Religion and Culture of the Jains

Author(s): Jyoti Prasad Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 37

HISTORY OF JAINISM AFTER MAHĀVĪRA
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The early Jaina monks were very conservative in so far as the writing down of their scriptures, or even anything else, was concerned, because they were afraid least by redaction the scriptures should suffer from corruption and a composition of independent works give rise to controversies. Their vow of possessionlessness and the rigid rules of asceticism forbade them to reside in any one place for long or associate unduly with householders and urban life, which made it almost impracticable for them to pursue literary activities.
Moreover, they thought that their religious order was so well organized that they could vouchsafe the integrity and genuineness of whatever portion of the original teaching of the Lord had come down to them by word of mouth. Yet, the fact remains that soon after Bhadrabāhu I, a gradual diminition and deterioration in the original cononical knowledge had set in. As time went, the pace of the decline accelerated, particularly owing to the disruptive tendencies which led to a break up of the unity of the order and the birth of several schismatic groups, as also the growth of differences, though minor, with respect to dogma, doctrine, traditional accounts, practice and usages.
Several attempts were, therefore, made to rehabilitate the canon. Soon after the country had recovered from the effects of the aforesaid famine, the Magadhan branch convened a council at Pāțaliputra (mod. Patna in Bihar) to try to put in order the sacred lore that had fallen into decay because of the calamity and consequent emigration of Bhadrabāhu I and his followers.
About the middle of the second century B.C., another attempt was made in a council held at the Kumārī Parvata (UdayagiriKhandagiri hills) in Kalinga .(Orissa) at the invitation of the emperor Khāravela. It seems to have been attended largely by the gurus from the south and those from Mathurā. The