ABSTRACT
Of the nine åcåryas who have succeeded Bhik‚u, the most significant, with the possible exception of Åcårya Tuls⁄ (see below), was the fourth, Jaya (often known by his name as åcårya-designate, J⁄tmalj⁄) who died in 1881. Jaya was the consolidator of the Teråpanth who, among a variety of writings including a remarkable translation of the fifth an≥ga of the scriptures into Rajasthani verse, collected all the various anecdotes which related to Bhik‚u and also introduced sacred days celebrating the bestowal of the maryådå, the death of Bhik‚u and the accession of the åcårya to the pontifical throne, thus giving the Teråpanth a clear sense of both its past and spiritual direction. In order to compensate for the sect’s lack of libraries, Jaya instructed the ascetic community to start copying manuscripts, with a daily levy of verses being raised on a regular basis, This was in effect a form of compulsory religious work for the benefit of the order and entries recording achievements were made in what are, in effect, merit books.46 He was also responsible for important organisational reforms of the ascetic community as it expanded. The office of sådhv⁄pramukhå, the chief nun, subordinate to the åcårya, was introduced in 1853 and the Ter nuns, who by the time of the third åcårya had come to stand to the monks in a ratio of about two to one, were divided into forty-three groups of four or five members which could be reconstituted when the åcårya saw fit. In 1857 a hospice for elderly monks and nuns was instituted.47
