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 51

22 : JAINS TODAY IN THE WORLD to listen to them. When the monsoon is over, they travel on the road naked. At night, they sleep directly on the ground in isolated places or in special rooms in Digambara temples.
Digambara nuns (āryikā) have only two large “sāri" they alternatively use as garment and as cover at night. They also have a broom, a bundle, a walking stick and a water-gourd. Like the monks, they walk barefoot and have a wandering existence (vihāra), out of the months of monsoon in India, as a sign of non-attachment. At their "dīksa” they also have their hair plucked and regularly after. During monsoon, they always live separately from the monks in shelters set at their disposal by the Digambara laity. They show without speaking that they want to eat in the same way as described for the monks. Digambara called “kşullaka” (kşullikā for nuns) follow rules that are less strict. They have one upper and one lower garment, eat their food in bowls and their hair is not plucked. Now some of them use public transports to travel but generally they do not. Their vows are less strong than those of the "āryikā". The "elaka", another category of Digambara monks, have only a piece of cloth to cover their nudity and follow all the other rules like nude monks.
Another point of divergence between Digambara and Svetämbara concerns the sacred books and their tenets. The Svetāmbara accept, in their great majority, the authenticity of 45 books containing their canon (āgama). They also consider as valuable some commentaries of these scriptures and other texts written by spiritual religious leaders (such as the “Tattvārthādhigama-sūtra” by Umāsvāti, and more recently the “Samana Suttam” or “śramaņa Sūtram” by the Kșullaka Jinendra Varṇī). Regarding other canonical works, the Śvetāmbara give a great importance to the “Kalpasūtra" ascribed to Bhadrabāhu. Among Svetāmbara, the "Sthānakavāsī" and the "Terapanthi" regard only 32 books as their canon.