Book Title: History of Jaina Monachism
Author(s): S B Deo
Publisher: Deccan College Research Institute

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 502
________________ HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM 497 Regarding their views and mode of life, we have drawn a sketch previously. The order of the nuns of the Sthānakayāsins does not differ much from those of the monks of the same sect. The discipline of the nuns, however, seems strict, and they are not normally allowed to have vocal or any other contact with monks. A common residence is out of question. The nuns, however, go to the Sthānaka to get their difficulties solved. There being no idol-worship, most of the time of the nuns is spent in the residence which they occupy. They put on white clothes, but the distinguishing mark is the use of the 'muhapatti' which they always use. The rest of the rules are common with those of the monks. We have, up till now, taken a survey of the life of the nuns among the Svetämbaras. We shall now study the order of the nuns among the Digambaras. NUNS AMONG THE DIGAMBARAS: The order of nuns among the Digambaras did not differ much from that of the Svetambaras. The fundamentals of moral discipline were the same. Yet, in their attitude towards women, the Digambaras were more strict than the Svetāmbaras. Attitude Towards Women: The Digambaras not only shared the same views about women in general as those of the Svetāmbaras, but went a step further in holding that women, even if they became nuns, were not eligible for liberation, unless they were reborn as men.224 The reason behind this view was that liberation was impossible without complete non-attachment which implied nudity. We have already seen why women were not allowed nudity on grounds of their physical disabilities.225 Besides these, women were said to be always negligent and crooked. Hence they cannot get liberation in that very birth.226 The Svetāmbaras are more liberal and they hold that a woman can get mokşa.227 224. Prv., III, 7. 225. Ibid., III, 10-14. 226. Ibid., III, 8-9. 227. See Viñ. 19, 8ff., where Haribhadra advocates that women are eligible both for Kevalajñāna as well as for Liberation (siddhi), as mental purity, so necessary for Liberation, can be had both by males as well as by females. BULL. DCRI.-63 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616