Digambara Jaina Monks in India: Rejecting Dependencies on Clothing

Julia A. B. Hegewald
BCDSS Principal Investigator

Digambara Jaina monks from India are fascinating as they reject all clothing and go completely naked. This expresses their lack of dependency on textiles. From a religious point of view, their nudity is seen as proof of their complete renunciation and asceticism. During their initiation ceremony, the mendicants do not only cast off all belongings, they also part with their feeling of shame. Digambara nuns wear simple cotton robes.

In the context of extreme asymmetrical dependencies in relation to textiles, it is fascinating to examine people who completely escape such dependencies. This is, for instance, the case with Jaina monks of the Digambara subgroup in India. These ascetics free themselves from all reliances and reject all belongings, such as clothing (fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Male monks of the Digambara form of Jainism illustrate complete detachment from physical possessions by going naked (photo: J. Hegewald, 2006).

Jainism is as old as Buddhism, finding its origin in the east Indian state of Bihar in about the sixth century BCE. In contrast to Buddhism, Jainism is more ascetic. The Jaina community divides into two main sects. Whilst monks belonging to the Shvetambara (“white-robed”) group wear simple white cotton garments (fig. 2), those associated with Digambara (“sky-clad”) Jainism go completely naked (fig. 3).

Fig. 2: Shvetambara Jaina ascetic, wearing simple white cotton robes in a temple in Rajasthan, north-western India (photo: J. Hegewald, 1998).

Fig. 3: Digambara – “sky-clad” monks – reject all dependencies on clothes and only carry a water pot and a fly-whisk (photo: J. Hegewald, 2006).

Digambara nuns are not permitted to enter into the state of ascetic nudity. They wear simple white cotton robes (fig. 4). This is for social conventions, forcing the women to hold on to some belongings. Due to their dependency on clothing, the nuns are believed not to be capable of reaching enlightenment from within a female body.

Fig. 4: Jaina nuns are prevented from denouncing their garments and wear simple white cotton outfits (photo: J. Hegewald, 2006).

The nakedness of Digambara Jaina monks is seen as a sign of total renunciation in its most extreme form. It is a clear indication of the freedom attained by them from all attachments to worldly possessions. These attachments are both external or physical (such as their dress) as well as internal or spiritual (such as emotions, desires). Their nudity is symbolic of the purity achieved by means of their strict asceticism (fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Lay Jainas honor the mental and bodily restraint of the Jaina monks and bow toward them, as here at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka (photo: J. Hegewald, 2006).

Furthermore, by rejecting clothes, the monks prevent cotton plants from being harmed during the harvesting process. Likewise, they prevent insects from being caught and squashed in the folds of their garments. Through this, the mendicants indicate their complete adoption of the universal Jaina tenet of ahimsa. This Sanskrit term means “non-violence” or “non-harming” and is the first great vow to be taken by all Jaina ascetics.

During their period of early instruction, Digambara mendicants are still permitted to wear a simple white cotton loincloth (fig. 6). However, during their religious initiation ritual, diksha, they officially renounce the world and abandon all their lay possessions. This also includes overcoming emotional limitations, such as the feeling of shame. As they take the vow of non-possession of material wealth, aparigraha, the monks lay down their garments. This vow is to be followed for their entire lives.

Reflecting proper conduct in a Digambara Jaina context, also their religious icons are depicted naked. These depictions show the twenty-four fully enlightened Jaina teachers, the Jinas (victors) or Tirthankaras (ford-makers). Prominent are also statues of Bahubali, the son of the first Jina, who is seen as the ideal of an outstanding ascetic (fig. 7).

Fig. 6: A proud father with his son, a young Digambara novice, still wearing a loincloth to be discarded during his initiation ceremony (photo: J. Hegewald, 2006).

Fig. 7: Naked statue of Bahubali at Vindhyagiri, South India, shows an ascetic who stood motionless for so long that creepers grew over his body (photo: J. Hegewald, 1996).

By rejecting worldly dependencies, by owning little, and by setting limits also to emotional attachments, people are believed to reach a deeper understanding of the origin and meaning of things and of the nature of being (fig. 8).

Fig. 8: Reducing one’s material belongings and emotional attachments brings spiritual freedom, exemplified by the life of Digambara Jaina monks. (photo: J. Hegewald, 2001).

In addition to the Jainas, this persuasion can also be found in other religious movements in India, even if they do not follow it quite to such an extreme. It is typical of Buddhists and Hindu yogic practitioners, too. Similarly, they reject material and social bonds, and eliminate wasteful possessions and consumption. Through this, the Jainas and other groups express a strong conviction about a need for profounder forms of ethical and environmental behavior and the application of ecological values.

Digambara Jaina Monks in India: Rejecting Dependencies on Clothing

Julia A. B. HegewaldBCDSS Principal Investigator

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Julia A. B. Hegewald
BCDSS Principal Investigator