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Lord Mahavira
concerning the practices of Jinas other than Mahâvîra. Not only do they maintain that Rsabha, first Tirthankara of the present cycle, went naked in the same rather haphazard or optional manner that Mahâvîra did Tsee pl. 1), but they hold further that the twenty-two remaining Jinas never abandoned the clad state. (It is even suggested that some of them wore decorative clothes of variegated colors.)28 In the context of such a belief, Mahâvîra's practice of nudity can be depicted as a departure from the tradition of his predecessor, Pârsva. This theory is based mainly upon the Kesi-Gautama-samvada,29 a dialogue in the Svetambar text Uttaradhyayana-sutra. Here Kesi, a fully-clad mendicant disciple of Pârsva, is discussing doctrinal issues with the naked monk Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahâvîra. The two consider certain differences in doctrine between their respective sects, especially those pertaining to the use of clothing. They eventually arrive at a compromise, concluding that external signs are of little consequence and function merely to help identify various groups engaging in particular practices.30 The underlying implication of the dialogue is, of course, that since Pârsva is more ancient than Mahâvîra his teachings are in some sense superior; thus it is better to remain clad, or at most to have nudity as an optional practice. The Digambaras reject the authenticity of this dialogue, as well as the sort of compromise it explicitly suggests.
Indeed, the history of Jainism is rather remarkable for the almost total lack of doctrinal accommodation between sects that has taken place over the centuries, especially regarding the issue of nudity. There was only one apparent compromise" movement, now long extinct, that probably flourished in South India circa A.D. 500. Literary evidence indicates that monks of this sect, known as Yapaniyas, went naked in the forest but wore a single piece of clothing (eka-phalaka) when in populated areas. 31 They recognized the authenticity of the Svetâmbara scriptures, and they propounded two doctrines traditionally acceptable only to Svetâmbaras: that women can attain salvation and that the omniscient being partakes of food. The Yapaniyas seem to have eventually merged into the larger Digambara community by which they were surrounded; their tendencies toward a more ecumenical Jainism died with them.
