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the wollen one used by the Svetāmbaras though the principle behind it-viz., protection to and non-injury of living beings--was the same. Moreover, unlike the Svetāmbaras, they consumed food in the palm of their hand and hence went without the begging bowl.
The rules regarding proper food, purity of the donor and of the food, the quantity of food and the time for it were the same for both of them.
The Digambara texts of this period do not reveal a planned system of study of the different texts as the one seen in the Vyavahārasūtra which lays down a definite course of study spread over a period of twenty years. But, the times for study and non-study, the texts to be read, the way of doing it and the relations between the guru and the disciple did not differ much for both these sects. The device, however, of fixing the time of the study in different seasons based on shadow of the feet, as given in the Mülācāra may be said to be not perfect as slight differences in it were likely to be there.
The rules concerning meditation, penance, residence and fasting did not seem to have been different in these two sects.
It may be said that the Niryuktis of the Svetāmbaras refer to a number of supernatural powers of monks, but the Mülācāra is silent over the matter, and this perhaps indicates the increase in such practices in the later period (Niryuktis c. 4th cent. A.D.; Mülācārā c. 1st cent. A.D.) in the Jaina Church as a whole, or that may prove the dislike of such practices in the early Digambara texts.
In short, it may be remarked that the differences between these two sects, as revealed in their representative texts, pertained more to practice than to moral philosophy.
THE CONDITION OF THE DIGAMBARA CHURCH :
When compared with the condition of the Śvetāmbara Church as revealed in the Chedasūtras, the state of the Digambara Church as seen from the Mülācāra and other contemporary texts presents quite a different picture. The latter type of texts seldom reveal a planned and qualified hierarchy, the statement of rules of monastic jurisprudence, or concrete cases of transgressions and punishments.
Inspite of the fact that the Digambara texts also give a list of ten prāyaścittas the last two items of which differed from those in the Svetāmbara list, they seldom reveal traces of their execution so peculiar to corporate life. Even though the monk was asked not to live outside the 'gaccha', the trend seemed to favour solitary life.
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