Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study

SR No.: 022804
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nagaraj Muni
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 804
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 312

CHAPTER X
THE MONASTIC ORDER AND ITS EXPANSION
The monastic order of Mahāyira contained, according to the scared texts, 14, 000 monks and 36, 000 nuns (1). But it is difficult to get a definite and undisputed statement about the number of monks and nuns in the monastic order of the Buddha. We find a mention that when sometime after the attainment of the Buddhahood, the Buddha came to Rajagrha, he had 1093 bhiksus with him. At Rajagrha, Sariputta and Moggallāna joined the order of the Buddha with their 250 par ivrajaka monks. Thus at Rajagrha, the number of his disciples Swelled to 1345. When he first came to Kapilvastu, he had with him 20, 000 bhikşus. According to Lalita Vistara, at the time of his arryal at Srāvasti, he had 12,000 bhiksus and 32,000 bodhi-sattvas with him(2).
The organisation of the respective orders started with the attainment of omniscience by Mahavira and of enlightenment by the Buddha. Groups of thousands of people were initiated into monkhood at special occasions, Among those so initiated, the largest number came from the Vedic scholars, par iv tájaka monks and the Ksatriya princes. The accounts of initiations in both the traditions are highly inspiring and entertaining.
At several places, there is a striking similarity between the two accounts. Thus we have (in the Jaina account that Mahāvira accepted within his order 11 Vedic scholars headed by Indrabhūti along with their 4400 Brāhmaṇa disci. ples; and likewise, (in the Buddhist account), we have that the Buddha accepted into his order three Jatila leaders headed by Uruvela along with their 1000 disciplines. Further we have it that Indrabhūti initiated three tāpasa leaders named Kodinna, Dinna and Sevāla along with their i 500 tāpasa disciples.
On coming back to his own birth-place, Mahāvira initiated into monkhood his own son-in-law Jamali with a family of 500 and his own daughter Priyadars'anā with a