________________
S. B. DEO
The rules of changing the gana, the procedure of going to another gana and other details concerning it need not be repeated as they were more or less the same as those found in the canonical texts as well.
372
Inspite of these rules, it should not be ignored that the place of the gana was gradually being taken over by the gaccha. The commentators40 frequently equate the gana with the gaccha, and the tendency to equate the ācārya with the ganadhara and calling him the head of the gaccha also corroborates the dwindling importance of the gana.
(b) The Kula:
The kula was explained in the old traditional fashion, as being the unit which formed the gana (gaṇaḥ kulasamudayah)."
No other details regarding it can be had, and the commentators simply refer to the 'Nagendra' and the 'Candrakulas' as illustrations of it.42
(c) The Gaccha:
The gaccha, however, is seen to have become very prominent in the post-canonical literature so as to take the place of the gana.
It consisted of at least three monks (tigamäïyā gacchä). That consisting of four or five monks was considered to be of a normal size, and it was defined as the 'guruparivära' i.e. the following of a particular ācārya."4
The qualifications and the defects of a good and a bad gaccha have already been studied when dealing with the Prakirṇakas. In addition to those, the Bṛhatkalpabhäṣya gives the following:
(1) by living in a gaccha, the monk gets acquainted with unique knowledge;
(2) he gets stabilised in faith and conduct;
(3) due to the constant control of the acarya, the monk has a chaste life;
40. Brh. kalp. bha., Vol. V, comm. on 5615, p. 1486; Ibid., p. 1513. Also JACOBI'S remark: "Modern gaccha appears to be equivalent to ancient gana"-SBE., XXII, p. 288,
f.n. 2.
41. Brh. kalp. bha. Vol. I, 492-93;
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid. Vol. II, 1630; The gaccha has been referred to in the Pinda-N. bhā. 40; Samaräiccakahā 148; "Gacchavasa" Dharmasangraha 3.
44. Pañcavastuka as quoted in Päïyasadda., p. 358. 45. Vol. V, 5713-20.
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