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HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
475 it,66 in a house with paintings on the wall,67 in a lodge where only males lived68 or which was close to the road,69 which contained wine, 70 which was a meeting house or an assembly house or a house with gallery or an abode built on the roots of a tree, or open to the rain.71
The reasons behind these rules were based on commonsense which helped the nuns to maintain a pure and unharassed life in the society which was and is always crazy about the chastity of women. For instance, the reasons behind forbidding her to stay in a square or a crowded place were based on the doubt that a nun might go astray by looking at young men in the street, or at courtesans or at marriage processions. Another reason was the fear of public which found an easy ground for scandal and criticism in the case of the nun's stay at such a place.72 Moreover, heretics took it a good cause to scandalise the religion on that account. A place with open doors or one devoid of doors provided an easy access to thieves or robbers or such other wicked fellows who stole the requisites or raped the nun; hence the precautions.73
In cases of difficulty when no proper residence could be had, the nuns were allowed to take resort to other lodgings in an order of preference. In the unfit lodgings also, they were to take utmost precautions and were asked to study loudly all together, go to ease nature together and never to allow young men to enter the lodge.74 An elaborate procedure is described by which the nuns, in cases of not getting any other proper lodge, had to stay in a place having open doors. In such a place they had a pair of bamboo or grass-curtains, one each at the inner and the outer sides of the frame of the door. These curtains were joined by a piece of cloth. The inner curtain had two holes through which strings were passed and tied in such a way that the knots of the outer curtain remained inside the inner curtain. Only the nun who stood guard at that curtain knew the mechanism of the knots. The qualifications of the guard-nun were that she was a lady of stout body, well-versed in the sacred lore, of mature age and intellect, of pure family, bold and full of stamina. She stood at the door
66. Ibid., 1, 14. 67. Ibid., 1, 20. 68. Ibid., 1, 29. 69. Ibid., 1, 32. 70. Ibid., 2. 4. 71. Ibid., 2, 11. 72. Bļh. kalp. bha. Vol. III, 2304-24. 73. Ibid., 2330. 74. Ibid., 2320-2324.
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