The Digambara treatises on conduct are constituted as a part of the genre called “caraṇānuyoga” which includes codes of conduct for both the munis (sometimes called yatyācāra) and for the laity (śrāvakācāra). Despite being such an important source for understanding the history of Digambara Jainism and the development of its monastic community, Digambara monastic jurisprudence has largely remained unexplored within Jain Studies. Working on this textual archive offers rich potential for academic research and can fill a research gap in our understanding of Digambara monasticism. This paper aims to contribute to existing scholarship by taking up the issue of “organizational discipline” in Digambara monasticism and explore new socio-cultural aspects of its practices.
The daily life of a Jain monk is structured on the basis of a thorough and strict spiritual discipline through well-studied practices such as sāmāyika (meditative equipoise) or kāyotsarga (posture of meditation). These practices not only ritualize the daily functioning of a monk but also make his body a site for discipline itself ̶ by using bodily postures and restraint as a medium for spiritual regulation. The question that arises here is how Digambara monasticism ritualizes a monk’s “organizational discipline” that lies outside the spiritual sphere into the more practical functioning of a mendicant saṃgha. My presentation will address this question and investigate the ritualization of organizational discipline in the form of establishment of authority and obedience in Digambara monastic jurisprudence by looking at how the bodily practices of a monk are construed for this purpose.
The theoretical framework for the paper will be based on Talal Asad’s concept of “embodied discipline” in his book Genealogies of Religion (1993). In his conceptualization, Asad understands the body as the site of the formation of religious subjectivity and argues that discipline operates through bodily actions and rituals that lead to individuals internalizing authority and moral order. His arguments become important to engage because he sees religious life as not merely beliefs but practices that shape both the body and the self within the institutional contexts. Engaging with Asad will enable me to view the Digambara monastic rituals and practices as mechanisms through which religious authority is enacted within the monastic order and foster new perspectives on the Digambara monastic lawbooks as mediums of establishing that authority, beyond their normative-didactic frameworks.
The primary source for my presentation will be the Mūlācāra of Vaṭṭakera ̶ the earliest monastic lawbook in Digambara Jainism composed in Prakrit somewhere around 2nd century CE. It has a total of 1251 gāthās divided into twelve adhikārās i.e. chapters. The Mūlācāra is undoubtedly the foundational text for Digambara monastic jurisprudence; and its significance further necessitates the intervention aimed by this paper. I will also consult the Ācāravṛtti ̶ the twelfth-century Sanskrit commentary on the Mūlācāra by Vasunandi. Within the textual material that the Mūlācāra offers, I will focus on three particular issues to understand the ritual embodiment of a monk’s organizational discipline: (1) samācāra or conduct towards other munis of the saṃgha: (2) vinaya or obeisance, and (3) vandanā or salutation.
Beginning with the samācāra, the Mūlācāra classifies it twofold ̶aughika and padavibhāgī, out of which I will look at the ten components of aughika samācāra (general conduct) as explained in gāthās 123 ̶ 128. Although it does not deal with bodily forms of discipline directly, its component of upasampat (honoring) involves the devotional submission to the ācārya by the disciple. The public nature of such affirmations of devotion is another thing I will look at across the three issues. Another important concept is āpṛcchā(seeking permission) in which Vasunandi involves the permission for any kind of austerity and spiritual practice. Therefore, even the bodily modes of spiritual discipline are regulated by the authority of the preceptor which is an important concept for this paper.
Secondly, vinaya is an important component of monastic life as one of the six forms of internal tapas (austerity). It has five classifications, out of which, the last component called aupacārika (figurative) is further divided into three types ̶ kāyika (bodily), vācika (verbally) and, mānasika (mentally). The presentation will focus on kāyika obeisance which directly deals with embodied discipline through discussing bodily forms of obeisance towards other monks. There is an emphatic insistence on physical forms of service like following the senior monk with veneration, making his bed, massaging the ācārya’s feet as well as following his instructions without hesitation (gāthās 372-376). The Mūlācāra further provides seven types of this kāyika vinaya (gāthā 382) which will also be discussed in detail with an objective of understanding how these bodily methods of obeisance ingrain organizational discipline in a monk’s religious life and cultivate a reverence toward authority within the Digambara monastic order.
The last section of the paper will be based on vandanā(worship) which is one of the six essentials (āvśyakas). Within this broad concept, my focus will be on the thirty-two faults of worshipping the Jina as well as the ācārya committed by a muni; that are enlisted in gāthās 605-609 and elaborated by Vasunandi. A number of these faults are related to the bodily positions and performances of worship and minutely analyze the right manner to situate one’s body for vandanā. Analyzing these thirty-two faults will enable us to reflect how Vaṭṭakera envisions the muni’s body as the site of religious authority and objectivity.
Through a philological study of the Mūlācāra and its commentary Ācāravṛtti, this presentation will explore the construction of authority and ritual discipline in Digambara monasticism by presenting the bodily actions of a monk as consciously regulated religious practices which aim to establish authority and discipline as sacred rituals within the monastic fold as a social unit. By applying Talal Asad’s concept of “embodied discipline,” this paper not only deepens our understanding of Digambara Jain jurisprudence but also contributes to broader conversations on the role of ritualized bodily practices in sustaining religious authority across monastic traditions.
Talal Asad in his Genealogies of Religion (1993) discusses discipline as an “embodied practice” which considers body as a site of religious formation. Asad argues that discipline involves practices that shape body and subjectivity to regulate the religious life of an individual. Based on this framework, my presentation will investigate the ritual organizational discipline and the establishment of authority and obedience in Digambara monastic jurisprudence. The primary source of the presentation will be the Mūlācāra of Vaṭṭakera and its commentary Ācāravṛtti of Vasunandi. The paper will take three case studies from the text ̶ samācāra, vinaya and, vandanā as ‘embodied practices’ to explore the ritualized organizational discipline of a monk. The core methodology of the paper will be a philological analysis of primary sources with a focus on the historical framework provided by Asad to understand the role of bodily discipline and religious practices in constructing authority in religious communities.