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JAMALI : HIS LIFE AND POINT OF DIFFERENCE FROM LORD MAHẬVÎRA*
-Prithviraj Jain
1. Sources
The particulars about the life of Jamali, who was responsible for causing the first schism in the history of Jaina Church, are recounted mainly in the Vyakhyaprajnapti' or the Bhagavati Sutra, the fifth Anga of the Jaina canon. The frequent references to his name are found in other scriptures as well where the description of certain events are almost identical with those of Jamali as narrated in the Bhagavati. Such references, firstly, point out the process through which a particular person comes to know about the arrival of a Tirthankara or an Acarya in his home-town or a place nearby and gets ready for a visit in order to pay obeisance to him and after hearing the religious discourse resolves to enter the ascetic order on obtaining the consent of his parents. Secondly, they describe the order of grand procession, which is piloted through the principal streets and bazaars of the city with great eclat and show, on the auspicious occasion of one's renunciation. According to the Sthanaiga Sutra", the Antakrddas, the eighth Anga of the canon contained as its sixth chapter “The Chapter on Jamali”. but unfortunately that is not extant. Exegetical literature on some scriptures, i.e, the Sthananga, the Uttaradhyayana and the Avasyaka, etc., also provides information about Jamali.
It is remarkable that all references in regard to Jamali are narrated only in Svetambara literature. The scriptures accepted
* Acharya Vijayavallabhasuri Communoration volume, 1956.
