Kharataragaċċha, the Añċalagaċċha, the Sārdhapunamīyāgaċċha, the Āgamikagaċċha and the Tapagaċċha.[1]
Thus weakened, Jainism could ill withstand the Mohammedan deluge which swept over India in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Jaina temples were razed to the ground, their sacred books burnt and their monastic communities massacred. Buddhism was simply swept out of India proper altogether by the storm, but, as we have already noticed, Mahāvīra’s genius for organization now proved the salvation of his community. Firmly rooted amongst the laity, they were able, once the hurricane was past, to reappear once more and begin to throw out fresh branches.
One trace of their suffering still remains in the way the Jaina guard their sacred books in Treasure Houses (often underground) to which no alien can gain admittance.
Rise of the non-idolatrous sects.The next outstanding event in Jaina history was the rise of the non-idolatrous sects. The Sthānakavāsī love to point out the similarity of dates between their rise, which was a true Reformation as far as they were concerned, and that of the birth and work of Martin Luther in Europe. They arose not directly from the Śvetāmbara but as reformers of an older reforming sect.
The Loṅkā sect.Loṅkā Śā was the name of an Aḥmadābād Jaina belonging originally to the Svetambara sect, who employed several clerks to copy the Jaina scriptures. About A.D. 1474 a Śvetāmbara sādhu named Jñānajī asked him to copy several sacred books for him: whilst reading these, Loṅkā Śā was struck with the fact that idol-worship was not once mentioned in them. He pointed this out to Jñānajī and others, and a sharp controversy arose between them as to the lawfulness of idolatry. In the meantime a crowd of pilgrims going to Śatruñjaya arrived in Aḥmadābād and were won over to Loṅkā Śā’s side, but unfortunately they had no sādhu amongst them. At length- ↑ This last is the most important sect. It is ruled by twelve Srīpūjya, the chief of whom has his seat in Jaipur.
