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The Homeless Ones
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members, a guruņi sometimes re-divides the sādhvis into distinct secondary groups and appoints a sādhvi to assume certain responsibilities as head of such a secondary group, which then takes its leave to go on vihāra, but still stays under obedience to the guruņi.
At the head of several groups, each of which has its guruni, is to be found a pravartini. Among the Mūrtipūjaka sādhvis, at least, such an office still exists, but the pravartini does not appear to wield any welldefined authority; it is, rather, an honorific title.21 The Sthānakavāsi sādhvis have, for some years already, abolished the office of pravartini.22
As for the Terapanthi sādhvis their organisation is different: one single sādhvi, the Sadhvi Pramukhā, heads the entire group. She is neither a pravartini nor a guruņi, for all authority is in the hands of the ācārya. Staying always in close proximity to this latter, acco
panied by about ten sådhvis who may change from time to time, she follows the acārya and his group of muris in all their vihāras. Thus she
ains in contact with him, is knowledgeable as regards all decisions affecting the gana and is consulted on all matters concerning the sādhvis, but she has no direct authority. As for the other sādhvis, they are divided into singhādas (small groups); the leading sādhvis in these groups, who are called agraganyās are not guruņis, for, on the one hand, it is the ācārya who is the ultimate authority upon whom each sadhvi depends and, on the other, an agraganyā is not necessarily
21 In the Cheda-sūtras allusion is quite often made to the office of pravartini, but her role is not defined. A nirgranthi who knows the Ācārakalpa (the Niśitha and other Agamas dealing with the rules of conduct and with punishments, cf. VS V, 16) is worthy of being nominated as pravartini. In the past there existed as well the post of gamini, the sādhvi at the head of a gana, and one also comes across the title mahattară which seems to correspond to the present-day guruņi. Cf. VS V, 13-14, where it is stated that a pravartini can choose and name her own successor; however, if this latter shows herself incapable of performing this function, then the sādhvis may choose another.
22 Formerly, the pravartini had an important role, as is emphasised in several biographies.
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