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JAINA MONASTIC JURISPRUDENCE monastic practices as also a sort of isolationism which are not good for the homogeneity of any church.
Be that as it may, the early texts of the canon refer to various units or formations of monks under a senior.
The first and the foremost was the gana which is said to have consisted of three kulas (Bhag. comm., p. 382b). Some texts do not give this specific number but say that a gana is a group of kulas. On the other hand, the Bșhatkalpa says that a gana was formed of several sambhogas (IV, 18-20). The Digambara text Mülācāra explains the gaña as a group of three monks (traipurusiko gaṇaḥ, Mül. 10, 92; comm. p. 193).
Whatever it may be, the formation of a gana under a senior officer took place for the express purpose of gaining higher knowledge or to practise a more rigorous mode of discipline, etc. Thus considerations of purely academic and monastic discipline seem to have led to the formation of a gana (Thăn., p. 381a).
Nobody was allowed to change his gana, often. This was taken to be a major fault. However, the change of gana after some period was allowed for several reasons. For instance, for the obtainment of alms jointly with the members of the other gaña, and for the sake of making an advanced study of a particular text known to those who belonged to another gaņa, a monk or an officer was allowed to change his gana with the express permission of his senior and after laying down office in the present gana. (Smv. 39ab, 40b; Kalp. IV, 18-24, V, 5).
None was allowed to change the gana for avoiding atonement for a fault. Similarly a person could be allowed entry into the gana after his dismissal for a grave offence, only if the other members expressed their confidence in him. So also the change over from a gara of greater standing to that of a less standing was prohibited (Nis. 16. 15).
The next group was designated as the kula which however has not been satisfactorily explained in any text. However, it has already been seen that the kulas formed the gana (Ap., comm. 81). The Bhagavai commentary F...2
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