Jains Today in World

SR No.: 001794
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Pirre Paul AMIEL
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 360
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, History, Religion, E000, & E005
File Size: 24 MB

Page 50

Their Diversity : 21 when they open their mouth. During the Indian monsoon they dwell in buildings placed at their disposal, called "upāśraya". Outside monsoon season, they wander barefoot and collect their subsistence at the houses of Jain laity.
Svetambara nuns (sādhví) possess only three white "sāri" and cover their heads with a white veil. They also have a stick (danda), a broom and a water-pot similar too those of the monks, a bundle to pile up their bowls for collecting food and drink, a rosary (mālā), a book (pothi), a pencil, some writing paper and sometimes spectacles. Like monks, they walk barefoot and join together to share the subsistence they have collected. Most of them wear also a "muhapatti'on their mouth. When they are not travelling, especially during the monsoon,
they dwell in “upāśraya” that are always distinct from those of the monks.
Digambara monks (sādhu) who have attained the summit of their detachment of the world live in the nude, with only two possessions: a broom (picchikā) made of peacock feathers, to brush their path, and a special water-pot (kamandalu) to do their ablutions. The peacock feathers used for their brooms are collected each year when these animals shed them on the ground; otherwise to pull these from them would be a kind of violence. By putting their right hand on the shoulder, they let know they are hungry or thirsty. They accept the offerings of food in the hollow of their joined hands and eat standing up silently. They agree their food from only one house where their secret wish is fulfilled; if it is not so, they fast. They have too their hair pulled, when they receive consecration (dikşā) and periodically after it. They have no “upāśraya" for the monsoon months (căturmasya) like the Svetāmbara. Instead, they live in shelters provided by the laity, eat the food that is offered and use their time to meditate, do penances, sing “mantra", and teach those who are willing