Jains in India and Abroad

Author(s): Prakash C Jain
Publisher: International Summer School for Jain Studies

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Sects in Jainism Any religion and/or system of thought cannot remain undifferentiated or monolithic for a long time. Jainism too has not been an exception in this regard. Its spread over the large parts of India, varying interpretations of the Jain canons, and the revolt against the existing authorities at the time led to the formation of sections and sub-sections within Jainism at different points of time in its long history. The most important schism within Jainism in the form of Digambar and Shvetambar sects, known as the Great schism, occurred at the end of the first century C.E., which is about six hundred years after the nirvana of Lord Mahavir. Scholars point out that this was the eighth schism within Jainism – the first one caused by Jamali during the life-time of Tirthankar Mahavir himself (Dundas 1992: 41; Banks 1986; Jain, M.U.K. 1975; Jain, J.P. 1983). The schism was not the result of an abrupt doctrinal split, but a long drawn out process. The seeds of the Great schism were laid in the migration of
Jainism: Major Sects and Sub-sects
Bhagwan Mahaveer
(599-527 BCE)
Shvetambar
Digambar
Taranpanth (Ca 1490)
Lonka Sect 1452 CE Sthanakvasi 1653 CE
Terapanth (1760 CE)
Kanjiswami (1889-1981)
Terahpanth (1626 CE)
Terapanth
Deravasi/ Murtipujak
Sthanakvasi
Kanjipanth
Bisapanth
Terahpanth Taranpanth
Rajchandra Sub-sects
a section of Jains from Magadha to Shravanbelagola on the eve of the 12-year long famine in Eastern India in the 3r century B.C.E. It is said that the left-behind Jain monks "had been prevailed upon by their lay followers to cover their private parts with a strip of cloth (ardhaphalaka) while begging for alms (Dundas 1992: 43). The
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Jains in India and Abroad