YJA Convention 1996 07 San Francisco CA Second

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

Page 77

Mahavira. The former lived during the 9th century BC and taught the so-called Law of the Four Restraints and strengthened Jainism's ethical foundation. 250 years later, Mahavira (599-527 BC) clarified these laws by setting forth the Five Mahavrats, or Five Great Vows, as we know them today. He also established the Four-fold Jain Sangha of Sadhus, Sadhvis, Shravaks, and Shravikas; and he gave Jainism its highly scientific and rationalistic character through philosophy. Here is where Jainism and Buddhism differ. Both share the Shramanik attitude toward the world and toward life, but Jainism's stress on Right Conduct and its advanced philosophy set apart.
Jainism flourished under the likes of Emperor Chandragupta, who was the first Mauryan king. In the 4h century BC, a famine occurred in northern India. After giving up his kingdom and becoming a Jain monk, Chandragupta, along with 12,000 other Jain monks under the guidance of Acharya Bhadrababu (known for writing the Kalpa Sutra), migrated by foot to the Deccan (of South India) to insure Jainism's survival despite the famine. Acharya Bhadrabahu returned 12 years later, but the Sadhus that stayed, including his student Stulabhadra, had started to wear white robes and had not maintained Jainism's original 14 Purva scriptures. This event was the initiation o the schism of Jainism into the Digambara and Shvetambara sects. Stulabhadra ultimately guided the First Council in Pataliputra in order to reconstruct the scriptural texts, without Bhadrabahu who was the last person to know all 14 Purvas by heart. They reconstructed the Jain canon, or Jain texts, in the form of the 11 Angas, or "limbs", which were rejected by the Digambaras, followers of Bhadrabahu. This schism was not finalized until about AD 453 when, at the Third Council, the final redaction of the extant Shvetambara canon was committed to writing under the guidance of Acharya Devardhigani. Today the Digambaras only use these Anga texts for reference. This is just one of the examples of contrasting viewpoints between the Digambaras and the Shvetambaras. Two major subsects that have arisen are the Sthanakvasi and Terapanthi, which condemn idol worship and the construction of elaborate temples.
Other important munis composed great works on Jain philosophy and sectarian learning (including astronomy, music theory, mathematics, etc.). Acharya Kunda-kunda (a Digambara of the 1st century AD) wrote many works including the Panchastikay Sar and the Samaya Sar. His student Acharya Urnasvati, is known for writing the Tath-artha Sutra, one of the few books accepted by all sects of Jainism. Acharya Hemachandra. during the 12th century, was another great scholar who composed the Yogashastra and helped to preserve the Jain history. He was also a linguist who enunciated the formal rules of Gujarati grammar, pronunciation, and usage.
Jainism became popular, not only through migrating and integrating Jain philosophies into everyday activities, but also by gaining the royal patronage of the Mauryan empire and medieval kingdoms in Gujerat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Orissa. Though the Muslim rule of India converted many Jain temples into mosques, Muslism emperors like Akbar established laws against animal slaughter on Jain holidays, and freed Jain holy places from paying taxes.
Today, Jainism is considered monumental for introducing the concept of AHIMSA to India and the rest of the world. Over 3 million Jains (some estimates say 5 million) permanently reside in India, concentrated in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan,
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Jain Education Intemational