Jaina Monuments Of Orissa

Author(s): R P Mohapatra
Publisher: D K Publications

Page 34

Jaina Monuments of Orissa
(6) The Svetāmbaras have recorded that Mahāvira married at a fairly young age and
that he led a full-fledged householders life till he was thirty, when he became an ascetic. The Digambaras deny the fact of marriage altogether.
(7) The Svetāmbaras hold that though Mahāvira was keen on renouncing the world
earlier, he promised his mother that during his parents life time he would not become an ascetic. The promise was in response to the persuations of his mother. The Digambaras maintain that even during his parents life time and much against their wishes Mahāvira took to renunciation.
(8) The Svetämbaras believed that a woman could become a Tirthankara and so they
allowed women into the ascetic order. The Digambaras did not allow women to join the samghas and maintained, the women could attain the Tirthankara-status only after being born as men.
(9) The Svetāmbaras were divided into the non-idol worshipping (Sthanakavāsi) and
the idol-worshipping (Deraväsi) groups. There were four main sub-divisions among the Digambaras, the Kasthasamgha, Mulasamgha, Mathurasamgha and Gopaya-Saṁgha. There were only minor differences. The fourth sub-division agreed with the Svetāmbaras in most respects.
(10) The Svetämbara ascetic is allowed to have fourteen possessions including his loin
cloth, shoulder-cloth, etc. He was allowed to move from place to place and it is not surprising that the laymen complain that sometimes there is too much of interference from the ascetics. The Digambara ascetic is allowed to have only two possessions, a peacock's feather and a brush and has to live entirely in the jungle.
As regards Jaina temple worship B.C. Bhattacharya18 observes that the integral part of the Jaina worship is performed in their temples. In this way their temple may he said to be their repository of Dharma. In Brahmanic religion though temple is visited on occasions and pilgrimages, most injunctions of religion however, such as, the Trisandhyā, or the three prayers, the Gurupujā, Siva Pūjā, Srādha, Tarpana, Vratapājā, the Devi pujās and the Yajñas are followed in practice in individual homes. In this respect the Jaina religion marks a great contrast to Brahmanic religion. The Jainas in optional cases keep an image in their houses, do not undergo the special ritualistic formalism in their private worship. The temples are their churches, where besides the daily worship of the images by the religious officials, religious books are kept, the äratis or waving rites are attended largely by men, women and boys with sincere faith and devotion. There are occasions when the pages are specially decorated, the Samavasarana is arranged, readings from the scriptures are given by Brahmachärts, Yatis and Suris. In many other respects, the Jaina temple worship bears a close resemblance to Brahmanic customs. The images go through the same process of canonical installation, daily
18. B.C. Bhattacharya, The Jaina Iconography, pp. 20-22.