some monks would not follow their elders’ advice. Thus came into existence the schism of the Digambara and Śvetāmbaras in the Jain order.⁸¹

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⁸¹ *Br̥hatkathākośa* 131, *Epigraphia Carnatica*, Vol II (Revised), pp 36 ff, also see *Bhāvasaṅgraha* of Devasena (Bombay, V. S. 1978), pp 35-9, *Bhadrabāhucarita* by Bhaṭṭāraka Ratnanandī (Bombay 1912).

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It may be stated that both these legends are of sufficiently late origin and hence cannot be relied upon fully. In fact, the division of Jains in Śvetāmbara and Digambara community was a gradual process,⁸² and in the early history of Jainism the Church was not divided into sects. The Jain inscriptions of the first and second century A.D. found at the Kaṅkālī Ṭīlā Mathura also do not show any trace of schism in the Jain Church. We have already noticed that both practices wearing clothes or going undressed were allowed in the Jain Church although Mahāvīra himself went about naked. In course of time the difference regarding the question of a monk wearing clothes became more and more acute.

Linked texts (7)

Āyāraṃga — Sudharman, Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit
Mahāvagga — Pāli
Uttarajjhayaṇa — Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit
Bṛhatkalpalaghubhāṣya — Saṅghadāsagaṇi Kṣamāśramaṇa, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit
Epigraphia Carnatica
Bṛhatkathākośa — Hariṣeṇa, Sanskrit
Bhāvasaṃgaha — Devasena, Śaurasenī Prakrit