Jains : The Oldest Community
By Helmuth Von Glasenapp (Jain Scholar from Germany)
Mahaveera's Successors : According to the tradition, Mahaveera won over 14,000 monks, 36,000 nuns 1,59,000 laymen and 3,18,000 laywomen as his followers by his work. Each of these four groups, of these four "Tirthas", i.e., the components of the Jaina-church, was under the supervision of trustworthy personalities.
Monks were guided by 11 Ganadharas or heads who each one had several hundred munis under them. The name of the chief Gandhar was Gautama Indrabhuti; others were Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Akampita, Arya Vyakta, Arya Sudharma, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Acalabhrata, Metraya, Prabhasa. Chief of the nuns was Mahaveera's cousin Candana; lay-brothers were under Sankhasataka, lay-sisters under Sulasa and Revati.
Nine of the eleven Ganadharas who were the heads of the community attained Nirvana in the master's life-time itself. Gautama Indrabhuti became omniscient in the night Mahaveera died and, therefore, did not preside over the community as a teacher who came from the tradition of the Tirthankaras; he got salvation twelve years after his master. Thus only Sudharma remained who could supervise the church. He held this position till Gautama's death. Then he himself became Kevali and handled the church over to his pupil Jambusvami; he then lived for eight years before being released. Jambusvami was the head of the church till one year after the death of his predecessor; then he also became omniscient and finally, 64 years after Mahaveera, also attained Nirvana. With him the last omniscient of the age left the world, the last saint obtained salvation. Nobody hereafter could achieve perfection.
Although the chiefs of the community succeeding the three Kevalis did not become omniscient, they had precise knowledge of the doctrines proclaimed by the Tirthankara, as they were heart by his immediate pupil Indrabhuti and as they were recorded in words by Sudharma. These five teachers succeeding one another are called Srutakevalis, i.e., knower of all holy scriptures. The management of the church then went over from the Srutakevalis to the seven or eleven teachers who succeeded one another. They knew only a part of the canonic works. The management went than to those whose knowledge was still less. Most of what is narrated about the Kevalis and their successors is very legendary. It is very difficult to find out how much of what is traditional is history and how much of it is myth, because the information of them is partially quite contradictory and besides, Svetamabars give different names from those given by Digambars. The most important legends dealing with the Kevalis and Srutakevalis will be narrated in the following pages.
Jainism in Bihar : Mahaveera was closely connected with the most significant princes of his homeland. He visited the most important cities of their kingdoms in Bihar on his wanderings: Campa, Anaga's capital, Mithila in Videha, Rajagrha, the capital of Magadha, etc., and he was most respectfully received everywhere. King Bimbisara ( Jainas called him by name of Srenika) of Magadha, the same king who also patronized Buddha, was considered by Jainas as a special admirer of their master. They, therefore, presumed that he would be born as a Tirthankara in his later existence. Even Ajatsatru (Kunika), Bimbisar's cruel son, who exposed his father to death by starvation, was well-disposed towards Jainas. His successor Udayi was in fact a patron of their doctrine. The religion flourished even under the dynasty of the " nine Nandas" who had (at the time when Alexander the great marched into India) usurped the throne of the Saisunaga-kings, and there was no change in the situation even when the last unpopular Nanda-king was relieved of his throne by the great Maurya Candragupta, the Sandrakottos of the Greeks (appox. 3220298). Jainas reckon this first historical emperor of India as also his great chancellor Canakya among Jainas. Canakya is said to have been a son of a Jaina-layman Cani and a diligent champion of their faith. He is said to have weaned Candragupta from his kindness towards the heretics in the following manner: He made him invite the teachers of all the sects into his palace and make them wait in the vicinity of the king's harem. But before he did this, he had let a fine sand be strewn around the seraglio. The lewd priests, before the king came to the, were looking at Candragupta's wives through the windows of the harem but when he appeared, they started talking to him about the significance of world-renunciation. But as soon as they had gone, Canakya showed to the prince their footmarks in the vicinity of the harem and convinced him thereby that these heretics were sanctimonious hypocrites. The next day, Cankya invited Jaina-monks. They did not take notice of the harem, but sat immediately on the seats meant for them and awaited the arrival of the kind. Thus Candragupta knew that they alone were the protectors of the right morals and bestowed immediately his favour only on them. It is said that he himself became a diligent Jaina, that he renounced finally his throne in accordance with the Digamabara tradition, became an ascetic and went to Mysore along with Saint Bhadrabahu and he is said to have lived and died there in Sravanabelgola in a cave.
It is said that Cankya's name was blacken by his envious colleague Subandhu with Candragupta's successor Bindusra (298-273) B.C.) so that he was relieved. He, therefore, distributed his wealth among the poor, sat on a dung-hill outside the city to find there wise man's death by starvation. Bindusara tried in vain to passify him and asked Subandhu to go to him and to excuse him. He, however, threw secretly, while he was making his obeisance to the Chancellor, and incense-coal into the dung-hill so that Canakya was burnt alive. Canakya died in the fire and was reborn as a goddess. But the dead minister did take a fiendish revenge against his adversary. Before he left the world, he filled a basket with precious perfumes, locked it with hundred locks and left it in the house. In his search for Canakya's treasures, Subandhu stumbled on the basket, opened it and found in the midst of the fragrant substances a note: "One who has smelt these perfumes and does not lead a life of a monk, would immediately invite death." Subandhu renounced all he worldly pleasure out of his fear of death and wandered about restlessly in the world.
While we know the individual aspects of the relationship of the Magadha-kings with the Jaina-teachers so far only through the fabulously embellished stories of later authors and which do no sometimes harmonize with the reports coming from other sources, we are in possession of an indisputably authentic material on the connections of Bindusara's successor Ashokavardhana (273-232 B.C.) with Jainas. Asoka was a great and a far-sighted ruler who particularly made it a point to promote the religious and moral life in his great empire. He, therefore, supported the religious brotherhoods of his land in a liberal manner. Personally, he embraced Buddism in his later years, and he is considered to be its "Constantine"; Jainas, however, opined that he belonged earlier to their religion. In spite of his preference for the teachings of Buddha, he did not stop in showing his equal concern for the welfare of various sects and he appointed special officers who had to look after the individual orders. Asoka speaks also of Jainas in his seventh column-edict which deals with the duties of the "Dhammamahamatas" (law-authorities) - as far as we know, this is their first mention in any inscription. It is said in this inscription:
"Piyadasi, who is loved by the gods, spoke thus; my supervisors of law are dealing with many things connected with mercy, also with those which concern the ascetics and those which concern the householders. They deal with religious brotherhoods as well. I have made arrangements so that they will deal the Brahmanas as also with the Ajivikas; I have also made arrangements that they will deal with the Niganthas (Jainas); I have made arrangements so that they will deal with (all) the different religious brotherhoods."
Further the pious emperor inculcates in the mind of his subjects obedience to parents and venerable persons, decent behavior towards Brahamanas and ascetics, poor and the miserable, asks them to practice charity, generosity, truthfulness, purity, humility and saintliness and reminds them of the prohibition of injury to the living beings. He concludes with the words:
"These commands are given with the intention that they may remain valid, as long as my sons and grandsons rule, as long as son and moon shine and human beings act according to them, he obtains salvation in this and in the other world."
Asoka's successors on the throne of Magadha were-since his son Kunala was blind-his grandsons Dasratha and Samprati. It appears that the former ruled over the eastern, and the latter on the western part of his empire. The Jaina-tradition mentions only Samprati who is said to have resided in Ujjain, and describes him as a patron of their faith. He is said to have been converted by the famous monk Suhasti and erected numerous temples. The later period considered him to be a founder of temples to such an extent that many buildings whose origin was forgotten, were ascribed to him. It is even said that Samprati developed a lively missionary activity and even erected Jaina-monasteries in non-Aryan regions.
Very little is known about the destiny of the Jain-faith under the last Maurya-rulers and the dynasties which repleaced them. The Chinese traveller Hiuen-Tsiang found around 629 A.D. still numerous "nirgranthas" in Vaisali near Rajagraha, Nalanda, Pundravarddhana. Jainism appears then to have gradually shifted, in an increasing degree, the center of its activity from its homeland to other regions.
Jainism in Orissa : Jaina-religion appears to have been propagated in the Kalinga-empire, for inscriptions have been found in Udaygiri near Cuttack in Orissa according to which King Kharavela had got a statue of Agra-Jina (what is meant is the first Tirthanakra Rsabha) erected and the cave-dwelling dug for the monks. It is not certain whether Kharavela himself was a convinced Jaina or only a free-thinking man who showed charity to all his different subjects; probably, the latter was the case. Kalinga had obviously been a cultivating ground for Jainism, since even Chinese traveler Hiuen-Tsiang (629-645) considers it to be the main seat of this religion.
The Great Schism : Significant changes took place in the church during the period when Jaina-faith blossomed in the Maurya-empire. There was a great famine in Bihar during Candragupta's rule. Bhadrabahu, the head of the community at that time, realized that it was not possible either for people to feed a great number of monks under these circumstances, or for ascetics to follow all the precepts. He, therefore, thought that it was advisable to immigrate with a a group of devotees to Karnataka, while the remaining monks stayed back in Magadha under the supervision of his pupil Sthulabhadra in Magadha. The unfavourable period burdened heavily on the latter so that they could not strictly observe the holy customs any more and maintain faithfully the holy scriptures. It was , therefore, found to be necessary to acquire the canon anew. A council was called for this purpose in Pataliputra. But this assembly of the church did not succeed in putting together the whole canon; the anthology published by it also remained a patchwork, and when the monks who had emigrated to Karnataka returned home, they did not approve the resolutions of the council. Besides, there was, according to the tradition, a difference in the ascetic conduct of life between those who had emigrated and those who had stayed back. As we had seen, Parsva's followers were allowed to wear clothes, whereas Mahaveera did not wear any clothes. Mahaveera's pupils followed his example, but it appears that the ascetics were not generally moving around in nude; but it was regarded as particularly meritorious. Monks staying back in Magadha gave up the custom of moving around in nude and got accustomed to wearing white garments. The emigrants did not only keep to the custom practiced by Mahaveera, but it was even generally regarded as obligatory. When they returned to Magadha and found that their brothers were wearing white clothes, they had to appear to them as the people who has abandoned the whole practice, whereas those who stayed back saw in then naked emigrants fanatics who gave exaggerated interpretation to the precept bequeathed by tradition. Thus there cam an estrangement between the two trends, the stricter one of the "Digamabaras" (those clothed in the air) and the freer one the "Svetambaras" (those clothed in white), which finally led, although much later, to a complete schism.
It is uncertain, whether the seed of the great conflict, existing even now in the Jaina-community, traces back really to the circumstances connected with the twelve-year long famine or not. It is possible that there had been since time immemorial two trends in Jainism, a stricter one, which adhered to Mahaivra's rule and a milder one, which obeyed Parsva's more liberal precepts. The fact that we have rules for the nuns from the ancient periods, and of course, nakedness was forbidden to them, proves in any case that the precept of nakedness was not generally acknowledged. The gravity of the conflict between the two parties becoming more and more acute in the course of the period was doubtlessly favoured by the fact that Jainism had expanded its influence over wide regions of India, and the individual communities, separated spatially form one another, could always develop their individual characteristics. A point must have been reached in the course of this development, where it appeared that the conflicts could not any more reconciled, and the schism appeared on its own. It can not be said how and where a formal separation came in. What is narrated by both the parties about it, differs widely, because every side tries to show that it alone represented the ancient Jainism, and the opposite one had arisen by the secession from the pure faith. The fact that Svetambaras fix the origin of Digambara-sect in the year 83 A.D., and Digambaras the origin of Svetambara-sect in the year 80 A.D., suggests that the final schism followed only at the end of 1st Century according to our calendar.
Each one of the two branches of Jaina-religion went their own way since that period. The differences between the two are in spite of the schism, quite negligible. The most conspicuous of these differences concerning the garments of the ascetics does not appear to be so strict now, because the number of the naked Digmabara-monks at present is quite negligible, besides they stay also in secluded place. On the other hand, there are even now important differences in the social organization of the two sects; they trace back to the original differences in faith and rites: Digambaras think that a woman can never get salvation; their cult idols show the Tirthankaras naked without a loincloth and without ornaments. Svetambaras show these on their idols. The differences pertaining to the holy legend are conspicuous. Digambars do not believe like their opponents that Mahaveera, before being born to Queen Trisala, was in the womb of Devananda and he was married before he renounced the world; they are also not of the view that a Tirthankara eats food and believe that he does not need it.
The different attitude taken by the two sects with respect to the holy tradition has a far-reaching importance. Both teach that Bhadrabahu had been the last Srutakevli and that the teachers after him did not possess any knowledge of all the holy scriptures. But while Digambaras believe that the canon has been gradually completely lost so that it does not exist now, Swetamabras presume that its main part has come down to the present day. When there was a danger of the collection of the holy scriptures, as far as they have been saved through the stormy times being lost, Svetambaras called a meeting of council in the year 980 (or 983) after Mahaveera's Nirvana under the chairmanship or Devarddhi Gani in the city of Vallabhi in Gujrat; this finally edited the canon, and it gave it a form which it is said to possess even now for the most part.
Although Svetambaras have a canon and Digambaras do not have it, and although there are differences in the dogmatism and the cult of the two sects, the dividing line between them, in spite of all antagonism and hatred, had never been so strong. Both the orientations have been constantly aware of their common origin and goal and have never lost spiritual contact with each other. This is most clearly seen in the fact that the members of one group very often use philosophical and scientific works of other and the Svetambaras have written commentaries on the works of Digambaras and vice versa.
-----------------------------------------------------
Source : Jainism An Indian Religion of Salvation, By Helmuth Von Glasenapp
-----------------------------------------------------
Mail to : Ahimsa Foundation
www.jainsamaj.org
R9111
