Aspects of Jaina Monasticism

Author(s): Nathmal Tatia, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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in the Digha Nikaya.28 The essential characteristics of the sangha are described there as follows:
suppatipanno bhagavato sāvakasangho, ujuppatipanno bhagavato sāvakasangho, ñāyappaṭipanno bhagavato sāvakasangho, sāmīcippatipanno bhagavato sāvakasangho, yad idam cattrāri purisayugani aṭṭha purisapuggalā, esa bhagavato sāvakasangho āhuneyyo pahuneyyo dakkhineyyo añjalikaraṇīyo anuttaram puññakkhettam lokassa' ti.
Rightly established on the path, upright, just, and law-abiding indeed is the Order of the Lord's disciples, represented by four couples, that is, eight personalities (four on the path of sotapatti, etc., and four established in the fruit of sotapatti, etc.), who are worthy of honour, of hospitality, of gifts, and of reverence, being the supreme fertile ground of merits for the world.
The supreme excellence of this triad of gems 29 is brought out in its full glory in the Ratanasutta of the Suttanipāta.
The sangha is held in highest esteem in Jainism too. Its glory and importance are brought out in the Nandisutra in its initial hymn of fifteen beautiful verses. We are tempted to give a free translation of the verses for the benefit of the reader in order to enable him to compare the Jaina and Buddhist concepts of sangha.
"May the well laid-out city of sangha give us shelter, where buildings are made of a great many virtues and filled with gems of scriptures, where the pathways are made of pure faith, and boundaries protected by the invulnerable ramparts of good conduct(4).
"May the wheel of sangha be always victorious without a rival, the wheel of which self-restraint constitutes the hub from which radiate the spokes of austerity, the right faith being its felly (5).
"May the chariot of the blessed sangha be triumphant, with its banner of sila (moral virtues) flying on the crest, with the steeds of penance and morality duly harnessed with sweet and auspicious chant of scriptural incantation surcharging the environment (6).
"May the lotus of sangha flourish in its fullness, rising above the mass of water polluted with the mud of karman, with its long stalk made of the gem of scripture, with its steadfast pericap of five great vows, with its pollen consisting of virtues, surrounded by the bees of the laity gathering honey of spirituality from it, blossoming forth by the rays of the jina-sun, the community of the ascetics making up its thousand petals (7-8).
"May the moon of sangha shine in its glory with its insignia of penance and self-restraint, never eclipsed by the rahu of the doctrine