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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
335 ever, they prescribed exceptions which were not likely to mar the fundamentals of moral discipline.
DIGAMBARA MONACHISM:
We have already noted the different theories accounting for the great schism in the Jaina church. It is not possible to ascribe one single reason to, or a definite date for, the origin of the schism from the sources at our disposal at present.
One thing, however, seems certain that the texts like the Mulācāra, Pravacanasara and others which are ascribed roughly to the beginning of the Christian era,638 depict a clear-cut mode of life of the Digambara monks, which, as the following discussion would bring out, does not seem to have been totally different from that of the Svetambara monks except on a few points. Before, therefore, entering upon a comparison between these two modes of monastic life, it would be better to take a survey of Digambara monachism as revealed in the texts mentioned above.
CHURCH:
Initiation:
The process of initiation was very simple and devoid of any pomp. The person wanting to renounce the world saluted the five great dignitaries (Siddhas, Jinas, Acāryas, Upadhyāyas and the Sadhus), and taking leave of his relatives and dependants he approached the ganin. Then saluting him, he requested him to admit him into the order. Obtaining the sanction of the ascetic community, he pulled out his hair and moustache and "adopted a form similar to that in which he is born (ahājāyarüvadharo)"-i.e. became naked. Accepting this mode of ascetic life, the person listened to his duties as a monk from the preceptor and, consenting to it, he became a śramaņa,639
Persons Fit for Monkhood:
The list of persons who were deemed unfit for monklife appears to have been the same among the Svetämbaras and the Digambaras,640
Incidentally, it may be noted that the Pravacanasära41 deemed him a fit person for monkhood, who "hailed from the three castes (varnas: comm.
638. See UPADHYE, A.N., Pravacanasara, Introduction, p. XXII.
639. Ibid., III, 1-7.
640. See Sannyasa-dharma by C. R. JAIN, pp. 24-25.
641. III, 15: This verse, however, is taken to be a later interpolation by Dr. A. N. UPADHYE.
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