Jaina Religion Historical Journey of Evolution

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 65

History of Nirgrantha tradition 53 or class called 'Sarāka'. The term “Sarāka' is a distorted form of Srāvaka, and this caste customarily avoids meals after sun set, and the prohibition of words such as cut, kill etc., which indicate violence. These are some remnants of the sarskāras that are prevalent even today. Because of the efforts of Upadhyaya Jnanasagarji and some other Svetāmbara monks these Sarākas have returned to the Jaina fold. The difference in code of conduct of Nirgranthas of the North and South
The Nirgrantha-sargha that had gone to the south could not take much of Jaina texts or literature along with it since enough Jaina literature was not written till that time. It only carried with it the philosophical thoughts and its strict path of conduct from its oral tradition, which the samgha preserved for a very long time. The predecessor of today's Digambara tradition is the southern Acela Nirgrantha-samgha. In this context some other issues need more deliberation and research from historical perspective. During Mahāvīra's own time the region of his influence was only southern Bihar, which had its centre at Rajgir. While the area of influence of the Buddhists and that of Pārsva's descendants was North Bihar and north-eastern U.P. whose centre was Śrāvasti. The groundwork