________________
Early Jainism
ubhinişadya (= joint study ) [Vyav.1,21), abhinišithika (=jolnt nightly, est) (Vyay. 1.21], abhinicăra (=joint wandering about) (Vyav. 4.19) which these texts speak of and for which the concerned group of monks had to seek special permission from the church superiors. Certainly, if it was only used for a gana to wander about in the form of a unit such seeking of special permission would have been almost pointless. Of course, the practice in question foreshadowed a latter-day church unit like gaccha. Particularly striking in this connection seems to have been the practice of sambhoga which soon extended much beyond a mere joint taking of meals; for epigr. aphic evidences are available to the effect that at a certain historical period the monks would refer not only to their appropriate gana but also to their appropriate sambhoga as a sub-unit of the gana. [Even the Chedasūtras seem to imply that sambhoga was a relatively steady church unit. The very frequency of references to it might lead one to think so.) It has neverth. eless to be noted that in the commentarial literature devoted to the Chedas. ūtras the graded hierarchy of church units consists of four members-viz. gaccha, kula, gana, saṁgha, where gaccha constitutes the lowest unit and sangha the highest; that is to say sambhoga as a definite church unit seems to have become obsolete in later times. So in later times gaccha was the church unit functioning on a day-to-day basis while kula, gana and saṁgha were higher standing units taken into reckoning for certain special purposes. And even though the Chedasūtras do not posit so fixed a church unit as gaccha functioning on a day-to-day basis they do exhibit a marked tend. ency to view as a rather odd phenomenon the practice of lonely wandering on the part of a monk; hence their so meagre references to such a practice (e, g. Vyav. 1. 25).
In this connection certain rulings of Vyavahāra are particularly instructive, For here it is laid down that in a quite big town (lit. a town with many walls ind many gateways) even an experienced and well-instructed monk should not stay alone (6.6) while in a modestly big town (lit. a town with one wall and one gateway) only that monk might stay alone who is experienced and well-instructed (6.7); still, it is here laid down that even a number of monks with meagre learning might not stay together in a town of apy description - unless they are accompanied by someone who is well-versed in Ācāra-prakalpa (6. 4-5). So it seems that the time-honoured practice of lonely wandering was proving to be out of time with the growing sophist. ication of the country's social lífe. It is equally remarkable that the old
ula which calls upon a monk to stay for not more than one night in a village and for not more than five nights in a town is nowhere endorsed in the Chedasūtra, They rather came out with the injunction that a monk might stay for one month in a moderately big town (lit, a town without an outside suburb) and for two months in a quite big town; (the period is
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
