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S. B. DEO (iii) Several of these were named after the names of the ācāryas; Kundakunda, Nandin, etc.
(iv) Of all these Sanghas, the Müla Sangha and the Kundakundanvaya seem to have been very old and prominent.
(v) Most of these Sanghas and their subdivisions were current mainly in Karnatak and regions round about it as the available records show. We also have, however, epigraphs from north India which refer to some of them.
(vi) These Sanghas are referred to in epigraphs mostly belonging to a period of 7th cent. A.D., and after.
(vii) It is not known how many among these are still current.
(viii) Units like the Amnāya, Anvaya, Bali, Samudāya Sangha and Vamsa seem to be peculiar to the Digambaras as they are seldom referred to in the Svetāmbara epigraphs.
(ix) It appears that in Digambara monachism it is possible to trace almost a continuous chain of units.
(x) Many of them are old, and new ones are few.
TOURING AND RESIDENCE:
We have not got much information regarding the exact mode of touring undertaken by the monks during the eight months of the year.
The practice of staying at one place during the rainy season, however, is mentioned in a grant of the Kadamba king Ravivarman. It laid down that "ascetics should be supported during the four months of the rainy season."398
From the dedication of caves for the use of monks, it seems that they formed a favourite or a widely used place of shelter for not only Jaina but even non-Jaina ascetics. Possibly the earliest mention of caves for Jaina monks belongs to the period of Khāravela who, in c. 2nd cent. B.C., is said to have furnished caves for the use of monks. The next in antiquity are possibly those at Junagadh belonging to the reign of Kşatrapa Rudradāman.
Later on, in the medieval period, a number of basadis and monasteries were built with the royal and popular support.
The existence of the Vanavāsin gaccha goes to indicate the existence of the Caityavāsins who used to live for a longer time in temples. Thus the
398. L.A., VI, p. 27.
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