Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: The article investigates the relationship between canonical rules ( dharma) and customary rules ( maryādā) in contemporary Jain mendicant life. It focuses on an analysis of the Terāpanth śvetāmbara Jain mendicant order and presents translations and analyses of the rules and regulations and initiation rituals for a new category of Jain novices, the saman order, which was introduced by the Terāpanth in 1981. It is argued that variations and cumulative changes in post-canonical monastic law can be understood in terms of rule specification and secondary canonization and not only in terms of exceptions to the rule. The article contributes both to the anthropology of South Asian asceticism and monasticism and to the exploration of the maryādā and āvaśyaka literatures of the Jains.
Source: South Asia Research
Author: Peter Flügel
Institution: SOAS University of London
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1983906017