Book Title: Early Jainism
Author(s): K K Dixit
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Page 34
________________ Uttaradhyayana and Daśavaikalika 25 lonely wandering were set aside not by this practice of monks wandering in twos but by that final practice of monks wandering in the form of a unit. This final practice must have grown out of that old practice of the young disciples staying with their preceptor; for this final practice must be the result as soon as disciples make it a point not to take leave of their preceptor even when their education was over. Thus several (two, three, or even more generations of monks would form a jointly wandering unit where the oldest member was the ācārya with other senior members acting as his staff. The disadvantages enumerated by the just quoted Uttaradhyayana-passage in the practice of monks wandering in twos were certainly there--and were there in a gravest form - also in the practice of monks wandering in the form of a unit, but they were more then offset by the advantages offered by this latter practice. It should now be easy to see how the Uttaradhyayana treatment of the problems of a monk's life moves in the circle of ideas characteristic of Ācārınga I and Sūtrakrtānga I. Three most prominent features of this circle of ideas are (1) a general non-recognition of the problems of a pious house-holders life, (ii) an unconditional emphasis laid on the desirability of one adopting the career of a monk, (lii) recommending an extremely harsh monastic code of conduct [Here (li) is in fact a corollary of (i) it being the positive counterpart of the latter which is essentially negative in character.] We have already seen how scant notice Uttarādhyayana takes of the problems of a pious householder's life and so it should be natural to expect that the text lays unconditional emphasis on the desirabilily of one adopting the career of a monk. The expectation is more than fulfilled, as should be obvious from even a cursory glance at the contents of the text. Most striking in this connection is the fact that as many as of its 11 stories have for their central subjectmatter the glorification of a monk's career contrasted to that of a householder's. In three of here-- viz. Işukarıya (ch. 14). Mīgā putriya (ch. 19), Samudra paliya (ch. 21)-certain young men seek leave of their parents - in the first two through a more or less lengthy argumentation and adopt the career of a monk-in the first the parents too following suit, in other three-viz, Cittasambhūtiya (ch, 13), Samyatiya (ch. 18), a Mahanir granthiya (ch. 20)-a monk is pitted against a king and preaches to the latter the virtues of a monk's life - in the second the king himself turning a monk, in one - viz. Namipravrajya (ch, 9) - Jodra disguised as a Brahmin vainly Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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