Article: Becoming a monk or nun

Three Śvetāmbara Sthānaka-vāsin monks
Image by R. V. Russell and Rai Bahadur Hira Lāl © public domain

Traditionally, the youngest age of initiation is eight. This is considered the age of reason in Indian tradition. Story literature and historical examples show that boys of this age or just a little more used to become Jain monks. One famous example is the 12th-century writer Hemacandra. Among certain Śvetāmbara monastic orders it was and still is common to initiate young boys into monkhood.

Nowadays child initiation – bāla-dīkṣā – is a highly controversial issue, which has even been the subject of cases in the Indian judicial system. Some believe that bright minds are able to decide for themselves and choose the monastic path in total freedom. Others reply that young children know nothing of life and are not in a position to decide. They become monks because of adult pressure.

Both positions have some truth. Hemacandra is just one example among several others in Jain monastic history who were initiated early, led a full mendicant life and became towering personalities of the faith. But there are also many counter-examples.

Today child initiation exists but is probably not so frequent as before. Several monastic orders have established as a rule or practice that 18 is the minimum age for initiation.

On the other hand, there is no upper limit. Mendicants who have entered monastic life in their late years are known in both past and present.

Once a mendicant, someone’s worldly age is no longer important because mendicants’ ages are counted from the day of initiation.

Śvetāmbara monks
Image by Hoorob – Robert Tyabji © CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The life of a mendicant is physically demanding so the initiation candidate should be in good physical condition. His or her health should be perfect, without any physical handicap or weakness.

Other restrictions relate to the candidate’s personal circumstances. For example, those who seek to escape a bad situation are not eligible. These rules are meant to deter those who consider the life of a mendicant a refuge from the difficulties of worldly life.

In addition, pregnant women should not be accepted as nuns, because their children would be burdens to the community and the focus of attachment for their mothers. Story literature, however, has several instances of women who had to flee from their families for various reasons but managed to hide their pregnancy and were thus admitted into an order.

Among some monastic orders, candidates born into certain castes may be excluded or encouraged. Even if such practices are not explicitly mentioned, reading colophons or exploring statistical data often shows a privileged connection between certain castes and geographical areas, on the one hand, and given monastic orders.

Mr̥gāputra becomes a monk
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Once an individual has decided to become a monk or nun, authoritative family members must agree to it. This is true of the past as well as of the present. In the present day, getting this permission is a necessary pre-condition for joining all mendicant orders. Even so, exceptions to the rule exist.

Although becoming a mendicant is highly respected among Jains, families are not always pleased if one of their members wants to renounce.

In Śvetāmbara canonical scriptures as well as in later literature, there are moving scenes in which a young boy who has suddenly decided that the only way of life for him is to become a monk faces his parents. His mother especially tries her best to depict the hard life awaiting him. His parents want to demonstrate that, having been brought up in a cosy atmosphere, he will be unable to live the mendicant lifestyle. The boy’s determination is always stronger, however, so his parents reluctantly give him permission to join a monastic order.

Preaching monks
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In some sects, such as the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthin, there is a stage of preparation before becoming a monk or a nun. These candidates are known as mumukṣu – ‘aspiring to emancipation‘. At this point, candidate mendicants live with full mendicants for a certain period of time. They study the holy writings and other subjects, and start progressively observing monastic rules before the initiation ceremony itself.

More generally, people aspiring to be initiated – dīkṣārthīs – are often seen going to the mendicants’ lodgings. The girls or women visit the nuns while the boys or men go to the monks. The candidates sit with them regularly, listening to their advice and teachings or reading under their guidance. This monastic presence is an incentive to become a monk or nun, and a preparation as well.

Yaśogha becomes a monk
Image by Wellcome Trust Library © Wellcome Library, London

The removal of hair in the ceremony of keśa-loca is a key part of the initiation rite because this deeply painful gesture symbolises total renunciation and disregard for physical pain. The ritual is frequently considered an identifying feature of Jainism by outsiders. Evidence of disapproval of the ceremony can be found in early Buddhist sources.

Although all initiation ceremonies involve the removal of hair, the rituals of the initiation ceremony – dīkṣā – differ by sect and monastic order.

Mahāvīra’s palanquin
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Before finally renouncing all possessions and worldly life, the future monk or nun is treated like a king. Part of the dīkṣā ceremony for Śvetāmbaras is a public procession through the streets, which alerts everybody nearby to what is happening. The candidate is dressed in magnificent clothes and rich jewellery, like a princely groom or bride. Sometimes he or she rides on the back of an elephant, the paramount royal animal.

The new initiate arrives at a gathering of lay people and mendicants. The initiate takes off all the clothing and jewellery and receives mendicant clothing and monastic equipment.

The most significant gesture is ‘pulling out the hair’ – keśa-loca – which the initiate does him- or herself. Men remove their facial hair too.

According to the early tradition, hair was removed in ‘five handfuls’ – pañca-muṣṭi. In the present, often all the hair is not pulled out in this way. Instead, the head is shaved beforehand and only the remaining tuft of hair is pulled out by hand. It is also common to dust ashes on the roots of the hair. This makes the hair smoother, relieves pain and has a soothing effect. The hair-plucking ceremony takes place in private, with the initiate emerging dressed as a monk or nun once his or her hair has been completely removed.

Finally, the initiate receives a new name and the monastic equipment associated with the monastic order he or she has just joined. The names of monks and nuns are generally compounds in which the second element is similar for all mendicants in the same lineage or sub-lineage. An example is having –vijaya or –sāgara at the end of the name. The names have auspicious meanings. For example, Puṇya-vijaya means ‘Victory of Merits’ while Jñāna-sāgara means ‘Ocean of Knowledge’.

The candidate is now initiated and starts his or her new mendicant life.

‘Five Great Vows’
Image by Shree Diwakar Prakashan © public domain

Most Jain mendicants undergo a period as a novice after being initiated. The length of the novitiate stage and the tasks and duties of the novice mendicants differ in the various sects.

Usually at the close of their novitiate, the novices swear the ‘Five Great Vows’ – mahā-vrata. These vows are effectively some of the main principles of Jainism:

• non-violence – ahiṃsā
• truth – satya
• taking only what is given – asteya
• celibacy – brahmacarya
• non-attachment or non-possession – aparigraha.

These vows date back to the earliest history of the faith. Jains believe that the last Jina, Mahāvīra, added a fifth vow to his forerunner Pārśva’s list. Mahāvīra made the vow of celibacy not just implicit in the vow of non-attachment but a separate vow.

Monks and novices
Image by Wellcome Trust Library © Wellcome Library, London

Novices serve a kind of apprenticeship to full monks or nuns in the group they have joined, learning from their example. They must be at the service of older mendicants and carry out menial tasks. The good behaviour of a monk, and especially of a novice or junior one, is crystallised in the term vinaya, which has the shades of meaning of ‘good education, humility, modesty, politeness, submission’.

Mostly, the novice depends upon an ācārya, who decides when he is mature enough to progress further. It is a close mutual relationship, which is expressed by one of the terms that mean ‘disciple’ – antevāsin – ‘the one who lives at the side of’ his teacher.

There is no formal test or examination to leave the novice stage. According to some early texts, the probationary period can last for one week, four months or six months. But according to others, a mendicant who has been with the monastic community for less than three years is considered a newcomer.

Education in religious doctrine and practices is broadly the main task of novices. Living among religious teachers is a traditional way of transmitting holy learning and customs. Formal study of holy texts is conventionally done by memorising them.

However, the Śvetāmbara Terāpanthin and Sthānaka-vāsin subsects are unusual in allowing both monks and nuns to study all scriptures. Indeed, the Terāpanthin sect is unique in promoting female religious education. In many sects, female novices and full nuns are not permitted to study some or even all of the holy texts.

The life of a novice is not always easy. A lively story found in Śvetāmbara scriptures tells of the bad conduct of the novice Nimbaka – ‘Bitter Fruit’ – who had turned to monastic life along with his father:

He used to throw thorns on the latrines, to sneeze while the monks were reading and studying, or to create disturbances when the exact moment came for them to do something and thus ruin that time for their religious acts. In every matter he used to behave in the way opposite to good conduct.

translation by Nalini Balbir
1990

This behaviour resulted in the expulsion of both father and son from one monastic group after another. When Nimbaka realised his father’s sorrow, he decided to reform himself. When they were finally accepted by a group of monks, the boy became the best of novices, ‘examining the latrines three times a day’ and accomplishing all the tasks required of him.

Monk and pupils
Image by Chandu Shah © Chandu Shah

Among Śvetāmbara Mūrti-pūjakas, the novice period lasts six months or so. This period ends with the final ‘great initiation’ – mahā-dīkṣā – when the novices take the ‘great vows’ – mahā-vrata. After this they are ready to follow the full mendicant lifestyle.

The novice monk and nun does not seek alms as full mendicants do. Instead, he or she receives food collected by other members of the group and brought back to the lodging-house.

Generally, the novices spend their time studying holy texts. They learn by heart some of the Mūla-sūtras, which can be thought of as the basic Śvetāmbara canonical scriptures. The scriptures include:

• the Daśavaikālika-sūtra – containing a long chapter of rules for begging alms
• the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra – general lessons on Jain fundamentals combined with stories of examples. Significantly, the book starts with a chapter describing the concept of vinaya – ‘modesty, good education’.
• the Āvaśyaka-sūtra – a liturgical text describing the six daily obligatory rites of a mendicant.

All these writings cover important areas of monastic life and regulate daily behaviour. Understanding these principles and rules is necessary for those who enter the mendicant life.

Digambara monks and novices
Image by Takeo Kimiya © Takeo Kimiya

Among Digambaras, novices must progress through two stages before reaching full monkhood. In the first stage the novice is called a ‘junior’ – kṣullaka for a male, kṣullikā for a female. In the next stage the novice is referred to as ailaka – an untranslatable word without feminine form. Throughout these stages the novices are not yet monks or nuns – munis or āryikās.

In the Digambara context clothing means attachment while nudity means detachment. So a junior and an ailaka can be identified by their clothing. A junior wears three pieces of white clothing, while an ailaka wears only a white loincloth. This means that he is higher in spiritual progress.

A junior first takes the vows of a lay man – aṇu-vrata – which he is expected to observe strictly. He also renounces worldly activities, remains celibate and follows dietary restrictions. In the 11 stages of spiritual progress defined by Digambaras – the pratimās – he has reached the first one. Although a junior is not a monk, he receives a new name and the monastic implements used by the Digambaras. These are the water pot – kamaṇḍalu – and the broom made of peacock-feathers – piñchī.

The ailaka belongs to a mendicant lineage. He has reached the second stage of the 11. Some of the practices he follows are those which a full Digambara monk follows as well, namely:

• eating once a day and receiving food from lay men in his cupped hands
• periodically plucking out hair and facial hair by hand.

In contrast to the custom among Śvetāmbara Mūrti-pūjakas, the Digambara final initiation into full mendicancy – including the keśa-loca – is carried out in public.

When male novices become fully-fledged mendicants – munis – they cast off all clothing and live nude. This distinctive characteristic of the Digambara sect gives it its name, which means ‘sky clad’ or wearing the elements.

Female mendicants – āryikās – always wear white clothing. They are initiated by a male mendicant and belong to a male mendicant lineage. There are recent exceptions where Digambara nuns are group-leaders and may be authorised by monks to have their own disciples, but these are extremely rare.