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This
is the older and less austere of Jainism, a heterodox, ancient Indian
philosophy propounded by saints known as Tirthankaras. Shveta means white
and ambar clothes. Shvetambara thus means `clothed in white'. While the
older Digambar sect practices nudism, the Shvetambara sect permits the
use of a simple white cloth to cover the body. The differences between
the two sects are more in rituals and practice than in doctrine and theory.
Sthulahadra was a Shvetambara Jain who opposed Bhadrabahu , the noted
Digambar Jain, got the history and canons of Jainism recorded (in Prakrit)
for the first time by calling a council of monks at Pataliputra. The Shvetambaras
have gone on adding to their scriptures and some of them are : Anga, Upanga,
Prakirnaka, Mulasutra, Nandidut Anuyogadvara and Tattvadhigama Sutra.
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