Outlines of Jainism

Author(s): S Gopalan
Publisher: Wiley Eastern Private Limited New Delhi

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JAINISM
Seeing that it was impracticable for a woman to go about nude, Sivabhuti told his sister that it was impossible for a woman to become a nun, or to obtain release without rebirth as a man. Though the legend itself may or may not reflect a historical fact, the fact that the Digambaras strictly prohibited women joining the order gives some plausibility to the legend itself, especially Śivabhūti's refusing consent to his sister becoming a nun.
We shall note down some points of distinction between the two sects:
In regard to the Tirthankaras:
The symbols given by the two sects to the idols differ.
The Svetambara tradition depicts the idols as wearing a loincloth, bedecked with jewels and with glass eyes inserted in the marble.
The Digambara tradition represents the Tirthankaras as nude and with down-cast eyes.
In regard to Mahāvīra :
The Svetambaras believe that Mahāvīra was born of a kṣatriya lady, Triśāla though conception took place in the womb of a brāhmaṇa lady, Devananda. The change of embryo is believed to have been effected by God Indra on the eighty-third day after conception. We find references to the legend in at least three Jaina source-books, viz., the Acārānga, Kalpa-Sūtra and the BhagavatiSūtra. It is quite likely, the story was invented by the author of the Kalpa-Sutra as an occasion to express the prevailing sentiment of contempt of the brāhmaṇas and that it was later on embodied in the Acārānga. Jacobi's interpretation of the episode is that Siddhartha (Mahāvīra's father) had two wives, one a brahmana lady, Devananda, and another a kṣatriya lady, Triśāla and that to enable the offspring opportunities of being patronised it was considered to be that of the kṣatriya lady. But when we remember that in those days inter-caste marriages were looked down upon, Jacobi's interpretation is not quite acceptable. May be, Devananda was a foster-mother and not the real mother. The scriptural support for this is the Acaranga which refers to the five nurses who attended on