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Post-Mahavira Period and the Contribution of Jainism
Jainism in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. Subsequently, it spread to western Uttar Pradesh also. The discovery of Jaina images in large numbers from Fatehpur Sikri and Kagaraul in west Uttar Pradesh and from many places in Haryana have furnished evidence of the prevalence of Jainism in these regions also. 147 There are indications that Jainism spread to other parts of north India also, including the Punjab. 148 It is important to note that the spread of Jainism was not confined to India. The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang, who visited India in the seventh century AD, found the followers of Jainism even beyond the frontiers of India, i.e., in Kapiśā.149
Schisms in the Jaina Church
The tendency to form a dissenting opinion was prevalent in the lifetime of Mahāvīra. His disciple Gosala had separated from him and founded the Ajivika sect. 150 Two schisms (nihnavas) are said to have occurred in Mahāvīra's lifetime. 151 The trend continued. In all, seven 152 or eight, 153 schisms occurred in the Jaina Church. According to the Svetambaras, there were eight schisms in the Jaina Church; the first of these was caused by Mahāvīra's son-in-law Jamali, and the eighth schism gave rise to the Digambara sect.154 But the Digambaras seem to be ignorant of the earlier schisms; they hold that it was the rise of the sect of Ardhaphalaks under Bhadrabahu which developed into the Svetambara sect in AD 80.155
It has already been stated that Bhadrabahu, who had become the head
Amar Ujālā, Āgrā, April, 2000.
CHAI, III, p. 286.
S. Beal, op. cit., I, p. 63; HOIC, I, p. 167; OISJ, p. 4 fn. 4. AOIU, pp. 414-15; AAHI, p. 85; CHI, I, pp. 158-9.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151 LDJC, pp. 25-6; JAA, I, p. 24; HJM, p. 79.
152. AOIU, p. 416; JSS p. 23; LDJC, pp. 25-6. 153. ERE, VII, p. 473; HJM, p. 78.
154.
Ibid., p. 473.
155. Ibid.
Alle
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