The Jainas are divided into two principal divisions, Diganibaras and Swettimbaras. The former word means "sky-clad," or naked, but in the present day, ascetics of this division wear colored garments, and confine the disuse of clothes to the period of their meals. Swetti Mara means " one who wears white garments;" but the points of differ ence between these two divisions are far from being restricted to that of dress; it is said to comprehend a list of 700 topics, cf which 84 are considered to be of paramount importance. Amongst the latter are mentioned the practice of the S'wetilmbaras to decorate the images of their saints with ear-rings, necklaces, armlets, and tiaras of gold and jewels; whereas the Digambaras leave their images without ornaments. Again, the S'wetilmbaras assert that there are 12 heavens and (4 Indras; whereas the Die.;fmlairas maintain that there are 16 heavens and 101) Indras. In the s. of India, the Jninas are divided into two castes; in Upper Hindustan, they are all of one It is remarkable, however, that amongst themselves they recognize a number of families between which no intermarriage can take place, and that they resemble, in tins respect also, the ancient Brahmanic:II Hindus, who established similar restrictions in their religious codes.
As regards the pantheon of the Jaina creed, it is still more fantastical than that of Brainnanical sects, whence it is borrowed to a great extent, but without any of the poetical and philosophical interest which inheres in the gods of the Vedic time. The his•est rank amongst their numberless hosts of divine beings—divided by them into four classes, with various subdivisions—they assign to the deified saints, which they call Jina, Art at, or Tirthakara, besides a variety of other generic names. The Jainas enumerate twenty-four Tirthakaras of their past age, twenty-four of the present, and twenty-four of the age to come; and they invest these holy personages with thirty-six superhuman attributes of the most extravagaut character, Nothwithstanding the sameness of these attribute,s, they distinguish the twenty-four Jinas of the present age from each in color, statue, and longevity. Two of them arc red, two white, two blue, two black;
the rest are of a golden hue, or a yellowish-brown. The other two peculiarities are regulated by them with equal precision, and according to a system of decrement, from .flothabha, the first Jina, who was 500 poles in stature, and lived 8,400,000 great years, down to ..ilaha'Ara, the 24th, who had degenerated to the size of a man, and was no more than 40 years • on earth, the age of his predecessor, Pars'iraraitha, not exceeding 100 years. The present worship is almost restricted to the two last TIrthakaras; and as the stature and years of these personages have a reasonable possibility, IL T. Colebrooko inferred that they alone are to be considered as historical personages. As, moreover, amongst the disciples of MainlyIra there is one Indrahltfiti, Who is called Gautama, and tts Gautama is also a name of the founder of the Buddha faith, the same distinguished scholar concluded that, if the identity between these names could be assumed, it would. lead to the further surmise that both these sects are branches of the same stock. But against this view, which would assign to the Jaina religion an antiquity even higher than 543 before Mist—the (late which is commonly ascribed to the apotheosis of Gautama Buddha—several reasons are alleged by prof. Wilson. As to the real date, however, of the origin of the Jaina faith, as the saute scholar justly observes, it is immersed in the same obscurity which invests all remote history amongst the Hindus. We can only infer from the existing Julius literature, and from the doctrines it inculcates, that it came later into existence than the Buddhist sect. The best essays on tho tenets, mythology, observances, and literature of this sect are those by Colebrooke in his 1'111;seellaneous Assays, and by Wilson in the first volume of his works (London, 1862).