On Indian Sect of Jainas

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Jas Burgess

Page 24

The Indian Sect of the Jains
FOOTNOTES
Footnote 1: In notes on the Jainas, one often finds the view expressed, that the Digambaras belong only to the south, and the Svetâmbaras to the north. This is by no means the case. The former in the Panjab, in eastern Rajputâna and in the North West Provinces, are just as numerous, if not more so, than the latter, and also appear here and there in western Rajputâna and Gujarât: see Indian Antiquary, vol. VII, p. 28.
Footnote 2: The ascetics of lower rank, now called Pandit, now-a-days wear the costume of the country. The Bhattâraka, the heads of the sect, usually wrap themselves in a large cloth (chadr). They lay it off during meals. A disciple then rings a bell as a sign that entrance is forbidden (Ind. Ant. loc. cit.). When the present custom first arose cannot be ascertained. From the description of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang (St. Julien, Vie. p. 224), who calls them Li-hi, it appears that they were still faithful to their principles in the beginning of the seventh century A.D. "The Li-hi (Nirgranthis) distinguish themselves by leaving their bodies naked and pulling out their hair. Their skin is all cracked, their feet are hard and chapped: like rotting trees that one sees near rivers."
Footnote 3: See below.
Footnote 4: In the stereotyped introductions to the sermons of Jina it is always pointed out that they are addressed to the Aryan and non-Aryan. Thus in the Aupapâtika Sútra $ 56. (Leumann) it runs as follows: tesim savvesin åriyamanâriyanam agilâe dhammat å ikkhai "to all these. Aryans and non-Aryans, he taught the law untiringly". In accordance with this principle, conversions of people of low caste, such as gardeners, dyers, etc., are not uncommon even at the present day. Muhammadans too, regarded as Mlechcha, are still received among the Jaina communities. Some cases of the kind were communicated to me in Ah[postvocalic]madâbâd in the year 1876, as great triumphs of the Jainas. Tales of the conversion of the emperor Akbar, through the patriarch Hîravijaya (Ind. Antiq. Vol. XI, p. 256), and of the spread of the Digambara sect in an island Jainabhadri, in the Indian Ocean (Ind. Ant. Vol. VII, p. 28) and in Arabia, shew that the Jainas are familiar with the idea of the conversion of non-Indians. Hiuen Tsiang's note on the appearance of the Nirgrantha or Digambara in Kiapishi (Beal, Si-yu-ki, Vol. I, p. 55), points apparently to the fact that they had, in the North West at least, spread their missionary activity beyond the borders of India.
Footnote 5: Even the canonical works of the Svetâmbara, as for example, the Achârânga (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXII, p. 88-186) contain directions for nuns. It seems, however, that they have never played such an important part as in Buddhism. At the present time, the few