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Jaina Śramaņa Tradition from Ādinātha to Pārsvanātha
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contained in the twenty-third chapter of Uttarādhyayana entitled 'KesiGautamiya','4 wherein the former enquires about the reason for the difference between his four dimensional faith and the five dimensional one preached by Lord Mahāvīra's and the latter satisfies him by his answer that such issues about the faith must be analysed wisely by the wisdom gained through the right-knowledge. He also said that the difference has been necessitated by the changes in the natures of the members of the ascetic orders of various Tīrtharikaras. That the ascetics of the first Tirthankara were simple and dull, those of the twenty-two Tirtharkaras after him were simple and wise and the ones belonging to the ascetic order of the last Tirtharikara were dull and crooked." That for the ascetics of the order of the first Tirthankara it is difficult to comprehend the-faith but liaving understood once they practised it easily; for those of the last Tirtharikara it is difficult to comprehend the faith as also to practise it afterwards; for the ascetics of the orders of the twentytwo Tirtharkaras in between it is easy to understand the faith as also to practise it."
Similar questions were also raised about - the nakedness preached by Lord Mahāvīra while Pārsvanātha prescribed no such restriction for the members of his ascetic order.'' Gautama dispelled Keśis doubt by saying that the question of physical monastic identity such as nakedness or the clothed one is a matter of mundane consideration and for the benefit of the society at large. It had no spiritual relevance as long as the ascetics remained unattached to whatever belongings - material as well as emotional - they had.
Some aspects of Śramanic tradition of Lord Pārsvanātha are also revealed in the dialogue between Pārsvāpatyiya Śramara Pedhālaputra and Ganadhara Gautama contained in the chapter entitled 'Nālandiya' in the second volume of Sūtrakritānga?" and those of Kālasyavesiputra contained in the Vyakhyāprajñaptisūtra.?! Illustrative Parables -
The ascetics of the order of the first Tirthankara were simple but dull, those of the orders of the twenty-two Tirtharkaras in between were simple and wise and those of the order of the last Tirtharkara were dull and crooked. The explanatory literature on Kalpasūtra mention
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