________________
HISTORY OF JAINA MONACHISM
Relations of Monks and Nuns:
One thing, however, may be noted, and it is that the Buddhist nun had to do some service to the monk. She was sometimes to clean his park.257 This feature was completely absent in Jainism and no nun was expected to do any compulsory duties of a servant towards a monk, and the only policy was to keep them away at all costs. But the general rules of moral discipline among the Buddhists also were strict; for instance, a nun committed a 'päräjika' if she allowed a man to touch her private parts,258 or when she waited upon a monk while he was taking food,250 or when she accepted food from a lustful monk with passionate mind.20
Clothing:
The Buddhist nuns normally used three robes, and occasionally were allowed to use a cloak as the fourth garment. Thus the number of clothes seems to be identical in the case of the Buddhist and the Jaina nuns. The number of clothes increases to fourteen in later Jaina texts like the Oghaniryukti, etc. Like the Jaina nuns, the Buddhist nuns were also allowed to use underwear (sankaccikā: kañcuka of the Jainas),261 They were also allowed to use a girdle.262 Like the Jaina nuns, the Buddhist nuns were also forbidden to accumulate an unnecessary number of extra clothes,263 and were asked to refrain from embroidered or decorated clothes.264 The source of getting clothing was identical for both the Jainas and the Buddhists, as both of them depended on the laity for it.
503
The distribution of clothing in the Buddhist Sangha was called 'kathina.' It took place once a year, and clothes were allotted to different nuns by the superiors. We come across a similar process in the Jaina order of nuns also. The ganadhara handed over the clothes to the pravartini and the latter distributed them to the nuns according to their needs. The 'kathina', however, seems to have been a far more grand ceremony and this ceremonial aspect may be said to be lacking in the Jaina Church.
In contrast to the Jaina nuns, the Buddhist nuns were to use yellow coloured garments. Not only that but they were allowed to use a particular bathing suit also,265
257. Vinaya., IV, pp. 306-08.
258. Ibid., p. 349.
259. Ibid., pp. 269-70.
260. Ibid., pp. 225-35. 261. Ibid., p. 345.
262. Cullavagga, X, 10. 1. 263. Vinaya., IV, p. 285. 264. Cullavagga, X, 10. 1. 265. Vinaya., IV, pp. 278-79.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
