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72 The Four Monastic Courses
common responsibility of each member, irrespective of his monastic status. In other words, at the end of the first six months, the assistants retire having completed their penance (nirviṣṭakayika), and are followed by the sub-assistants as the observers of the penance for the next six months. At the end of the twelve months, the duty of observing the penance falls on the leader for the next six months.
(11) Options at the End of Eighteen Months: At the end of the eighteen months, such practitioners have the option of continuing the penance or adopting the Victor's Course, or reverting to the Course of the Elders. Those who continue in the Course may do so irrespective of their numerical strength, which may fall down to eight or even less.
The above account distinguishes four kalpas (conduct), viz. (i) the conduct of those who have fulfilled the penance (nirviṣṭa), (ii) the conduct of those who are fulfilling the the (nirviśamāna), (iii) penance Victor's Course, and (iv) the Course of the Elders. Adding to these four, the two conducts, viz. Sāmāyika (Initiation) and Chedopasthāpaniya (Ordination), we get six types of conduct (kalpasthiti) arranged in the following order: (i) sāmāyika, (ii) che dopasthapaniya, (iii) nirviśamāna, (iv) nirviṣṭakāyika, (v) jinakalpa, and (vi) sthavirakalpa. Of these six, the third and the fourth may be subject to the entrance (samavatāra) into the second while the first four may have entrance into the last two.
The monks who revert to the
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Course of the Elders at the end of the Purificatory Cooperative Course are known as itvara (engaged in temporary practice), while those who adopt the Victor's Course are called Yavatkathika, i.e., practitioners for whole life.200
The Purificatory Cooperative Course has thus three alternatives, viz. (i) adoption of the Victor's Course, (ii) continuance of the same Purificatory Cooperative Course, or (iii) reversion to the Course of the Elders.
(12) Upsarga, Atanka, and Vedanā: It is an established convention (jita) that trials and tribulations (upsarga), misfortunes and calamities (atanka), and sufferings (vedana) do not take place in the case of the practitioners of itvarika (temporary) Purificatory Cooperative Course.
(13) Samharana : The practitioners cannot be kidnapped by any agency.
(14) Kāla (Time): Their floruit is possible only in the avasarpiņi and utsarpiņi, and not in sarpiņi, etc., as in the case of the jinakalpika.
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(15) Kalpa-sttaiti: As a rule, this penance is possible only in the sttaiti-kalpa (fixed conduct).201
(16) Caritra (Monastic Stages): Each monastic stage has several points of development of self-control called samyama-sthana. In the first two stages, viz. initiation and ordination, the minimum points of self-control are similar, there being parity of purification (viśuddhisamya). In the case of practitioners of the Purificatory Cooperative Course, their points of self-control are much higher in quality- their
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