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THE RELIGIOUS ORDER AND ITS SYSTEM
3 Sthawara,
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Pravartak,
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Gani,
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Ganadhara, Ganavochhedak
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It was enjoined upon them to manage education, spiritual courses, social service, propagation of religion, articles pertinent thereto, movements of the saints and such other soCIOreligious necessities The institution of religious preceptorship did not evolve overnight As the religious preceptors multiplied, the religious leadership proliferated in different directions to fortify the system
The marvel that such a systematic evolution of collective religious leadership presents is nowhere to be seen in other religious traditions The system was founded on the principles of non-violence, freedom and relativism enunciated by Lord Mahavira That is the reason why the Lord never set store by a discipline devoid of self-restraint The Lord incorporated a decalogue in his religious system One of these ten prerequisites is voluntariness A saint prior to serving another saint would assure that he was serving the latter of his own sweet will Before seeking another's help the latter was forewarned that he was free to withhold the help It was inconceivable to extort' service or help from anybody Excepting exigencies even an Acharya was to strictly abstain from exercising coercion of any kind
The Shedule
The Lord prescribed the schedule of activities of the monastic organisation It entailed study of religious and allied texts in the first quarter of the day, meditation in the second, meals etc in the third and a second round of scriptural study in the fourth On similar lines the noctural conduct was prescribed with the sleep replacing meal-taking in the third respective quarter
