ABSTRACT
The performance of the Obligatory Actions has obvious spiritual significance through the internal harmony it brings about and the regular commitment required to devotion and the principle of nonviolence. However, it also marks an important stage in the broader socialisation of Jainism, for apart from its cohesive role for ascetics, it established for the first time a liturgy and ritual which could be used by lay people. The expansion in the early medieval period of the Åva¬yaka literature with its strong emphasis on edifying narrative reflects an increasing textual acceptance by ascetics of the validity of the lay path.49
