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34) not only the same schedule is mentioned, but in addition to that it is stated that only a monk who knows the Sthānānga by heart may attain the position of an ācārya, which, as we know from other texts, entitles him to supervise the monks and nuns in regard to their conduct and study.
In this connection, I would like to refer to a most interesting information John Cort (2001: 330) has given about two modern curricula for Mārtipūjaka-monks, dated 1912 and 1988. He says with regard to both of them: "[They are) noteworthy for the almost complete absence of texts of the Svetāmbara canon. This tells that in fact the canon of early texts is not where the Jains themselves go to learn the intellectual and ritual fundamentals of their own tradition."
This statement corresponds to what I have heard from an informant: Today, only few nuns and monks study the canonical texts thoroughly. This I consider a sad state of affairs. It is self-evident that the Sthānānga - as a textbook - cannot be of any importance for the Jaina ascetics nowadays. But I am convinced that for everybody, may he be interested in the history of the religion and literature of the Jainas or the intellectual history of India in general, the Sthānāngasūtra is worth reading.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bhatt, Bansidhar. "Study of the Word: niksepa and other Derivatives in the Svetāmbara
Jaina Canon." Akten des Melzer-Symposiums 1991. Ed. Walter Slaje & Christian
Zinko, 15-53. Graz: Leykam, 1992. Bothara, Surendra. Illustrated Sthānānga Sūtra, Original Text with Hindi and English
Translations, Elaboration and Multicoloured Illustrations. Ed. Amar Muni Ji
Maharaj. Delhi: Padma Prakashan, 2004. Bronkhorst, Johannes. "Remarks on the History of Jaina Meditation”. Jain Studies in
Honour of Jozef Deleu. Ed. Rudy Smet & Kenji Watanabe, 151-162. Tokyo: Hon
no-tomasha, 1993. Cort, John E. "The Intellectual Formation of a Jaina Monk: A Śvetāmbara Monastic
Curriculum." Journal of Indian Philosophy 29 (2001) 327-349. Deo, Shantaram Bhalchandra. History of Jaina Monachism. From Inscriptions and
Literature. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, 1956. Jambūvijaya; Muni. Thānamgasuttam and Samavāyamgasuttam. Jaina-Agama-Series 3,
Bombay: Śrī Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyālaya, 1985.
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