Contributed by Nalini Balbir
The Jain faith contains various sects or traditions, as do other religions. All these groupings believe in the central doctrines of the religion, though they vary in interpretation and practice. The two principal sects of Jainism emerged early in the Common Era, splitting over different practices and beliefs regarding monks and nuns. The Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras remain the main divisions or sects of Jainism. They take their titles from the clothing practices of their monks, which distil key doctrinal differences. The Sanskrit term ‘Śvetāmbara’ means ‘white-clad’ and refers to the white clothing of monks and nuns in this order.
Over time these two sects have built up separate doctrines and histories, resulting in different canons of sacred writings and significant individuals. Within the main sect a number of smaller subsects or traditions have arisen over the centuries. Since the late medieval period the issue of image worship has been a major point of dispute among Śvetāmbaras. Disagreements over whether it is proper to worship images eventually led to schisms that formed the Sthānaka-vāsins and the Terāpanthins. The Śvetāmbara Jains who worship images – the Mūrti-pūjaks – are the largest subsect, however. They comprise a number of smaller subsects.
Although most groups that become sects develop around a charismatic individual mendicant, some groups originate within the lay community. The chief such groups among Śvetāmbaras are the Kaḍuā-gaccha and Lonkā-gaccha.
This piece is a summary of the article "Śvetāmbara". The full article will be available soon.
Among Śvetāmbara Jains several Sanskrit terms are used for a ‘sect’:
The term saṅgha can express the meaning of the whole ‘fourfold community’, which is composed of monks and nuns, lay men and lay women. It can also be used for the ‘monastic community’ – sādhu-saṅgha or muni-saṅgha.
Organisations of mendicants are known as either gaṇa or gaccha, which both mean ‘group’. Most Śvetāmbara Jains would describe a sect as a gaccha. Indeed, the label 'gaccha' forms part of the title of some Śvetāmbara Mūrti-pūjak sects, such as the Añcala-gaccha, the Kharatara-gaccha and others. The Śvetāmbara Sthānaka-vāsin prefer sampradāya to gaccha.
Meaning ‘white-clad’ in Sanskrit, the term Śvetāmbara described the white clothing of monks and nuns in this sect. They wear simple white – śveta – cotton robes – ambara.
There are also other key features of doctrine and practice that distinguish members of the Śvetāmbara sect.
Mendicant clothing |
white robes |
---|---|
plus, for Mūrti-pūjak mendicants only
|
|
Holy texts |
|
Women |
can achieve liberation |
Sex of Jinas |
the 19th Jina, Malli, was a woman |
Images of Jinas |
|
The main Śvetāmbara sect has split into smaller subsects over the centuries. New groups formed around successive monastic leaders, creating monastic lineages. The records – paṭṭāvalis or gurv-āvalis – of several mendicant lineages have survived and offer information about the origin and development of the sect.
The significant Śvetāmbara text of the Kalpa-sūtra provides the principal record of mendicant lineages. The second section of the Kalpa-sūtra is the Sthavirāvalī, which supposedly documents the situation at the time of the 24th Jina, Mahāvīra.
Mahāvīra had 11 disciples – gaṇa-dharas, who led groups of mendicants – gaṇas. Two gaṇa-dharas at a time managed two groups, making a total of nine gaṇas. None of the chief disciples had any spiritual descendant except Ārya Sudharman, so that ‘The Nirgranthas Śramaṇas of the present time are all [spiritual] descendants of the monk Ārya Sudharman’ (Kalpasūtra, Jacobi’s translation: 1884 : 287). Another reason for Sudharman's prominence is that he did not achieve omniscience in Mahāvīra’s lifetime and hence was in a position to assume leadership of the mendicant community. All the later Śvetāmbara sectarian traditions claim descent from Sudharman except one, the Upakeśa-gaccha. This group claims descent from the 23rd Jina, Pārśvanātha or Lord Pārśva.
The lines of succeeding religious teachers who claim a common mendicant ancestor are listed in the Sthavirāvalī in the Kalpa-sūtra. The most recent is Devarddhi Kṣamāśramaṇa, who arranged for the final redaction of the scriptures at Valabhī, in Gujarat, in the fifth century CE.
However, later documents that focus on the writing down of the holy scriptures indicate that two separate recitation traditions existed. The Gujarati towns of Mathurā and Valabhī seem to have had their own traditions, which implies that strongly held disagreements divided the Śvetāmbara community even in the fifth century.
The question of whether it is proper to worship images emerged as an issue of contention in the late medieval period. Disagreements on this topic caused several subsects to be established over the next few centuries. The present-day names for the main Śvetāmbara subsects date back to this period, when the worship of images became a major sectarian difference. The terms are:
These sects agree on several fundamental areas but hold different beliefs and have diverse practices in some respects.
The Śvetāmbara sects agree on the:
The other disputed topics may have developed gradually, in part as signs of difference from the other sects.
|
Mūrti-pūjak sect |
Sthānaka-vāsin sect |
Terāpanthin sect |
---|---|---|---|
Canonical scriptures |
45 |
32 |
32 |
Worship of images |
yes |
no |
no |
Monastic equipment – staff |
yes |
no |
no |
Monastic equipment – broom handle |
short |
long |
long |
Monastic equipment – use of mouth-cloth |
worn at certain times |
worn permanently |
worn permanently |
Nuns – access to canonical scriptures, to various levels |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Nuns – permission to preach |
no |
no |
yes |
In addition, the sects have differences regarding the daily liturgy and recitation, and also the religious calendar.
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512
Gamma 453. Wellcome Trust Library. Unknown author. 1512