The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources c5.30

c5.30

The most important of those philosophers was Gośāla Maskariputra, the head of the Ājīvika sect, whose interesting career has been repeatedly treated by HOERNLE¹. That Aśoka knew the Jains under the name of nigantha (Topra edict 7, 26) was BÜHLER’S statement². Their early history in so far as it is reflected by Hemacandra in his Pariśiṣṭaparvan (the Sthavirāvali) and in legends pertaining to it, is due to JACOBI no less than is the right interpretation of what is called the schism that led to the separation of the Śvetāmbara and Digambara communities. They did not, as old time would have it, separate by an act of violence but gradually, until, eventually, both partners became aware of their differences.