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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
Bhikkhun (bhikeṣuņi):
It was a very general term signifying a nun, but she perhaps stood higher than the 'Khuddiya'.
Khuddiyä (kullikā):
The word probably stood for a young nun who was not confirmed or who was still under probation.
471
Besides these, another officer called the 'mahattariya (mahattarikā) is referred to and it is laid down that the nuns should remain under her control. It may be that she was an old and respected member of a gaccha or a group of nuns and her duties were administrative as well as spiritual.
Execution of Church Discipline:
As in the case of the monks, so also about the nuns, the early texts do not give details about concrete examples of transgressions and the punishments for them. The Chedasūtras, and later on the Bṛhatkalpabhäşya, give numerous details about them.
The initiation of women was solely left to the nuns and the ācārya, and no monk could initiate a woman for personal motives. The monk was to take advice from an elderly nun regarding this matter and then hand her over to the theri.43
After initiation, if a nun wanted confirmation (upasthäpană), she had to go to that particular group for that act; on the other hand, a monk who had received initiation could choose a guru belonging to any other group."
No nun or monk was allowed to initiate a person below eight years.45
Under no circumstances were the nuns to remain without a chief. If, while touring, the leader among them died, then they were to appoint the immediate subordinate to that post, or else were to merge themselves in a major group. If they remained without a head, then they had to undergo either 'cheda' (i.e. shortening of the period of nunhood) or 'parihära' (i.e. an isolatory penance for the offence).
41. Explained as 'bala', Ibid. Vol. IV, 4339.
42. Gacchäcära, V. 118; 'Mahattara' is a term used in epigraphs to denote an officer in local administration.
43. Vav. 7, 4-5.
44. Ibid., 7, 6-7. 45. Ibid., 10, 16-17. 46. Ibid., 5, 11-12.
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