Thread, Not Scissor Common Spiritual Heritage For Peace And Harmony
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time. Therefore, Sthulabhadra could compile only the ten Purvas in the first council which was convened at Pataliputra in the time of Candragupta Maurya in the fourth century B.C. Digambars believe that women cannot attain moksha in the same birth, while Svetambars believe that women may attain liberation and that Mallinath, a Tirthankar, was a woman. The difference is because Digambar asceticism requires nudity. As nudity is not practical for women, it follows that without it they cannot attain moksha. This is based on the belief that women cannot reach perfect purity (yathakhyata), "Their lack of clothes can, therefore, be a hindrance to their leading a holy life". The earliest record of this belief is contained in the Prakrit Suttapahuda of the Digambara mendicant Kundakunda (c. second century A.D. ).
Preaching and Texts: The preachings of Lord Mahavira were handed down to the acaryas who preserved the tradition and the faith. Later on many acaryas wrote several commentaries and subcommentaries on the scriptural texts of the canon. Numerous original works on Jaina philosophy, logic, epistemology, and even grammars and lexicons were written by them. Umasvami, Kundakunda, Siddhasena Divakara, Jinabhadragani Ksamasramana, Jinadasa Mahattara, Haribhadra Suri, Silankacarya, Abhayadeva Suri, Hemacandracarya, were the greatest acaryas who continued the study of Jaina philosophy and thought for several centuries.
Dissension, Sects and Sub-Divisions of Sects: The signs of internal dissension in the Jaina monastic order or sangha started appearing during the life time of Lord Mahavira. His two disciples, Jamali who was also his son-in-law and Gosala, created a faction in the Jaina monastic order or sangha. But the two major divisions among the followers of this faith, viz. Digambara and Svetambara, clearly appeared after the first convention of Pataliputra which was convened in the 4th century B.C. It is said that during the time of Candragupta Maurya a great famine broke out in Magadha. Candragupta Maurya with a senior Jaina monk named Bhadrabahu and a handful of his followers went towards South India. Bhadrabahu put his senior most disciple Sthulabhadra in charge of those monks who remained in Magadha. After Bhadrabahu, Sthulabhadra was the only monk left who knew all the fourteen Purvas or old scriptures in which all the teachings of Lord Mahavira were preserved. But Bhadrabahu had told him not to teach the last four Purvas to his successors. Apprehending the danger that could threaten the loss and distortion of the original teachings of Lord Mahavira, Sthulabhadra held a convention at Pataliputra for the compilation and rearrangement of the teachings of Lord Mahavira which were preserved in the Purvas. But when some disciples of Bhadrabahu came back to Magadha from South India, they did not appreciate the rearrangement of the ten Purvas into Angas. They did not even agree to recognize those Angas as the authentic collection of the original teachings of Lord Mahavira. Moreover, after the convention some monks started wearing white clothes instead of wandering as naked ascetics, while others condemned them seriously. Later on these two groups of monks developed as independent Sects. The naked ascetics were known as the Digambara Sect, while the monks who wore white clothes were called the Svetambaras. These two were the most important Sects of Jainism and even today the followers of both these