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Post-Mahāvīra Period and the Contribution of Jainism
14. The Digambaras wash their images with the pañcāmrta, but the
Svetāmbaras do not observe this practice.203 15. The Digambaras say their prayers in the Hindu fashion, but the
Svetāmbaras close their mouth or tie a cloth over their lips.204
16. The Digambaras paint their caste-marks on their foreheads, but the
Svetāmbaras do not.205
17. Although the Digambaras hold in high esteem the tradition about the
twelve angas and the fourteen pūrvas, they disown the Jaina canon as fixed by the Svetāmbaras. 206
18. The Svetāmbaras assert that there are 12 heavens and 64 Indras, but
the Digambaras maintain that there are 16 heavens and 100
olympian monarchs.207 19. The Svetāmbaras allow their teachers to eat out of vessels, but the
Digambara teachers take food in their hands from their disciples.208 20. The Śvetāmbaras use flowers, sweets, etc., in their pūjā; the
Digambaras use spices, dry fruits, etc., for this purpose. 209 21. The Digambaras consider absolute nudity as an indispensable sign of
holiness, but the advance of civilisation has compelled them to depart from the practice of nudity.210 It is difficult to ascertain as to when the present custom of wearing clothes started among the Digambaras. From the account of Hiuen-Tsang, the Chinese traveller, it appears that the Digambaras were faithful to the law of nudity even up to the
203. DJI, p. 36. 204. Ibid. 205. Ibid. This is a custom among south Indian Jainas. See AOIK, p. 295. 206. HJM, p. 34. 207. JI, pp. 14-15. 208. Ibid. 209. Ibid., pp. 14-15. 210. OISJ, p. 2 fn. 2.
97.
