Studies in South Indian Jainism

Author(s): M S Ramaswami Ayyangar, B Seshagiri Rao
Publisher: M S Ramaswami Ayyangar

Page 42

26 THE JAIN MIGRATION TO THE SOUTH.
place in the country of Magadha, the modern Bihar, beyond which, as yet, the Jain order does not seem to have spread. At that time Chandragupta,‘of the Mauryan dynasty, was king of the country and Bhadrabāhu was the head of the still' undivided Jair community. Under the pressure of the famine, Bhadrabāhu with a portion of his people emigrated into the Karnātaka or Canarese country in the south of India. Over the other portion that remained in Magadha, Stulabhadra assumed the headship... Towards the end of the famine, during the absence of Bhadrabāhu, a council assembled at Pātaliputra, the modern Patna, and this council collected the Jain sacred books, consisting of the 11 angas and the 14 pūrvas, which latter are collectively called the 12th anga. The troubles that arose during the period of famine produced also a change in the practice of the Jains. The rule “regarding the dress of the monks had been that they should ordinarily go altogether naked, though the wearing of certain clothes appears to have been allowed to the weaker members of the order. Those monks that remained behind felt constrained by the exigencies of the, time to abandon the rule of nakedness and to adopt the white dress. On the other hand, those who out of religious zeal chose to exile themselves rather than admit of a change of the rule of nakedness. made that rule compulsory on all the members of their portion of the order. When on the restitution of peace and plenty, the exiles: