Facts and Figures about Jain Shwetambar Terapanthi Diksha

Author(s): Jain Shwetambar Terapanthi Sabha
Publisher: Jain Shwetambar Terapanthi Sabha

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“After that I had an occasion to see the ceremony of Diksha of a husband and wife from which I found that in this sect of the Jains, Diksha is given in the presence of a large gathering after giving it full publicity and their Guru Maharaj does not initiate any person into a Sadhu without the written consent of the parents or guardians. At this Diksha about 4,000 ladies and gentlemen were present and the Agyapatra from the relatives of the husband and wife was presented to the Guru Maharaj after which he initiated them. The whole ceremony was most impressive to my mind."
The very fact that initiation takes place before a large gathering and after such lengthy formalities is at once a guarantee against initiation of an unfit person by fraud, misrepresentation, or inducements.
12. For the guidance of the Sadhus and in order to enable them to lead a life strictly in accordance with the sastric injunctions, the founder of this sect, Swami Bhikhanji Maharaj, laid