Kashtha Sangha (काष्ठा संघ) was a

Digambar ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvetāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing n ...

Jain

monastic order Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

once dominant in several regions of North and Western

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is considered to be a branch of Mula Sangh itself. It is said to have originated from a town named Kashtha.

Origin

The origin of Kashtha Sangha is often attributed to Lohacharya in several texts and inscriptions from Delhi region. The Kashtasangh Gurvavali identifies Lohacharya as the last person who knew Acharanga in the Digambara tradition, who lived until the 683rd year of the nirvana of Lord

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

. the Darshanasara of Devasena (VS 990) attributes the origin to Kumarasena in Vikram Samvat 753. Acharya Chandrasena initiated Aryanandi. Aryanandi initiated

Virasena Acharya Virasena (792-853 CE), also spelt as Veerasena, was a Digambara monk and belonged to the lineage of Acharya Kundakunda. He was an Indian mathematician and Jain philosopher and scholar. He was also known as a famous orator and an accom ...

and Jayasena. Virasena initiated six disciples who were Dasharayguru, Jinasena, Vinayasena, Shripal, Padmasena and Devasena. Dasharayguru and Jinasena initiated Gunabhadra who later initiated Lokasena. Vinayasena initiated Kumarasena who started the Kashtha Sangha.

Communities

Several of the Jain communities were affiliated with the Kashtha Sangha. The Agrawal Jains were the major supporters of Kashtha Sangha. They are said to have been initiated by Lohacharya in antiquity. Muni Sabha Singh writes in his Padma Purana (VS 1711) काष्ठा संघी माथुर गच्छ, पहुकर गण में निरमल पछ, ,
महा निर्ग्रन्थ आचारज लोह, छांड्या सकल जाति का मोह, ,
अग्रोहे निकट प्रभु ठाढे जोग, करैं वन्दना सब ही लोग, ,
अग्रवाल श्रावक प्रतिबोध, त्रेपन क्रिया बताई सोध, , Kashta Sangha included several orders: * Nanditat gachchha: associated with

Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the List of cities in Maharashtra, tenth largest city in the state and the List of cities in India by population, seventy-ninth most populated city in India. It is the second largest city in ...

. It is also called Ramasenanvaya, after Acharya Ramasena, the founder of the Narsingpura community. * Mathura Sangha: The Agrawals were associated with this order. It was founded by Ramasena according to Darshanasar. The oldest known inscription is of 1170 AD. * Bagada gachha: associated with

Vagad Vagad (also known as Vagar) is a region in southeastern Rajasthan state of western India. Its boundaries are roughly defined by those of the districts of Dungarpur and Banswara. Major cities of the region are Dungarpur and Banswara. Geogra ...

region of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

* Lata-bagada gachha: associated with

and

Lata Latha (Hindi: लता, Kannada: ಲತಾ) is a Hindu Indian female given name, which means "creeper" and "Durga". Latha may refer to: Notable people named Lata *Lata Mangeshkar (1929–2022), Indian singer. *Lata Bhatt (born 1954), Indian sin ...

region of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. The 1145 AD inscription of Dubkunda mentions this order. The acharyas of this order formerly used to reside in the Punnata region of Karnataka. Jinasena, the author Harivansh Purana in shaka 705 belonged to this order. Kashta Sangha eventually merged into Mula Sangh. The celebrated poet and pratishthacharya Raighu was a disciple of the Kashtha Sangh Bhattarakas of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

. The rock carved Jain statues in the Gwalior Fort were mostly consecrated by the Kashtha Sangh Bhattarakas, as stated in the inscriptions dated between 1441 and 1474.“E De Clercq, Bhattarakas and Digambara monastic lineages of fifteenth century Gwalior : glimpses of Raïdhu's writings”, Journal of Asian History 45 (1-2), 2011, pp. 63-83

References

Citations

Sources

* * Jain Dharma, Kailash Chandra Siddhanta Shastri, 1985.
Bhattarak Sampradaya, Introduction to Jain History
by Dr. K. C. Jain {{Jainism topics Digambara sects