1898.] Annual Address. 47^ 



of the pvefcambaras and Digambaras, the ' White -clothed ' and the 

 * Unclothed ' monks. The division took place, as indicated by the 

 name, on the question of wearing clothes, though there are also other 

 differences both in point of doctrine and practice, which, however, are 

 of no general interest. The two divisions maintain an entirely separate 

 and even antagonistic existence ; they possess also almost entirely distinct 

 literatures, and the most ancient class of sacred books, the so-called 

 Aggas and Purvas, have been preserved only in the pvetambara 

 division. Moreover both divisions are now divided into an extensive 

 ramification of schools and lines of teachers, which gradually grew up 

 in the course of centuries. Tlie historical, or rather chronicling, spirit 

 is as strongly developed in the Jains as it is in- the Buddhists. They 

 keep up regular Pattavalis or lists of the succession of teachers, several 

 of which have been published by Hofrath Prof. Biihler, Dr. Klatt and 

 myself in the Indian Antiquary and the Epigraphia Indica; and their 

 sacred and other books are throughout interspersed with an abundance of 

 chronicling notices, which have been extracted and recorded, in addition to 

 the scholars already mentioned, by Professors Weber and Bhandarkar.* 

 From all these materials the Jain tradition regarding their Order and 

 their Sacred Books may be gathered. In its main features it is as 

 follows. 



In the second century after Mahaviia's death (about 310 B.C.) a 

 very severe famine, lasting twelve years, took place in the country of 

 Magadha, the modern Bihar, beyond which, as yet, the Jain order does not 

 seem to have spread. At that titne Candra Gupta, of the Maurya dy- 

 nasty, was king of the country, and Bliadrabahu was the head of the 

 still undivided Jain community. Under tlie pressure of the famine, 

 Bhadrabahu with a portion of his people emigrated into the Karnata 

 (or Canarese) country in the south of India. Over the other portion 

 that remained in Mngadha, Sthiilabhadra assumed the headship. 

 Towards the end of the famine, during the absence of Bhadrabahu, 

 a Council assembled at Pataliputra, the modern Patna ; and this Council 

 collected the Jain sacred books, consisting of the eleven Arjgas and 

 the fourteen Purvas, which latter are collectively called the twelfth Agga. 

 The troubles that arose during the period of famine produced also a 

 change in the practice of the Jains. The rule regarding the dress of tlie 

 monks had been, that they should ordinarily go altogether naked, though 

 the wearing of certain clothes appears to have been allowed to the weaker 

 members of the order. Those monks that remained behind felt cou- 



* See Prof. Weber's Catalogue of the Jain Manuscripts in Berlin, 1888 and 1892 ; 

 also Prof. Bhandarkar's Report on the Search for Sanskrit MSS., 1883-84. For a 

 fuller list, see Prof. Jacobi's Introduction to his Translation of Jaina Sutras, Part II. 



