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48 : Śramaņa, Vol 62, No. 2 April-June 2011
monastic and lay traditions.? Sanskrit vyavasthā and its Arabic and Urdu equivalent qānūn both designate a specific code of law or legal opinion/decision, whereas Sanskrit
dharma can mean religion, morality, custom and law. (iii) The modern Indian legal system is primarily concerned with
the 'personal law' of the Jaina laity. In Anglo-Indian case law, the term 'Jaina law' was used both as a designation for 'Jaina scriptures' (śāstra) on personal law, and for the unwritten 'customary laws' of the Jains, that is the social norms of Jaina
castes (jāti) and clans (gotra). (iv) In 1955/6 Jaina personal law was submerged under the
statutory 'Hindu Code', and is now only indirectly recognised by the legal system in the form of residual Jaina 'customs'
to be proved in court. The principal sources of Jaina law are the Prakrit Svetāmbara and Digambara scriptures, known as āgama or siddhānta, and their extensive commentaries. Early 'Jainą law' was exclusively monastic law, which still evolves through commentary and supplementary rules, unconstrained by state interference. Svetāmbara monastic jurisprudence combines general ethical principles (dharma) - five fundamental qualities (mūlaguņa) and ten or more additional qualities (uttara-guņa) - with specific rules (kalpa) of good conduct (ācāra), supplemented by lists of common transgressions (anācāra or pratisevanā) and corresponding atonements (prāyaścitta). Atonements for self-purification should be requested voluntarily by an offender, following confession (ālocanā) and repentance (pratikramaña). Alternatively, penances are imposed as punishments (daņda) by the head of the order (ācārya), whose judgments should take into account the circumstances and the status of the offender and make allowances for exceptions (apavāda). The disciplinary proceedings (vyavahāra) are, in theory, determined by superior knowledge (āgama), traditional prescriptions (sruta), an order (ājñā), a rule
