Digambara

Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Digambara ("sky-clad", meaning naked) is one of the two main sects of Jainism. Its monks wear no clothes at all, and it holds that a woman must first be reborn as a man before she can gain liberation (moksha, freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth) [4][5].

It matters because the split between the Digambaras and the Shvetāmbaras ("White-Robed") is the main division within Jainism. Its origin story also ties Jainism to Chandragupta Maurya and to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka [4][5].

Explanation

Background: why nudity mattered

• Jainism teaches that monastic life is a necessary condition of salvation. A householder alone cannot reach liberation.
• Monks and nuns took the five mahāvratas (five "great vows" of giving up worldly life). They promised not to kill, steal or lie, to stay celibate, and not to own property [2][3].
• The Jaina idea of aparigraha (non-possession, staying detached from material things) was taken to its extreme by the Digambaras:
• Even a piece of cloth counts as a possession.
• So a true monk must give up clothes too.
• In this they followed Mahāvīra's own example of going naked [4].

How the split happened, according to tradition

• The famine: In about 310 BCE there was a 12-year famine in north India [4][5].
• The migration: The monk Bhadrabāhu and Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan king, who had become a Jaina monk, led a group of monks south to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka [4][5].
• The difference in practice:
• Bhadrabāhu insisted on nudity, as Mahāvīra had done [4].

• Sthūlabhadra, who led the monks who stayed in the north, allowed white garments [4].

• The result: Over time the two groups became separate sects. The southern, naked tradition became the Digambaras. The northern, white-robed tradition became the Shvetāmbaras [4][5].

Main features of the Digambara sect

• Monks go fully naked. This is the clearest sign of their total renunciation.
• Women and liberation: Digambaras hold that women cannot reach liberation in a woman's body. A woman must first be reborn as a man. The main reason given is that nuns cannot give up clothes.
• Scriptures: Digambaras do not accept the Shvetāmbara canon (the Agamas) as the true teaching. They believe the original texts were lost [6].
• Region: The sect became strong in south India, especially Karnataka, because of the southern migration.

A caution about the story

• Britannica warns that the accounts of both sects are partisan, meaning each side tells the story in a way that favours itself [4][5].
• They were also written long after the events. The earliest Digambara account dates only from the 10th century CE [4][5].
• So the true origin of the split remains obscure [4][5].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: According to tradition, c. 310 BCE, in the time of Chandragupta Maurya (Mauryan dynasty) [4][5].
• Places: The monks moved from north India (the Magadha region) to Shravanabelagola, Karnataka [4][5].
• Key people:
• Bhadrabāhu, the monk who led the move south and insisted on nudity [4].
• Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan king, who became a Jaina monk and went south with him [4][5].
• Sthūlabhadra, who led the monks who stayed in the north and allowed white robes [4].

• Mahāvīra, the 24th tīrthankara, whose nakedness the Digambaras follow [1][4].

• How we know: Mainly from the sects' own later traditions. The earliest Digambara account is from the 10th century CE. Historians therefore treat the details as traditional, not certain [4][5].

Don't confuse with

• Shvetāmbara: means "white-robed". Its monks and nuns wear white clothes, and it holds that women can gain liberation. Digambaras are "sky-clad" (naked) and deny this [4][5].
• Bhadrabāhu vs Sthūlabhadra: Bhadrabāhu went south and insisted on nudity. Sthūlabhadra stayed in the north and allowed white garments [4].
• Ājīvikas: a different heterodox sect, not a branch of Jainism. Do not mix them up because both had naked ascetics.
• Parshvanātha's fourfold restraint: the 23rd tīrthankara gave four vows, and Mahāvīra added celibacy [2][3]. That change has nothing to do with the later Digambara–Shvetāmbara split over clothing.

Prelims Hooks

• Digambara = "sky-clad" (naked monks). Shvetāmbara = "white-robed" [4][5].
• Digambara tradition links the split to a 12-year famine and a migration c. 310 BCE led by Bhadrabāhu with Chandragupta Maurya [4][5].
• The migration went to Shravanabelagola, which is in Karnataka [4][5].
• Sthūlabhadra, leader of the northern monks, allowed white garments. Bhadrabāhu insisted on nudity [4].
• Trap: Digambaras hold that women cannot gain liberation without rebirth as men. Shvetāmbaras say women can.
• The earliest Digambara account of the split dates from the 10th century CE, long after the events [4][5].

Mains Points

• Limits of religious sources. The split is known mainly from partisan accounts written centuries later. The earliest Digambara version is from the 10th century CE [4][5]. This makes it a good example in answers about how far historians can trust sect traditions.
• Jainism's spread to the south. The Bhadrabāhu–Chandragupta story links Jainism to Karnataka:
• It helps explain why Digambara Jainism became strong in the south.

• Jaina scholars wrote in Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil and kept their works in temple libraries, adding to south Indian literature.

• Same roots, different rules. Both sects share ahimsa, anekāntavāda and aparigraha and the five mahāvratas [2][3]. They disagree on how strictly to practise non-possession: whether a monk may wear clothes, and whether a woman can be liberated. This shows how one tradition can split over practice while keeping the same core beliefs.

Related concepts

• Jainism
• Tirthankara
• Rishabhanatha
• Parshvanatha
• Mahavira
• Kevala jnana
• Ahimsa
• Karma
• Five vows of Jainism
• Aparigraha

Read more

• Mahāvīra and the message of the Jainas