Jain Journal 2005 04

SR No.: 520158
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 2005
Total Pages: 58
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 28

CHITTARANJAN PAL: WERETHE MONKSEXPELLED FROM THE BUDDHIST
187
The places, mentioned above, were not considered fit for abodes by the monks of the Buddhist faith, but the monks of some other religious sects were in the habit of taking shelters in such places. As, for example, Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the last Tīrthankara of the Nirgranthas (Jainas) “has been found sometimes to take shelter in workshops, sometimes in garden-houses. sometimes in a cemete sometimes in deserted houses and sometimes at the foot of a tree" during thirteen years of his ascetic life prior to the attainment of kevalijñāna.!?
One of the oldest canonical books of the Jainas, Uttarādhyayana sūtra, prescribes a cemetery, a deserted house, the foot of a tree and the solitary corner of a house as the fittest shetter for a monk!8. So from the perusal of the list of abodes noted above, conclusion may easily be drawn that “abodes” considered unfit by the Buddhists were regarded as suitable shelters for the Nirgrantha (Jaina) monks.
The second penalty inflicted upon the heretical monks was “to disrobe them and replace their yellow raiments by white robes" and in the language of Dr. R. K. Mukherjee there was no canonical sanction behind this punishment inflicted upon the hereties. In those days monks belonging to different religious orders, were in the habit of using robes made of different materials - like clothes rags, barks, skins leaves etc. and of different colours like red, yellow, white etc. Some recluses would not wear any cloth at all and wander sky-clad. The followers of the Buddha were in the habit of wearing yellow robes and the Nirgranthas and the Ajīvikas were sky-clad: A section of the Nirgranthas (who stayed at Magadha) under the leadership of Sthūlabhadra, adopted the practice of wearing white robes. The false doctrine i.e. belief in eternal soul prevalent among the heretical monksis one of the basic principles of the Nirgranthas (Jainas)
17. B.C. Law, Mahavira, p. 22 18. Uttarādhyanasūtra, 3576
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