Jaina Philosophy

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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JAINA PHILOSOPHY : AN INTRODUCTION
Jaina traditions. For instance, the series of twenty-four tīrthankaras with their respective emblems was firmly believed in, women also had an influential place in the Church, the Order of nuns was also in existence, the division between Svetāmbaras and Digambaras had come into being, the scriptures were being recited with verbal exactitude, and the like. Kumārapāla and Hemacandra :
Coming to the medieval period, King Siddharāja Jayasimha (A.D. 1094-1143) of Gujarat, although himself a worshipper of Siva, had Hamacandra, a distinguished Jaina preceptor and writer, as a scholar-member of his court. King Kumārapāla (A.D. 1143-1173), the successor to Jayasimha, was actually converted to Jainism by Hemacandra. Kumārapāla tried to make Gujarat in some manner a Jaina model State. On the other hand, Hemacandra, taking full advantage of the opportunity, established the basis for a typical Jaina culture by his versatile scientific work. He became famous as the Kalikālasarvajña, i.e., the Omniscient of the Kali Age.
In South India the Gangas, the Rāstrakūtas, the Cälukyas, the Hoysalas etc. were Jainas. They fully supported the faith. Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras :
There were both types of monks, viz., sacelaka (with clothes) and acelaka (without clothes), in the Order of Mahāvīra. The terms sacelaka and svetămbara signify the same sense and acelaka and digambara express the same meaning. The monks belonging to the Svetāmbara group wear white garments, whereas those belonging to the Digambara group wear no garments. The literal meaning of the word digambara is sky-clad and that of svetāmbara is white-clad. It was, probably, up to Jambu's time that both these groups formed the composite church. Then they separated from each other and practised the faith under their own