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The Never-ending Pilgrimage
411
do not attach much importance to the study of these Sūtras, for the rules to be observed are transmitted orally by the guruņi from one generation to the next and it is the ācārya who assigns the penances for more serious offences. As regards the rules which apply to the āryikās, we shall use for the most part the book of Aryikā Jñānamati, who drew from the Mūlacāra, the Pravacanasāra, the Anagāradharmāmsta and other Digambara texts.8
The various communities
In our study of the development of decline of the saṁgha in each region, we have seen that the form of radical asceticisin peculiar to the Jaina dharma is extremely difficult to live out and that, exposed to the winds and currents of change in the various places and epochs, the original fervour sometimes considerably decreased. Compromises leading to a less rigorous ascetic practice have nearly always been related to some modification of the vow of aparigraha, which meant
that certain ascetics abandoned, either completely or periodically, the • itinerant life in favour of the stable life of the monastery. Stability
was favourable towards the acquisition and possession of land, goods and, money. This sort of material possession led in turn to more subtle, but no less disastrous, attachments such as the attribution of importance to reputation or honours, and once one is again embroiled in the affairs and intrigues of this world, it is more difficult, if not impossible, to adhere to the commitments made in one's vows with all their demands. This sort of relaxation of standards occurred among the Digambaras and Svetāmbaras, and in the various regions from North to South.
After long periods of decadence due principally to this resort to stability, there always came to the fore, in successive epochs, certain ascetics and also certain śrāvakas of great fervour, to inspire return to the strict observance, to set in motion a movement of renewal, even sometimes of reform. In our own day, after several attempts to return
8 Cf. P 630 ff.
9 Cf. P 167 ff.
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| SR No. | 007014 |
| Book Title | Unknown Pilgrims |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | N Shanta |
| Publisher | Sri Satguru Publications Delhi |
| Publication Year | 1997 |
| Total Pages | 820 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |