The Issue of Monastic Dwelling in Jain Texts of Conduct: Sustained idealization, Silences and Adaptations

The early Jain literature, canonical and non-canonical, regardless of the sectarian affiliation, glorifies monastic stays in liminal spaces and solitary isolation. However, they also gradually reflect adaptations accommodating communal living, urban stays in the house of laity, and sometimes, structured monastic spaces. A long developmental phase of the canonical literature, stretching for almost a millennium, before its eventual compilation, betrays a lack of a monolithic textual code on this issue. These differences emerged out of pragmatic readjustments to contemporary needs by both sects. A similar trend is visible in the later exegetical literature, commentaries, and other normative texts. This study in longue durée, examines how monastic lawgivers navigated these tensions, balancing adherence to orthopraxy with pragmatic concerns, sometimes through a sustained idealization, or through necessary adaptions, and sometimes through an uncanny silence.