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World Religions:
Jainism
02: Jain Sacred Texts
A major schism occurred among the Jains around the time of Mahavira's death. The Digambaras, like Mahavira, practice total nudity to avoid all attachments. The Shvetambaras reject nudity as an exterior symbol having no significance on their inner spiritual development. They also accepted women into the monastic community early on, unlike the Digambaras.
The chief sacred texts of the Jains are the 11 Angas ("limbs") compiled by Indrabhuti, plus the 12 Upangas ("secondary limbs"), and the Uttaradhyayana Sutra. Jaina scriptures are considered to be the teachings of enlightened men, but not the revealed word of God.
Because of their extremely strict adherence to vows against lying and stealing, Jains are highly regarded in India as business people of the utmost integrity. As a result, they have become very successful and influential in commerce. The roughly three million Jains in India today share a disproportionate amount of the country's wealth.
