Part 13: Extinction of the congregation

A little while after Suvidhi Svāmin’s nirvāṇa, an extinction of sādhus took place through the fault of the falling wheel of time. The people who did not know dharma, asked the laymen-elders about it, as travelers, confused about the road, ask (other) travelers. To the laymen telling them something about dharma in accordance with their own character, the people made worship with objects suitable for laymen. They became greedy because of the pūjā, and at once made śāstras, and taught that many gifts had much fruit. After they became ācāryas, greedy, they explained daily that a gift of a girl, of land, iron, sesame-seed, cotton, cows, gold, silver, seats, horses, elephants, couches, and other things—every gift was certainly bearing great fruit in this world and next. Wicked-hearted with great desires, they explained that they themselves were suitable recipients of gifts, and everyone else unsuitable. So they, deceitful, became gurus of the people at that time. In a treeless place a platform is made even around a castor-bean plant.^[1]

So the complete extinction of the congregation took place in this zone up to the congregation of śītala Svāmin. At that time a kingdom with one umbrella was made by low Brāhmans, like that of owls at night. In the same way wrong belief existed in the other six intervals between Jinas up to the time of Śānti Jineśa. Because of the destruction of the congregation during these intervals there was unstumbling progress of wrong believers.