________________
384
S. B. DEO
Païtthāņa changed the date of this festival from the fourth to the fifth day of Bhādrapada.
Relations with Heretics:
The Jaina monks were always asked to keep away from heretical monks, but cases of kidnapping the disciples of rival sects and their ācāryas seem to have been rampant as the BỊhatkalpabhāsya gives numerous details about the procedure to be adopted to recover these persons.
If a monk kidnapped a novice without either taking the latter's opinion or that of his Buddhist relatives, then he had to undergo 'caturguru'. But only if the disciple had come of age or had expressly consented to accompany the Jaina monk, then alone, the latter could take away the disciple without consulting his Buddhist relatives. The text, however, expressly states that this act was to be done only after taking into consideration the local Buddhist influence as well the religious tendencies of the ruling king.77
It seems, therefore, that the Jainas and the Buddhists were at loggerheads. This is also corroborated by the reference in the Vyavahārabhāsya78 which mentions the quarrel between these two sects over the Stūpa at Mathurā which ended in a victory for the Jainas.
Jaina monks were allowed to go only to holy places of pilgrimage, as at other places there was a likelihood of the heretics poisoning or killing them.79
We have already noted that in cases of attacks by thieves, the ācārya was saved by allowing an ordinary monk to pose as an ācārya. In case, the ācārya was kidnapped by a rival king, then those monks who were wellversed in the art of fighting and of magic and spells, used all their might to release the ācārya. If nobody knew fighting or spells, then the rest of the monks remained silent for a while and then raised up a cry for help. They remained silent to avoid direct struggle which was likely to result in the destruction of many lives. Then they requested the king to bring back their ācārya. If, on the message of the king, the rival king did not release the ācārya, then his disciples went to their guru with the permission of the king from whose region the ācārya was kidnapped.80
Thus these texts reveal a keen rivalry not only between different sects, but also between different royal patrons of Jainism.
77. Bịh. kalp. bha., Vol. V, 5095. 78. 5, 27f. 79. Byh. kalp. bha., Vol. III, 3139ff. 80. Ibid., Vol. III, 2789-91.
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