ABSTRACT
The Sthånakvås⁄s are the least studied sect of a little-studied religion. As with other Jain sects, the Sthånakvås⁄s split at an early stage into branches (†ol), at the outset as many as twenty-two of which are said to have been founded by Dharmadåsa, and there have been many subsequent subsects based on regional and preceptorial connections whose history is difficult to reconstruct.22 During the nineteenth century, the Sthånakvås⁄s underwent a crisis, partly due to their reputation for lack of learning, with a series of monks apostasising from what could not have been a numerous ascetic community to the ranks of the flvetåmbara image-worshippers. The most significant of these were Bu†erayåj⁄ and his pupil Åtmaråmj⁄ (1837-96) who, in what would appear to have been the reverse of Lon≥kå’s experience, decided after study that the scriptures justified image worship. Åtmaråmj⁄, although continuing to be known generally by this name, attained eminence as the Tapå Gaccha åcårya Vijayånanda S¨ri, one of the most important reinvigorators of the image-worshipping ascetic tradition and a scholar who provided invaluable assistance to many of the early western investigators into Jainism.
