Portrait of Jain Religion

Author(s): Narendra Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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learned women like kali, Krsna, Devananda Brahmi, and Sundari. Sadhvi Yaksa and Arya Payani were literary figures, while Princess Auve of Chu was a renowned Tamilian poetess.
Like all his predecessor Tirthankars, Mahavir presided over a totally unified Jain religion. In the spirit of Anekant philosophy, he respected differences in perceptions, but persuasively forged synthesis among them by emphasizing that what united them was far more important and basic than what may appear to divide them. The split into Digambar and Swetambar sects came about some 160 years after Mahavir's nirvana, when Bhadrabahuswami was the head of the religious order. At that time there occurred a twelve year famine around 350 B.C.He along with his sangha of 12000 digambar ascetics left for the south with Emperor Chandra Gupta accompanying them as an ascetic as well.
The shramana sangha reached Sravanabelgola and further strengthened the already existing Jain religion there from earlier centuries. The huge monolithic statue of Bahubali at shravanbelgola built in the 11th century is witness to the blossoming of Jain religion there. In the meantime shwetambar tradition took its roots with differing rituals in north India, and shwetambar saints took to the practice of putting on two pieces of white cloth to cover their bodies in contrast to sky-clad Digambar munis. However despite differing interpretation of the extent of detachment, both the sects share the common philosophical basis of Jainism with Mahavir's teachings as the fountain source of inspiration and direction.
A Portrait of Jain Religion