Parshvanatha "ganadharas", such as in the Digambara text "Avasyaka niryukti". They believe that Svayambhu was the chief male mendicant ("sadhu"). Svetambara texts such as "Samavayanga" and "Kalpa-sutra" mention Pushpakula as the chief female mendicant ("aryika", "sadhvi") among the female followers of Parshvanatha, whereas the "Digambara" text "Tiloyapannati" states she was Suloka or Sulocana. The "Nirgranthas" (fetter-less) monastic tradition started by Parshvanatha was influential in ancient India, with the parents of Mahavira belonging to it as lay householders supporting the ascetics. According to the "Svetambara" Jain tradition, Parshva and the ascetic community he established followed a Fourfold Restraint. In contrast, Mahavira stipulated
Sexual differences in Jainism of the most fundamental distinctions between Śvetāmbara and Digambara Jains is their respective views on women as mendicants, or nuns, that originated over their debates regarding nudity. The general consensus between the two sects is that the Jinas, and especially the last Tīrthaṅkara Mahāvīra, practiced naked asceticism. Digambara Jains claims that it is necessary for all mendicants to conduct their renunciation without clothing. For them, this represents the idealized practice of "aparigraha," in which a mendicant renounces all property and possessions, including clothing. Śvetāmbara Jains, however, claim that nudity as the exemplary mode of asceticism is impossible in this period