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of Brahmanical predominance Pārsvanātha could have been in a position to create such a large community. What appears to be probable is that he succeeded in leaving behind a Nigantha order consisting of a fairly large number of monks and nuns besides a laity which was large enough to support this order.
This order seems to have undergone some changes in the period intervening between the death of Pārsvanātha and the advent of Mahāvīra. Some degeneration probably crept into the church and this might have been the cause of Mahāvīra's alienation.25 The possibility of this degeneration also suggests itself when one considers the fact that Pārsvanātha did not introduce any hard and fast commandment regarding the vow of chastity and that he allowed a free admittance of women into the community, perhaps, for the first time in India.
However, at this juncture this order of Pārsvanātha became amalgamated with the newly founded order of Mahāvīra through the intercession of Keśi and Gautama. Inspite of this a spirit of dissension continued to work for some time and this took a definite shape in the division of the church into two factions - the Digambara and Svetāmbara.
The tradition records that Pārsva left eight gaņas with theirs ganadharas behind him.26 It may be presumed on the strength of this statement that there was possibly some good arrangement for the government and organisation of the community from the earliest times. This state of things continued up to the time of Mahāvīra, as one finds that followers of the order travelled under leaders like Keśi from place to place. They were not scattered here and there but constituted an organised body. (7) Makkhali Gośāla and the original Nigantha order
The intimate relation of Makkhali Gośāla with the Jainas and the existence of certain common elements both in Ajivikism and Jainism tend to suggest that he was probably connected with the original Nigantha order in some way or other.
We know from the account of Pārsvanātha's life that he himself practised severe austerities for a long time. There can be no doubt, therefore, that he was an ardent advocate of it and as such he introduced it into his religious system. Curiously enough, Makkhali Gośāla also emphasises again and again on this severe asceticism.
It has been already seen that the vow of chastity was significant by its absence from the disciplinary rules of Pārsvanātha's order. Makkhali
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JOHT 4511 3ich 128
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