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JAINA COMMUNITY Kharataragaċċha, the Añčalagaċċha, thc Sārdhapunamiyāgaċċha, the Āgamikagaċċha and the Tapagaċċha.1
Thus weakened, Jainism could ill withstand the Mohammedan deluge which swept over India in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Jaina temples were razed to the ground, their sacred books burnt and their monastic communities massacred. Buddhism was simply swept out of India proper altogether by the storm, but, as we have already noticed, Mahāvīra's genius for organization now proved the salvation of his community. Firmly rooted amongst the laity, they were able, once the hurricane was past, to reappear once more and begin to th ow out fresh branches.
One trace of their suffering still remains in the way the Jaina guard their sacred books in Treasure Houses (often underground) to which no alien can gain admittance.
The next outstanding event in Jaina history was the rise Rise of of thc non-idolatrous sects. The Sthānakavāsi love to the nonpoint out the similarity of dates between their risc, which trous was a truc Reformation as far as they were concerned, and sects. that of the birth and work of Martin Luther in Europe. They arose not directly from the Svetāmbara but as reformers of an older reforming scct.
Lonkā Śã was the name of an Aḥmadābād Jaina belonging The originally to the Svetāmbara sect, who employed several Lo
Lonkā clerks to copy the Jaina scriptures. About A, D. 1474 a Svetāmbara sådhu named Jñānaji asked him to copy several sacred books for him : whilst reading these, Lonkā Sã was struck with the fact that idol-worship was not once mentioned in them. He pointed this out to Jñānaji and others, and a sharp controversy arose between them as to the lawfulness of idolatry. In the meantime a crowd of pilgrims going to Satruñjaya arrived in Ahmadābād and were won over to Lonkā Sā's side, but unfortunately they had no sādhu amongst them. At length
This last is the most important sect. It is ruled by twelve Srīpūjya, the chief of whom has his seat in Jaipur.
sect.
