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20 JAINS TODAY IN THE WORLD
Jain tradition relates that Mahāvīra's parents followed the teachings of Pärśva, the 23rd Tirthankara, and that the religious
education of their son was in accordance with these. When he became a monk and attained absolute knowledge, he decided, as previously said, changes in various religious practices of his time.
to
Some scholars say that Parsva preached four obligatory vows: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing and non-attachment possessions. Mahāvīra added the vow of chastity and made a distinction between "little vows" (aņuvrata) for the laity and "great vows" (mahāvrata) for the ascetics. He would also have insisted that monks practice nudity, like he did himself as sign of total renouncement to the world. We have already seen the problems concerning the contents of his teachings. The main points of divergence, between Śvetämbara and Digambara, are related to these
matters.
The Śvetambara consider that absolute nudity for the monks (muni, sadhu) is not required to obtain liberation (mokṣa). Hence, monks of that section wear white robes. They have three of them and a broom made of threads of wool (rajoharana or ogho) to brush out their way insects and little animals, so as to not crush or hurt them in the absolute respect of the principle of non-violence (ahimsa). They have also, when they travel, a bag containing wooden bowls (pätra) to beg, to eat the food and drink given by the laity, a stick (danda) and a water-pot for their ablutions. On their left shoulder, they wear a cloth or a white shawl (kambala) they use as a blanket at night. Some cover their mouth with a piece of white cloth (muhapatti) connected by threads to their ears all the times, so as to not inadvertently hurt small flying organisms, when inhaling or speaking. Some of them hold a white cloth in front of their mouth while speaking to control what they say as well as not to hurt the living organisms in the air, particularly
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