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JANUARY, 1977
117
The part III, chapter 5 of the book proves to be very informative regarding a discussion on the "Svetambara-Digambara Split'. In this portion Dr. Jain voices the opinions of both the groups and traces the history of the rift on the basis of evidences at hand. After a study and analysis of the episode of Bhadrabahu, the story of Sivabhuti and Uttara as also the statements of the Sthānārga, the Ācārārga, the BỊhatkathākoşa, the Āvašyaka-Niryukti and the Uttarādhyayana it would appear that the ideal of nudity for a monk aspiring to be an Arhat was ever a symbol of ultimate detachment from earthly bondage. It was the true colour of perfection around which were gathered the sentinels of eternal truth advancing for omniscience across the mirage of existence. Visibly the ideal manifested in the institutions of the Jinakalpa and the Sthavirakalpa. In spite of adjustments with social requirements the naked Tirthankara has the final glory with his destination to the loka of Sarvarthasiddhi. The sublimity of the nude male as if standing in the determination of kāyotsarga may be traced as far back as the civilization of the Indus vally. The Mauryan torso from Lohanipur bears witness to a faith which glittered like the morning star, the harbinger of a new awakening and experience. Apart from the account of the Gymnosophists, the naked philosophers who were noticed by the Greeks under Alexander the spiritual ideology underlying the concept of truth and beauty inspired as well the Hellenic and the Roman mind. Without touching the point of art where the sculptor delighted in freedom one may recall the following from the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius:
“The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning look to the heavens that we may be reminded of those bodies which continually do the same things and in the same manner perform their work, and also be reminded of their purity and nudity. For there is no veil over a star.” (Translated by Mathew Arnold).
Verily, the sublimity of life in its perfection begets no haze for superficial experience. Nudity can be on appropriate occasions an emblem of the Infinite. This may signify either the attainment of supreme knowledge by the Jina or the divine glory of the universe. The latter is manifest in various cults which envisage an altogether different perception and mood.
Apart from dealing on various aspects of Jainism mainly with regards to the history of the religion the writer has discussed about the divisions and sub-divisions of the Svetambara and the Digambara sects. Such orders of different categories known as gana or gaccha, kula and sakha predominently emanated after the Gupta period. These have
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