As the Monks Have Always Lived: The Mūlācāra and Monastic Conduct in Digambara Jainism
by Kshitij Jain
The Mūlācāra of Vaṭṭakera (est.2nd century CE) is the earliest monastic lawbook in Digambara Jainism. Composed at a time when Jain samghas were acquiring distinct sectarian identities, the Mūlācāra laid the foundation for Digambara monastic conduct, providing a source of authority to the later Digambara authors. My presentation will discuss the early history of this text to underline its significance in the Jain tradition. I will look at some facets of monastic conduct that Vaṭṭakera uses as “identity markers” of a Digambara monk to understand theMūlācāra’s role in the formation of Digambara sectarian identity as a historical context.
The second, and the more elaborate part of this presentation will focus on the Mūlācāra in the medieval period: which witnessed the reproduction of monastic conduct in new socio-political backdrops. I will introduce the Ācāravṛtti of Vasunandi, the earliest commentary on the Mūlācāra (11th century CE) and analyse a few case studies where Vasunandi exhibits commentarial reinterpretations which signify that rather than being a fossilised text, the Mūlācāra was being reinterpreted and adapted to the new circumstances of medieval India. I will then look at a fifteenth century monastic lawbook – the Mūlācārapradīpa of Sakalakīrti wherein the author maintains a conscious association with the Mūlācāra to achieve socio-political legitimacy and monastic authority. My presentation will attempt to highlight what did the Mūlācāra mean for medieval Digambara authors and how did they associate with it to further their projects of identity-building in north-western Digambara communities.
Kshitij Jain is a second year MPhil student reading Classical Indian Religion at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. He holds an undergraduate degree in Sanskrit (Hons.) Kshitij’s research primarily focuses on medieval Digambara monastic lawbooks and aims at studying them to understand the socio-cultural history of medieval Digambara Jainism. Kshitij is also interested in the Dharmashastra tradition and Classical Sanskrit Literature.
