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## Introduction
25
The terms 'Digambar' and 'Svetambar' are not explicitly used anywhere. If the word 'Svetambar' (Siyambar) is found in this text for a Jain monk, it indicates that this text was not written before Vikram Samvat 136, the time when the Digambar and Svetambar sects were not yet established. There is a clear example of such usage in the 22nd chapter of the text. For example:
> Pechchha paribhamantō dāhiṇadesē siyamvaram paṇao |
> Tassa sagāsē dhammam suṇīūṇ tao samāḍhatto ||78||
> Aha bhai muni varadō śiśuṇ sudhammam jiṇehi parikahyam | Jeṭho ya samaṇadhammo sāvayadhammo ya aṇujeṭho || 79 ||
This passage describes a Jain monk who was encountered by the dethroned king Saudās while traveling in the south, and from whom he took the vows of a lay follower. This monk is referred to as a Svetambar monk. Therefore, this text cannot be a composition from before Vikram Samvat 136.
Here, I would like to point out that the Svetambar scholar Muni Kalyanvijayji, in his book 'Shraman Bhagwan Mahavira', writes that before the 7th century Vikram era, neither the Digambar nor the Svetambar traditions used the terms 'Digambar' and 'Svetambar' for each other. This is evident from his following statement:
> "It was from this time (from the beginning of the 7th century Vikram era to the end of the 10th century) that the practice of calling each other Digambar and Svetambar began." || Page 307
If Muni Kalyanvijayji's research is accurate, then the composition of the Paumachariy cannot be before the 7th century Vikram era, not just Vikram Samvat 136. The oldest mention of this text so far is found in the text 'Kuvalayamala', which was written in Shaka Samvat 700, equivalent to Vikram Samvat 835.
(2) Shri Kundakunda is the chief Acharya of the Digambar sect. In his 'Charitpahuḍ', while describing the Sagara Dharma, he mentions Sallekhana as the fourth Shikshavrata. This belief is not mentioned in any text before him, and therefore it is considered to be his unique belief. This belief of his has been adopted by Vimalsuri, the author of 'Paumachariy'. This belief is not mentioned anywhere in the Svetambar Agam Sutras. The following statement from a letter received by Mukhtar Sahib from Muni Punyavijayji also reveals the same:
> "Sallekhana is not included as a Shikshavrata in the twelve vows in any of the Svetambar Agams."
There is a lot of similarity between the verses of 'Charitpahuḍ' related to Sagara Dharma and those found in 'Paumachariy', as evident from the comparison below:
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> Pancheṇuvvayā guṇavvayāī havanti tah tiṣṇi | Sikkhavay cattāriy sanjamacaraṇam ca sāyaram ||23||
> Tasakāya hē thūlē mōsē adattalē ya | Parihāro para mahilā pariggahārambha parimāṇam || 24 ||
> Disavidisamaṇapaḍhamaṁ aṇatya iṇḍassa vajjaṇam vidiyam | Bhogopabhoga parimā iyameva guṇavvayā tiṣṇi || 25 ||