________________
AN EPITOME OF JAINISM. from the different Jain teachers, who assumed themselves as heads of their own gachhas, alleging differences in religious practices and holding different interpretations of the texts of the Satras. These Sutras of the Jain Siddhanta of the Swetambaris were handed down orally till they were reduced to writing about 980 years after Mahavir's nirvan (453 A. D.) by Devardhigani Kshamashraman who was a pupil of Lohitya Suri, in the city of Vallabhi in Gujrat, before a great Council which met for the purpose. The Swetambar Church have got lists of their gachlas and their members and these throw much light on the dark pages of Indian History. The mention of Jain hierarchs, teichers and their schools in the inscription discovered at Mathura and other places of late, is of great importance to verify the statements in Kalpa Sutra and other Jain texts of such gana or gachha (the school) the Kula (the line) and Shakha (the branch) of the main Jain Church. Its literature has preserved the list of Suris or hierarchs, noting down the important events during their time. Therein we find
656