THE CODES OF CONDUCT OF THE

ABSTRACT The article investigates the relationship between canonical rules (dharma) and customary rules (maryādā) in contemporary Jain mendicant life. It focuses on an analysis of the Terāpanth Śvetāmbara Jain mendicant order and presents translations and analyses of the rules and regulations and initiation rituals for a new category of Jain novices, the samaºn order, which was introduced by the Terāpanth in 1981. It is argued that variations and cumulative changes in post-canonical monastic law can be understood in terms of rule specification and secondary canonization and not only in terms of exceptions to the rule. The article contributes both to the anthropology of South Asian asceticism and monasticism and to the exploration of the maryāda ̄ and āvaśyaka literatures of the Jains