Jain Journal 1972 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/520025/1

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// jaina bhavana // Jan 1972 a quarterly on jainology JAIN BHAWAN PUBLICATION n

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An Anthropological Study of the Religion of the Jainas - 89 Noel Rettig Srenika-Bimbisara 96 (In the light of Jaina Agamas and Buddhist Tripitakas) Muni Nagraj Verses 103 Cidananda Social Life in Gujarat and Rajasthan in the Nineteenth Century 106 (As revealed in a Scroll of Invitation) Surendra Gopal Revival Revival of Sramana Dharma in the Later Vedic Age 109 Jyoti Prasad Jain Paumacariu 114 Svayambhudeva A Note on the Nirgranthas mentioned in the Delhi-Topra Pillar 119 Edict VII of Asoka P. C. Das Gupta An Unpublished Image of Adinatha in Bharat Kala Bhavan 122 Marutinandan Prasad Tiwari Jainism 124 Srichand Rampuria Jainism (Review) 130 Books of Jainology 134 Plates: Illustrations from a Vijnaptipatra 89, 108

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An Anthropological Study of the Religion of the Jainas NOEL RETTIG [ The purpose of this study by Noel Rettig who considers himself a Jain is to present the aspects of the primitive religion of Jainism which are of most interest to a student of the anthropological sciences. The article has its own limitations, coming as it does from the pen of one who is not born and brought up in the faith. But still it is of interest, since in it one may find a sincere effort on the part of a foreigner to understand what may be called the oldest, yet most organised form of religion of the world. The literary sources from which he has drawn are indicated at the end. He has, however, tried to improve on the literary source by checking with some Jains at this moment residing in the United States.--Editor. ] Introduction T. . . Jainism may very well be, contrary to the opinions of many anthropologists and students of comparative religion, the oldest living faith. The consensus today is that Hinduism is by far the most ancient but this does not lead far, since "Hinduism" is really a non-entity. The word "Hindu" refers first and foremost to the people of India who are a mixture of the Aryan and Dravidian races. If a scholar, therefore, wishes to sum up under one title the religion of the many native sects of India, it is more correct to use the term Brahmanism, or perhaps Vedism. But these terms do not include one native ancient faith of India, namely Jainism, which is a most unique and distinct religion.

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JAIN JOURNAL The anthropological error of confusing Jainism with "Hinduism" undoubtedly came about because of the fact that Jainism, due to its small number of adherents and due to its long conformity to the externals of Brahmanism, is by and large indistinguishable from that religion to the eye of the superficial scholar. In reality Jainism represents a tradition divergent from the mainstream of Vedic thought. Only in Jainism, of all the living religions, do we see a fusion of the primitive with the profound. It has preserved elements from that first stage of man's religious awareness, animism. It affirms the separateness of spirit from matter, even though our modern philosophers and religionists regard any form of dualism as untenable. Despite the opinions of these men, Jainism is fundamentally scientific. The Jainas claim a great antiquity for their faith. It began, they say, with the Lord Rsabha, the first teacher of the path to liberation, several thousand years ago. This claim is borne out by both the Yajur Veda and the Rg Veda scriptures of Brahmanism. It is upheld by Drs. Zimmer and Jacobi and by many Eastern historians. More hesitant scholars, however, are only willing to acknowledge the historicity of the last two saviours of the Jainist twenty-four, since there is abundant evidence for their having existed in the Buddhist scriptures. The influence of Jainism is great indeed. In India it led great numbers of adherents to the Code of Manu away from the cult of human and animal sacrifice. Today we observe its influence in the reverencefor-life (ahimsa) doctrine of Brahmanism, a doctrine which originated with the Jainas. Jainism is also largely responsible, though indirectly, for the birth of Buddhism, a faith which in many respects may be regarded to have been influenced by Jainism. Buddha himself practised the Jaina disciplines before he set out on his own. With regard to the Semitic faiths, we may speculate about the influence Jainism may have had on Sufi Islam or on Essene Judaism. A greater degree of certainty is justified, however, when we examine three early Christian heretical sects: Ebionism, Marcionism, and Manicheanism. These three sects were noted for their strict asceticism and vegetarianism. Marcionism and Manicheanism were especially close to Jainism due to their strong emphasis on the complete separateness of spirit from matter. The orthodox Christians had much trouble with the latter sect, for despite persecutions, it would not die. In the thirteenth century, it was reborn in a form that resembled Jainism more than any religion of the past or present. The sect's name in Medieval times was

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JANUARY, 1972 Catharism, but scholars usually refer to it as Albigensianism due to the activity of the sect in Albi, France. A complete book could be written on the similarities between Jainism and Catharism, but glimpses of them could be available to an interested reader in F. W. Bussell's Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages. 91 On the subject of the influence of Jainism on Greek philosophy, the reader is referred to a fine book by Dr. Farrand Sayre entitled, The Greek Cynics. Dr. Sayre's primary concern in this book is to deal with the influence of Jainism on the Cynic school of philosophy, but he also very competently discusses the influence of the Jainas on the Pythagoran school and on Alexander the Great, who took note of them during his raids across the Indus (327-326 B.C.). Alexander called the Jaina monks "Gymnosophists", a term meaning "naked philosophers" which every student of Greek history has come across. The Jaina Creed in Brief "Ahimsa paramo dharma." (Non-injury is the paramount religion). In this statement is contained the essence of Jainism. It is the foundation upon which the whole metaphysical and philosophical structure is built. It means that the Jaina must have an all embracing love, extending even to the smallest insect. The reason for this lies in the belief that all living beings have a spark of divinity within them which is capable of shining in pristine purity once it is liberated from the bondage of matter. Regardless of the form the soul or divine spark may take, whether it be the body of an insect, animal, human, or even plant or lump of earth, it always has the potentiality of purging itself of matter or "karman", to use the Jaina terminology. The way a being returns to purity is by first attaining rebirth as a human being; this is the first of the "four difficulties" confronting a soul. The second is the difficulty of coming across the true religious path. The third is the difficulty of having faith in it. Having faith in it, it is difficult to practise; that is the fourth difficulty. The practice involves a rigorous asceticism which is performed in full only by the monk. This holy man must conform to several rules, among them being nudity and the endurance of whatever hardships nature may inflict, e.g., biting insects, weather extremes or whatever. At the end of his spiritual journey, his soul, now pure, rises to the summit of the universe, there to enjoy everlasting bliss. Jaina philosophy vigorously affirms the reality of this world of matter, in contrast to the Solipsistic and Idealistic systems of the Far

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92 East. In the Jaina viewpoint, there can be no liberation from the manifold sufferings of the world unless we first recognize their reality. Jainism enumerates various aspects of the universe. These are: matter, space, time, souls, fulcrum of motion, and fulcrum of rest. Through these "aspects" (sometimes wrongly translated as "substances"), the events in the universe take place. Space is the great receptacle of all else. Time is real and without beginning or end. Matter is made up of atoms which alone constitute a unit. Souls are infinite and are separate units which always have their individuality. The last two aspects, the fulcrums, hopefully speak for themselves; the idea cannot really be translated into English philosophical terms. In their view of the universe, the Jainas find no need for belief in a creator god. However, they do worship the omniscient teachers (Tirthankaras) who have become divine by self purification. JAIN JOURNAL One of the most important points of Jaina philosophy is the doctrine of the relativity of viewpoints (syadvada). It teaches that things must be looked at from every angle before one can make a valid perception. This doctrine does not destroy the axioms upon which the faith rests; rather, it serves to reconcile disputants for the sake of ahimsa. To illustrate the Buddha or Heraclitus stressed the element of change and flux in the universe. The Jaina, however, being guided by his syadvada doctrine, is able to see that, on the one hand, there is the transitoriness of accidents or form, but on the other, there is the eternality of substance in the universe. The Jaina strives to see truth in its totality. The Jainas and the Dravidian Race Jaina religion represents a pre-Aryan (i.e., pre-Brahmanic) system of thought. The editor of Philosophies of India by Dr. Heinrich Zimmer states: "Dr. Zimmer believed that there is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes back to a remote antiquity, the antiquity in question being that of the pre-Aryan, so-called Dravidian period..." (p. 60) It was also Dr. Zimmer's contention that Jainism is the oldest of all Dravidian-born philosophies and religions. If this be so, it would indicate that ahimsa or reverence for life, is a more primitive practice than human and animal sacrifice. Later, Dravidian peoples, notably the Khonds, spoken of by Frazer in The Golden Bough, held to the latter practice.

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JANUARY, 1972 93 When the Aryans conquered India they brought with them their polytheistic religion and its scriptures, the Vedas. Rather than convert the native Dravidians, they isolated them and would not permit one word of the Vedas to reach their ears. The Dravidians couldn't have cared less. Many of them preserved the Jaina faith, elements of which ultimately became fused with Vedism. It is possible that the Upanisads, and later the Bhagavad-Gita, were the results of this fusion. It is worth mentioning here that Krsna, Lord of the BhagavadGita, was of Dravidian stock. The name "Krsna" means "the black", and the Dravidians were a black people. Despite this fact, . Krsna became one of the most important gods in the Aryan's Brahmanism. Krsna is also an honoured personage in Jainism, due to his faithful observance of the Jaina morality, and also due, perhaps, to the fact that he was the cousin of Aristanemi, one of the twenty-four saviours of Jainism sm Jainism and Animism Animism is the belief that everything in the universe is motivated by the power of the soul. It is the first form of man's religious awareness. This fact does not make the belief invalid, however. Modern science tells us of the tremendous activity within one atom ; could not soul (jiva) be the motivating force of this activity ? What difference does it make if one calls the energy within the atom a force, as science does, or a soul (jiva) as Jainism does ? : The Jaina religion sees the universe as inhabited by an infinite number of distinct souls. These souls may incarnate in any form, possibly as an insect, plant or animal body, or even a fire body, earth body, air body, or stone body. It seems that the Jaina assumption is that where there is a force, there is a life. Who is to say whether or not the atoms or Leibnizian monads possess life? It all depends on one's definition of life. Even modern science cannot supply us with an adequate definition of "life", as is shown by the fact that modern science cannot create life ; such creation would imply clear-cut definition as a prerequisite. The soul (jiva) is to Jainism a "something behind", which is best described as a life force. The Jaina never makes the mistake of confusing the senses and the temporal self with the essence of a being, as do many Western religionists. A being's soul may incarnate into a body which has only one sense, or into a body which has several senses. The

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94 lowest form of life, for instance the earth or stone body etc., has only one sense, that of feeling. The highest form of life, the human body, has several senses, mind being the most important "sense". Jainism is an animistic faith par excellence. No other primitive religion has had animism as such as an integral part of itself. In this connection it is worth quoting Dr. J. F. Kohl as quoted by Dr. Kamta Prasad Jain in the Religion of Tirthankaras : "The Jaina religion is based on pre-Aryan ideas and one of these is animism. It is the source of respect to all living beings; we can learn that ahimsa is not only the greatest conception, but also one of the most ancient in the world." (p. 19) Jainism and the Caste System Nothing could be more foreign to the spirit of Jainism than the caste system. In a religion in which each man is "the master of his fate and the captain of his soul" the most exalted man is he who is not passion's slave...he who has attained the Jaina ideal of complete noninjury towards all. JAIN JOURNAL The caste idea was imported into India when the Aryans conquered the country in approximately 1500 B.C. It became a system when it was applied to the subjected Dravidians. The highest and only purely Aryan caste was that of the Brahmans. The caste below that was that of the Ksatriyas or warriors; this was originally an Aryan caste also. However, the princely houses of the native Dravidians remained in existence and constituted a threat to the Aryan warriors. 66 in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. when the strength of the Aryan Ksatriyas was greatly diminished as a result of incessant internecine warfare, and their power over Northern India broken, there came the dark age during which men of various extractions came into power-both the scions of some of the surviving pre-Aryan regal families, and soldiers of fortune of inferior birth. We know, for example that Candragupta was an adherent of a non-Vedic creed (that of the Jainas) (Zimmer, p. 105) "" ... Had not the Dravidian warriors seized power at the right moment, all Dravidians might have been consigned for ever to the sudra (lowest) caste. This would have meant that Jainism would have declined and that Buddhism would probably never have arisen.

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JANUARY, 1972 Recommended Bibliography Bussell, F. W., Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages, London Robert Scott, 1918. 95 Frazer, James, The New Golden Bough, ed. Theodor H. Gaster, New York: Criterion Books, Inc., 1959. Jain, Dr. Kamta Prasad, The Religion of Tirthankaras, Aliganj, U.P., India: The World Jain Mission, 1964. Jacobi, Dr. Hermann, Jaina Sutras in two volumes, ed. F. Max Muller, "The Sacred Books of the East" series, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1968 (a recent republication in paperback). Sayre, Dr. Farrand, The Greek Cynics, Baltimore, Maryland : J. H. Furst Company, 1948. Zimmer, Dr. Heinrich, Philosophies of India, ed. Joseph Campell, New York: Meridian Books, Inc., 1951.

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BOOK REVIEW JAINISM by Natalia R. Guseva: translated from the Russian by Y. S. Redka: Sindhu Publications Private Ltd., Bombay, 1971: Pages xii+108 Price Rs. 13.00. Indology as a broad field is by now about 200 years old, and many scholars, both western and Indian, have enriched it by their investigations and masterly writings so much so that it has now a distinguished place in the world of ancient learning. Within the fold of Indology, Jainology is, however, a comparatively recent, though an increasingly recognised, field which is already attracting and will continue to attract, many young scholars. Earliest to be attracted to this field from the western world were the British, more particularly the German, scholars. Now the Americans are taking a deep interest in it. It is gratifying that the Institute of Ethnography of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, which has sponsored this little work under review, is forging a link with India's rich past. Madam Guseva, the authoress, a winner of the Jawaharlal Nehru prize for popularising India to the people of the Soviet Union, has already a reputation for having produced a Russian Stage version of the great Indian epic, the Ramayana. She has now turned to Jainism of which the ethnic and historical roots have apparently interested her. As a researcher, she doesn't have a closed mind, nor does she strive to propound, establish or support any thesis, dogma or faith; rather, she intends to, to use her own words, "generalise as objectively as possible the evidence of records, monuments, folklore, etc." with "the sole aim of unravelling the historical process as it was". The study is "essentially intended to acquaint the Soviet readers with the complex ethnocultural background of India", and it is in that spirit alone that one should wend through the pages of Madam Guseva's work, not so much as to get a comprehensive view of Jainism, which is not possible in such a narrow compass, but to be just introduced to it. In an unsigned introduction, which may be from N. N. MikhlukhoMaklaya, of the Institute of Ethnography, there are a couple of points worthy of note, and one important point deserving of refutation. The reviewer shares the lamentation by the writer of the introduction that Jainism as a religion has "received comparatively little attention from a majority of historians and specialists on Indian culture, even though

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JANUARY, 1972 it preserves within itself exceedingly interesting testimony of ethnographical and socio-historical processes". During the past quarter century or so, almost all important works in Jaina Canons have been edited and put into print in the Indian languages. But there is as yet no parallel effort to hold these up to the world at large through an understandable international medium, like English, which may be a responsibility of the coming generations of scholars. Another point worthy of note is that being a dominant business community all over this vast country, "the Jainas belong in their main mass to the middle and great burgeoise". This is both a point of strength and weakness, strength so far as the internal structure of the community is concerned, which is at the forefront of the country's economic life, and weakness in the face of the country's growing socialistic trends. But the community is in possession of an unusual adjustability, and hence, despite its bourgeoise structure, is not likely to disintegrate. The point of refutation is the very assumption on which the study stands, which is presented in the following words in the introduction : 131 "The expansion of Aryans could not but call forth resistance of pre-Aryan peoples. In our opinion, this resistance to a significant degree expressed itself in new faiths, arising on the borders of 'Vedic' world such as Jainism, Buddhism, Bhagavatism, etc." The fault is not entirely of the writer, but of the whole gamut of Indian history in which Jainism of the time of the 24th Tirthankara, Mahavira, has been mixed up with several hundred heretical view-points in vogue in the sixth century B.C. in the region which is the present state of Bihar. And yet it should not be difficult, provided we have a will to understand, to establish that Jainism is not only an independent current but a parallel current with Vedicism and there is nothing to prove that one is born in antagonism to the other. The Vedas, the earliest literature of the Aryans, have references to Adinatha Rsabha who was the first Tirthankara of the Jainas. Therefore, he could not have been posterior to the Vedas nor the leader of the protest. Madam Guseva herself writes about the dialogue between Krsna and Ghora Angirasa in the Chandogya Upanisad, and the later has been identified by scholars as the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas, Aristanemi, Krsna's own cousin, who must have been a powerful influence in moulding Krsna's own synthesis, and Krsna, whatever his ethnic origin, is the very Godhead to the Hindus all over India. Even a careful perusal of Jaina tenets would leave no doubt that there is nothing heretical about them. If there be anything that should impress a scientific investigator in the field of ethnography, metaphysics and philosophy, it is its inherent richness as an independent system.

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132 Madam Guseva's work starts with a chapter on Indian ethnography which is as complex as the country's social history, but there is nothing much about it that may be called Jaina. This discussion would perhaps have gained a little more in scientific content, but for its too much reliance on a purely political work by Comrade S. A. Dange. Ancient India had no slavery, not even a semblance of it, and no where in the vast Indian literature does one come across a line as one has in Plato as well as Aristotle that slavery as an institution was 'natural' to society; nor had ancient India communism, as it did not exist in any other country then and as a concept, it arose only in the 19th century. What happened in India is,-assuming this with those who believe in the Aryan infiltration from outside, though, it must not be lost sight of, there is no less dominant a view that the Aryans were indigenous to the soil, that with the movement of the Aryans from the Indus Valley and may be at the time of coming to this valley as well-they encountered local peoples everywhere with whom there was an assimilation. The process might have worked over centuries and millennia, no one can be dogmatic about it, but at the dawn of history, not only assimilation but also social stratification was complete, and there was no more ferment left anywhere. One may clearly understand that Madam Guseva's interest is to hit upon an arrangement, if possible, in which she could discover elements of class antagonism and class war. It is true that the Aryans assimilated peoples of other ethnic groups in the category of their working population, the sudras; it is further true that the Aryan society itself divided from within into classes, the brahmanas, the ksatriyas, and the vaisyas or the wise, the warring and the wealthy; but at no time was there class antagonism or class war among them in the sense in which these expressions have been used by Marx. Not even the eternal feud between the brahmanas and the ksatriyas can be given a 'class' explanation. JAIN JOURNAL The historical root of Jainism is thus lost in antiquity and the existing evidence, literary or otherwise, is not enough to take us to that period in which Jainism might have been born. While there is dispute regarding Vedicism as to whether it was created by an indigenous population or by a migrating population, Jainism is a product of the Indian soil. Some Jaina scholars have gone to the length of claiming that the Indus Valley Civilisation was an earlier form of Jaina civilisation. As to ethnical roots, the Jainas at least claim that they are of the Aryan stock and are not non-Aryans who have been identified as a distinct class who later came with the Aryan fold as the sudras. But the whole thing is a disputed territory and must be left to the scholars to resolve, before anything final or conclusive said in the matter.

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JANUARY, 1972 133 Madam Guseva's would have been a more useful study if she had concentrated exclusively in giving a simple exposition of Jainism to her own people. To do so it is neither necessary to place it in the group of heretical religions nor to present it as something anti-Vedic, anti-Aryan. In India, the emphasis of all religions including Jainism is on personal liberation. Every Indian religion views on life as a bondage. Religion is only a key to liberation from bondage, from life to self. And in this Jainism is unique in the sense that it believes not in a Godhead superior to, or placed above, the individual soul. The soul is itself pure, perfect and enlightened, a virtual God ; but as it is, it is contaminated, rendered impure, imperfect, ignorant. In the Jaina view, it is so because it is in the clutches of karma. Jainism prescribes an elaborate code of conduct by which the soul, by dint of its own effort, may not only get rid of existing karma fetters but also may stop its influx, so that, in the end, it is perfected, liberated and enlightened. This state is to be acquired by individualistic effort and it never comes as a gift, grace or charity. Perhaps Jainism is exclusive among all world religions in the God-less Soul-god approach, and may be viewed as the only scientific religion in the world. The Jainas again view on the ksatriyas as the only upholders of truth and knowledge, not the brahmanas, who are a degraded people by dint of their profession. But this is no class antagonism, as viewed by Marx. It is simply a fact which is corroborated in Jainism by the Tirthankaras or the organisers of the orders who are all, without exception, ksatriya princes. May be while giving a second look to her work, Madam Guseva may like to make necessary changes in her thoughts, or at least restrict her work to giving a simple exposition of Jainism rather than viewing on it as something antagonistic to something else. A chapterwise review of the book is avoided, since what has been said above about the book as a whole applies equally to almost all her chapters. --K.C.L.

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Books on Jainology AMRTACANDRA, Purusarthasiddhyupayah (The Sacred Books of the Jainas Vol. IV), ed by Ajit Prasad, The Central Jaina Publishing House, Lucknow, 1933. Pages 49+85+4+4+2. Text with English translation, commentary, introduction and index. DHANAPALA, Paia-lacchinamamala (Pujyasri Kashiram Jain Granthamala 1), ed by Bechardas Doshi, Sadilal Jain, Bombay, 1960. Pages 6+3+38+38+12. Price Rs. 10.00. Prakrit Dictionary with Hindi and English equivalents. GUNABHADRA, Atmanusasana (The Sacred Books of the Jainas Vol. VII), ed by J. L. Jaini, The Central Jaina Publishing House, Lucknow, 1928. Pages 75. Text with English translation and commentary. HARIBHADRA, Yogadrstisamuccaya and Yogavimsika (Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Series No. 27), ed by K. K. Dixit, Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Bharatiya Sanskriti Vidyamandir, Ahmedabad, 1970. Pages 8+ 130. Pages Rs. 8.00. Text with English translation, notes and introduction. HARIBHADRA, Yogasataka with auto-commentary and Brahmasiddhantasamuccaya (Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Series No. 4), ed by Munisri Punyavijay, Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Bharatiya Sanskriti Vidyamandir, Ahmedabad, 1965. Pages 6+30+106. Price Rs. 5.00. Text with English translation of Yogasataka by K. K. Dixit and introduction by Indukala Jhaveri.

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JANUARY, 1972 135 HEMACANDRA, Nighantusesa with Vacanacarya Srivallabhagani's Commentary (Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Series No. 18), ed by Munisri Punyavijaya, Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Bharatiya Sanskriti Vidya-Mandir, Ahmedabad, 1968. Pages 30+376. Price Rs. 30.00. Text with appendices. Deals with vegetable world. Introduction by Bapalal Vaidya. MANIKYANANDI, Pariksamukham with Prameya-Ratnamala by Anantavirya (The Sacred Books of the Jainas Vol. XI), ed by S. C. Ghosal, The Central Jaina Publishing House, Lucknow, 1940. Pages lii+206+10+x+74+4. Text with English translation, introduction, notes and commentary. SIVADITYA, Saptapadarthi with a commentary by Jinavardhana Suri (Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Series No. 1), ed by J. S. Jetly, Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Bharatiya Sanskriti Vidyamandir, Ahmedabad, 1963. Pages 15+8+98. Price Rs. 4.00. Text with introduction. A commentary on a Vaisesika text by a Jaina Acarya. TRIVEDI, K. H., The Natyadarpana of Ramacandra and Gunacandra -A Critical Study (Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Series No. 9), L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, 1966. Pages viii+339. Price Rs. 30.00. Gives a detailed outline of all the topics dealt with in the Natyadarpana, compares the various views with those found in other works and determines the place of the Natyadarpana in the field of Sanskrit dramaturgy. With appendices and select bibliography.

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SRENIKA-BIMBISARA -In the light of the Jaina Agamas and Buddhist Tripitakas (Continued from the previous issue) MUNI NAGRAJ Once king Srenika was sitting near Lord Mahavira in the samavasarana (preaching-hall). At that time a leper, with his body rotten, came there, bowed, and sat down near the king. Just then Lord Mahavira sneezed and the leper said, "Die". When Srenika sneezed, the leper said, "Live". Abhayakumara also sneezed. The leper said, "live or die". The great butcher Kalasaurika sneezed and the leper said, "Do not live nor die". The king, being angry asked his soldiers to seize the man. But before the soldiers could lay their hands on him, he flew up in the air and became invisible. Being confounded, the king asked Lord Mahavira about the whole episode. Mahavira replied, "The leper was none other than a god in disguise and whatever he uttered was highly significant. He asked me to 'die', for I have already attained liberation. He told you to 'live' because after death you will be born in hell. He said to Abhayakumara 'Live or die', because he practises dharma in this life and will take birth as a god in the Anuttaravimana, the highest of heavens, after death. When he said to the butcher Kalasaurika 'do not live nor die', the significance was that the butcher was devoted to evil deeds while living and would go to the seventh hell after death."

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JANUARY, 1972 King Srenika after hearing from Mahayira that he himself would have to go to hell in the next life, was depressed. He bowed to Mahavira and asked, "How I, who am sheltered by no less a person than you, Lord Mahavira, shall have an existence in hell ?" Mahavira said to the king, "Yes, it has to be. On account of your deep interest in hunting in the past you have acquired karma leading to birth in hell. And for following my path you will be born again as a human being, and just as I am the last Tirthankara of the present phase of the time-cycle, so you will become the first Tirthankara named Padmanabha, 20 in the next phase. Hearing the great prophecy, king Srenika became somewhat consoled. Srenika then asked the Lord, "Is there any means by which I can escape hell ?" Mahavira replied, "If you make the Brahmani Kapila give alms cheerfully and with devotion to sadhus or if you make the butcher Kalasaurika give up slaughtering even for a day, then you would be saved from rebirth in hell, not otherwise, O King !" King Srenika called Kapila as well as Kalasaurika, but both of them refused to oblige him. When Kapila was forced to give alms, she said, "I am not giving alms; it is the king who is giving alms." For preventing the butcher from killing the animals, the king ordered him to be thrown in a dry well, and kept a prisoner for a day and night, but the butcher made five hundred buffaloes out of clay and killed them. 21 In fact, both the means suggested by Mahavira were impossible for Srenika. Mahavira had only suggested them to enlighten Srenika. Jaina literature is full of accounts of the dialogues between Mahavira and king Srenika. One of these discusses the royal-monk Prasannacandra. Prasannacandra was the king of Potanapura. When Mahavira went to Potanapura, being enlightened by his sermons, he joined the monks' order. With Mahavira once he came to Rajagrha, and stood meditating just outside the samavasarana. At that time, king Srenika 20 The detailed description of Padmanabha Tirthankara is given in Thananga Sutra, 9/3/693. 21 Trisastisalakapurusacaritram, book 10, canto 9, v. 59-138.

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98 accompanied by his full retinue passed by his side on his way to Mahavira. Seeing the royal monk Prasannacandra one of his generals, named Durmukha, said to his colleague, "This monk is a fool. He has yoked his son, who is still a minor to bear the burden of the kingdom and has himself renounced the world. His ministers have now conspired with the enemy-king to deprive the minor of his kingdom." JAIN JOURNAL When Prasannacandra, heard these words, his mind was full of anger and hatred towards the ministers and the enemies. Standing even in meditation-posture Prasannacandra reflected that if he were there, he would have punished them. With such reflections Prasannacandra began to fight in his mind. Meanwhile, king Srenika, reached Lord Mahavira's samavasarana and after bowing to the Lord, asked him, "If the royal sage, Prasannacandra would die just now while he is engaged in meditation, where would he take his birth ?" Mahavira replied, "He will go to the seventh hell." King Srenika was stunned by the answer. To verify whether he had heard the Lord properly, he again asked the same question after a while. Mahavira replied this time, "If Prasannacandra dies just now, he will attain the highest heaven called Sarvarthasiddha." King Srenika was yet more confounded. Then resolving Srenika's confusion the Lord said, "Don't be confused. It is the mental attitude which really counts. When you asked me the first question, Prasannacandra's mind was engaged in the fight against his ministers and enemies. Due to high intensity of anger, he would have certainly gone to the seventh hell, if he would have died at that time. But, at the time of your second question, state of his mind had totally changed. He had recovered himself from the sinful thinking and again established himself in spiritual meditation." No sooner had the Lord completed his sentence than the god's began to beat the drums proclaiming Prasannacandra's attainment of omniscience.22 According to the Caupannamahapurusacariyam, Indra once praised Srenika saying, "There is none equal to Srenika in religious devotion and faith." One of the gods decided to test the veracity of the statement and at the end of his test when he found that Srenika was indeed a staunch devotee of the Nirgrantha religion, he felt happy. Pleased with his devotion, the god gave Srenika a gift of necklace of eighteen lines which 22 Trisastisalakapurusacaritram, book 10, canto 9, vv. 21-50.

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JANUARY, 1972 later became the bone of contention leading to two wars, viz., 'Rathamusala' and 'Mahasila Kantaka'. According to the Digambara tradition, Mahavira delivered his first sermon on Mt. Vipulacala near Rajagrha on the first day of the dark fortnight of Sravana. Srenika, king of Magadha, was present with his family and full retinue, in the congregation.23 99 Follower of Mahavira or the Buddha ? When we consider the above evidences provided by the Jainas, undoubtedly Srenika emerges as a staunch follower of Mahavira. On the other hand, if evidences given by both the Jainas and the Buddhists are considered simultaneously and impartially, neither of them outweighs the other. Although it is difficult to adjudge any particular side to be stronger in proving Srenika as its follower, it can undoubtedly be said that a chronological examination of the above evidences provided by both the sides would prove that many of these are of later origin. Take for instance the "Kutadanta Sutta". The whole legend (contained therein) is obviously invented ad hoc. Its details are not meant to be taken seriously as historical facts. The Brahman Kutadanta (pointed tooth) is mentioned nowhere else, and is very likely meant to be rather the hero of a tale than a historical character."24 Edward J. Thomas, the author of The Life of the Buddha, commenting on the episode of Bimbisara's first meeting with the Buddha, observes: "Here we have an earlier account which like the earliest Pali knows nothing of the Bimbisara story." 25 He further remarks: "Another indication that the Bimbisara story is an addition is that in the canonical account Gotama does not reach the Magadha country until after leaving both his teachers."26 Concluding his comments on the chief events of the six years of austerities, Thomas writes : "Between the canonical account and the story usually told there is a gap of several centuries. Even the canonical story is not contemporary tradition, and the first question to ask is not whether the additional stories are historical, but whether they are as old as canonical account. In some cases they contradict it; others contradict one another, and have the appearance of commentators' inventions which have developed differently in 23 Bharatiya Itihas: Ek Drsti, p. 65. 24 Dialogues of the Buddha. part I, p. 163. 25 Life of the Buddha, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., London, 1949, p. 68. 26 Ibid., p. 68 foot-note 2.

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100 different schools. This is seen not only in the various elaborations of Buddha's contest with Mara, but in different accounts of his meditation under the rose-apple tree, his journey to Rajagrha or Vaisali, and his first words. The meeting with Bimbisara is not only told variously, but is inserted in the narrative at different places."27 JAIN JOURNAL Jaina sources would also make some appear to be legendary. But coming next to comparative study of chronology in the Agamas and the Tripitakas, it will be found that Mahavira was born in 599 B.C., renounced the world in 569 B.C.; achieved omniscience in 557 B.C. and attained the nirvana in 527 B.C.; while Buddha was born in 582 B.C., renounced the world in 554 B.C.; achieved enlightenment in 547 B.C. and attained the nirvana in 502 B.C. Also the dates of accession and death of Bimbisara are found to be 582 B.C. and 544 B.C. respectively.28 It, therefore, follows that the period of contemporaneity of Bimbisara with Mahavira is thirteen years, while that of Bimbisara with enlightened Buddha is just three years; and during these three years too Mahavira was living. Mahavira sojourned at Rajagrha during his first monsoon after omniscience. At the commencement of this sojourn,29 Srenika accepted samyaktva religion, and freely permitted his princesses and queens to be initiated in the monastic order and participated in the celebration of these occasions. Initiation ceremony of Meghakumara and Nandisena also took place in this very first year.30 Srenika's extreme devotion towards Mahavira might well be the reason why the latter spent numerous rainy seasons at Rajagrha. Srenika was devout by nature. It cannot, therefore, be conceived that inspite of repeated sojourns of Mahavira in Rajagrha, even prior to Buddha's enlightenment Srenika would not have become his follower. At the same time it is hardly probable that he would be proselytised during the last three years of his life, when Mahavira himself was alive and specially when many of his queens and princesses had already been initiated by him. Prof. Dalshukhbhai Malavania contends that Srenika was converted to Buddhism later on, because Mahavira predicted his next life in hell.31 We cannot, however, agree with his view because if such was the case, since it was Mahavira again who 27 The life of the Buddha, pp. 79-80. 28 For detailed account of the chronological facts, see the author's The Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and the Buddha, Delhi. 1970. Tirthankar Mahavir, part II, p. 11. 29 30 Ibid., pp. 11-16. 1 Sthananga-Samavayanga (Gujarati translation), p. 41.

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JANUARY, 1972 101 simultaneously prophesied his becoming a Tirthankara like himself, immediately on his release from hell. It has been mentioned in the Buddhist work Mahavamsa, 32 that the Buddha was five years older than Bimbisara. Bimbisara ascended the throne at the age of fifteen and reigned for fifty-two years. The Buddha attained the enlightenment at the age of thirty-five and Bimbisara sought refuge in the Buddha and his religion in the 16th year of his reign and the 31st year of his life. Thus he lived for 37 years in the presence of enlightened Buddha, while the Buddha attained the nirvana eight years after Ajatasatru's accession to throne. But this information furnished by Mahavamsa is not consistent with the facts described in the Tripitakas. 33 One more evidence of Srenika's staunchness in the Nirgrantha religion is that the number of initiations of his queens and princesses in the Buddhist order is quite negligible compared to that in the Jaina order. * We also find evidence of Srenika being a Jaina hereditarily. His father is said to have faith (samyaktva) in the religion of Parsva and accepted the lay-disciple's Vows (anuvratas).34 According to 32 Ch. II, vv. 26-32. 33 For the detailed discussion of the discrepancies in the Chronology of Mahavamsa, see, author's Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and the Buddha, pp. 108-15. For example, take the belief that the Buddha attained the nirvana in the eighth year of Ajatasatru's reign. But the events of the life of the Buddha, as described in the Tripitakas, clearly imply that Ajatasatru's accession had already taken place during the first twenty years of the Buddha's life after his enlightenment. It means that the Buddha must have lived at least for another twenty-five years after the accession of Ajatasatru. For according to the Samannyaphala Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, Ajatasatru (king of Magadha) only once called on the Buddha (Cf. Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 88) during a "rainy season" passed in Rajagrha. However, the Atthakatha of the Anguttara Nikaya tells us that the Buddha passed only the second, third, fourth, seventeenth and twentieth "rainy seasons", after the enlightenment, at Rajagrha. Of the forty-six "rainy seasons", the remaining twenty-five were spent at Sravasti and the last at Vaisali. Then, how is it possible that Ajatasatru's accession took place only seven or eight years before the Buddha's nirvana and that he met the Buddha only seven or eight years before his nirvana. srimatparsvajinadhisa - sasanamhojasat padah samyagdarsana - punyatma, so(a)nuvratadharobhavat -Trisastisalakapurusacaritram, book 10, canto 6, v. 8.

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102 JAIN JOURNAL Dr. Kashi Prasad Jaysawal, the ancestors of Srenika had migrated to Magadha from Kasi.35 It is also believed that it was the same dynasty of Kasi in which Tirthankara Parsva was born. 36 On the basis of this belief it may be concluded that the Jaina religion was Srenika's family religion. According to the Jaina narrative, although Srenika was a Jaina by family faith, he had relinquished it temporarily during his exile in his princehood. It might be that, during that period he might have followed the lax sramanas who were referred to in the course of discussion with Sramana Anathi, but as already said, during Lord Mahavira's first visit to Rajagrha on the attainment of omniscience, Srenika got refixed in the Jaina faith. It is undoubtedly true that during the last three years or his life, Srenika was in contact with the Buddha and his order, but this was no more than a courtesy to another great leader of the age. Rajagrha was the main centre of Mahavira's activity, which would not have been so but for the monarch's interest in him or his faith. It was not Rajagrha but Sravasti which was the centre of activities of the Buddhist order. In Sravasti were the Jetavana of Anathapindaka and the Purvarama of Mrgarmata. There too reigned the king Prasenajita, one of the foremost followers of the Buddha. It was there that the Buddha sojourned twenty-six rainy seasons, while only five at Rajagrha. On the other hand Mahavira passed only one rainy season at Sravasti. It is remarkable that just as Mahavira prophesied for Srenika to become a Tirthankara, the Buddha predicted for Prasenajita to become a Buddha.37 Thus it is clear that Srenika was the follower of Mahavira, and Prasenajita was the follower of the Buddha. Famous historian Dr. V. A. Smith expresses the same opinion. He writes: "He (Srenika) appears to have been a Jaina in religion, and sometimes coupled by Jaina tradition with Asoka's grandson, Samprati, a notable patron of the creed of Mahavira."38 Mr. Smith concludes : "Being related through his mother to the reigning kings of Videha, Magadha and Anga, he (Mahavira) was in a position to gain official patronage for teaching, and is recorded to have been in personal touch with both Bimbisara and Ajatasatru, who seem to have followed his doctrine."39 85 38 37 38 29 Quoted by Dr. J. P. Jain in his Bharatiya Itihas : Ek Drsti, p. 62, 1957. Ibid., p. 62. Anagatavamsa ; Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, vol. II, p. 174. The Oxford History of India, p. 45. Ibid., pp. 31-2.

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VERSES Cidananda 31 Goeth not, my love, goeth not thither, I entreat thee with all my heart. If ye goeth to another's dwelling Casting aside family repute Looseth ye all honour in both the worlds. Ye are with her since enternity Pray, what have ye gained ? My words ye relish not, But how do I withhold 'em, And not counsel thee what's for the good. There's nothing ye may want here Then why ensnareth thyself, And glideth through life and death. Hearing these words From the True Self, Cidananda discarded the other Self And got fixed in eternal bliss.

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104 32 Harken, my dear, I call thee Have mercy on me, come home. When thou art absent from me My sorrow knows no bound My mental pain,-words fail to tell. Thou hast attained manhood So discardeth the follies of thy youth And immerse ye in the depths of the soul Severing ties with this body, Ties that bind thee since eternity. What a shame unto me ! Thou liveth in another's abode. I entreat thee now, come back to me, My dear, come back to me. Like a Cataka bird, thirsty am I And thou art my rain cloud And when giver and taker are so near It behoves not thee to withhold from me. When, says Cidananda, these words Of True Self penetrated into his heart, Fulfilled he her cravings Knowing her to be so true to him. 33 JAIN JOURNAL Barring her love for thee, Consider thee freely How thy love for her Has taken thee apart from thy True Self And led wholly astray. It is this attachment for the body Which is the bondage These are the Seers' words. From eternity Gold is mixed with ore, Butter with milk, Oil with seed, Scent with flower; So is soul with body. Fire is in the wood But it lights not without friction;

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JANUARY, 1972 Soul is in the body But it lights not without precepts. Like a swan separating milk from water Separate ye Atman from what's not that And thus ye destroy the bondage. Like a lion, who leaves the company of goats When he knows his true self Though brought up with 'em, So ye, says Cidananda, Knowing True Self, Side with it, Discarding what is Non-Self. 34 A goat invites its own death By helping to discover knife from dust So do ye create thy own bondage Through incessant attachments. To be frank, tell me, Who did hold thy hands? And who did put thee in fetters ? And which pike is close on thy heels? Like a monkey who is drunk, You too dance in the company of pleasures; And when they go, pine ye for 'em Feel their pang like a scorpion bite. A man haunted by spirit behaves like a fool So do ye behave when haunted by lust. A parrot on a rod thinks It is in the bondage of the rod, So does a bee seated on lotus, So do ye, perched on pleasures, Think ye, ye are in bondage. Fool! Illusion is this, born of attachment And thou art an unfortunate prey. Like a monkey pushing his hand into a jar Greedy of food, is caught by it So art thou. Dive deep in Atman, And practise restraint, Says Cidananda, And thou art free. 105 www.jainelibrary.org

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Social life in Gujarat and Rajasthan in the 19th Century -as revealed in a scroll of invitation SURENDRA GOPAL Vijnaptipatras or vinatipatras were the invitations sent by the Jaina devotees to their religious leaders to come and preach, and participate with them in festivals enjoined by their religion. As a source of social history, the importance of these invitations is immense, as these were not mere matter-of-fact letters but contained elaborate descriptions of persons, places and goods. We learn from these about food that was popular, textiles that were in use, the market that served local needs and the people who provided leadership in both secular and religious affairs. Besides, these invitations were decorated with paintings which portrayed both religious and secular motives. The vijnaptipatra under reviewwas sent by the Jaina devotees of Merta near Ajmer in Rajasthan to Acarya Vijayjinendra Suri of Tapagaccha sect at Virampur near Ahmedabad in Gujarat in Samvat 1867 (1810 A.D.). The scroll is 32 ft. long of which paintings occupy 17 ft. The rest contains description of Merta and Virampur, of people and personalities at these two places and the personal qualities of the Acarya. It is written partly in Sanskrit and partly in vernacular and is a mixture of prose and verse. The paintings, while showing some religious scenes, also depict a mosque, a bazar and a dancing girl. The types of illustrations also 1 The original document, which lies in the possession of Gujrati Tapagaccha Sangh Library, Calcutta, has been published in Shri Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume by Shri B. L. Nahata. Illustrations by courtesy of Gujrati Tapagaccha Sangh Library, Calcutta and Shri Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya, Bombay.

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JANUARY, 1972 107 indicate the religious tolerance and liberal attitude of the Jainas who did not mind portrayal of a mosque and a dancing girl in such a document. As already said, the language used in the document is a mixture of vernacular and Sanskrit. Evidently the tradition of the study of Sanskrit among the Jainas continued, side by side with their patronage of the local dialects. They were particularly appreciative of local poets, as can be seen from the fact that the verses included in the scroll are by one Gulvijay of Merta. These verses can be sung in definite ragas and these have also been mentioned. The verses contain useful material for social history. For instance verse 5 in the scroll describes the important buildings of Virampur. Verses 6-11 depict the market place, the traders, vegetables and fruits that were bought and sold, silk fabrics marketed and sweetmeats that were available. A few lines in original are quoted below : cahuta mandap rajai ho virajai marag copda sreni hataul ot phirta chatrise pauna ho nahi una dhan dhan sundara vyapari bahu mot capal turangam sohai ho man mohai gayavar gajata rath su palkhiyani jor raj marag me taruni ho gat varani gayavarani sada calti macasma cor milti hilti nari ho sur nari parai sobhati phirti cohata mah lejo bahu che bhaji ho man raji dekhi nai huvai vaigan sag vikaha kharik pista khijura ho man jura kista huvai sada pungiphal bahu mol amba rayan kela ho bahu mela meva samtha levai lok amol jariya resmi gantha ho bhari baitha thirma sablu pattu nila lal pancrang pat pamdiya ho bhaljadiya vinti nag bhala bhari mola mal sadi chinta suhavai ho man bhavai odhan kambli dev kusum vali dakh jati phal taj cini ho vali phini khurma jalebiya ladu ghevar sakh As we have it from the above lines, the market place of a small town of Gujarat was throbbing with life and activity. Even the narrow

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108 lanes and bye-lanes had a vast crowd. We further know that the ladies often visited the market place which shows that the ladies were free to move outside their household. Among the fruits and vegetables we have the following names: brinjal, sak, mangoes, and plantains. People are stated to take them in plenty which shows that they must have been fairly cheap. Particularly costly was betel-nut (pungiphal). The market sold costly fabric to suit the pocket of the rich along with ordinary blankets for the common people. The names of the sweets mentioed in the verse are an additional attraction. Verses 12-13 describe the Jaina temples of Virampur of which one is that of Santinath and another that of Parsvanath. Verse 16 refers to the Hindu gods and goddesses worshipped in the city: JAIN JOURNAL mata isvar ganapati ho phanapati-bhairu dehra sahasling talava jogan cosath mandi ho grahacandi bavan virna pujai sivamati bhava Doha 1-2 describe the local rular of Virampur, Rao Fateh Singh who was a follower of Siva. He has been praised for his just and benevolent rule. Verse 19 speaks of Tokar Seth who was the leader of the Jaina community at Merta, the sender of the present invitation on behalf of the Merta Jainas. We have also a description of Merta from the poet's pen. Man Singh was the ruler of this city who was assisted in running the administration by one Pancoli Gopaldas. Mansingh was a Hindu. The town was inhabited by a large number of traders, many of whom were millionaires but thieves were conspicuous by their absence. As the poet sang: bahu vyapari tiha vasai re lakhpati adhikai man cor carad navi sancarai re gori gavai gan re Besides, there were skilled goldsmiths, tailors, shoe-makers and beautiful and adept dancers in the city. As we have it again from the same poet : darji patva sundaru re tamboli sonar ganika moci turakda re ityadik suvicar re This picture of small towns of Rajasthan and Gujarat in the early 19th century reveals that the mediaeval feudal tradition had not yet known a breach.

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A Jaina Monk A Jaina Nun

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Market Scene 1.5. a Female Dancer MUSIK HSHTACO

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Revival of Sramana Dharma in the Later Vedic Age (Continued from the previous issue) Jyoti PRASAD JAIN Krsna Vasudeva was one of the sixty-three most auspicious personages of the Jaina tradition. Ethnologists believe that he was, if not an outright non-Aryan, at least a semi-Aryan. He was the originator of Krsnaism (form of Bhagavatism) which is similar and nearer to Jainism in its origin and is said to be a clear example of the rise of an anti-Brahmanic cult in the non-Brahmanic and clearly non-Aryan environment. In the Rgveda, he, it is said, is spoken of as a leader of non-Aryan tribe, 3 but a definite reference, and perhaps the earliest, occurs in the Chandogya Upanisad (Pr. 3, Kh. 17--dated the second half of the first millennium B.C.), wherein he is said to have developed in his own teachings a number of ideas, adopted by him from his mentor, the wise Ghora Angirasa. There are scholars who hold that this Ghora Angirasa was none else but Neminatha (Aristanemi), the Jaina Tirthankara,5 who, as stated before, was first cousin to Krsna. : Up till a few decades ago, historicity of Aristanemi had been doubted by modern historians who usually fixed the upper limit of the beginnings India's history proper about the 6th century B.C. But now, when that limit has been raised to the end of the Mahabharata War, generally 1 Guseva, N. R. : Jainism, (Bombay, 1971), pp. 15-19. 9 lbid., pp. 15, 19. 3 Ibid., p. 18. 4 lbid., p. 15; The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol. IV, p. 37. 5 Kausambi, D.: Bharatiya Sanskrti aur Itihas, pp. 5-57 ; Sramana, May 1971, pp. 13-14.

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110 assigned to the 15th century B.C., and Krsna, the leading figure of that age, has been accepted as historical," there is no reason why Aristanemi should not be considered an equally historical personage. Apart from ancient Jaina works like the Tiloya-pannatti, Agama-Sutras, Vasudevahindi, Harivamsa Purana, Arittha-Nemi-Cariu and the different version of the Jaina Mahapurana, many Brahmanical works, right from the Rgveda down to the Mahabharata and several Puranas, refer or allude to this Tirthankara by name, and a number of modern scholars have endorsed to the view that he must have been a real person.8 To quote a few: "Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas, who preceded Lord Parsvanatha, was a cousin of Lord Sri Krsna. If we admit the historicity of Lord Krsna, there is no reason why we should not regard his contemporary Lord Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara, as a real and historical person." 559 JAIN JOURNAL "Neminatha was the cousin of Krsna. When the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas was a contemporary of Lord Krsna, the readers may well imagine the antiquity of the remaining 21 Tirthankaras."10 Prof. H. S. Bhattacharya goes a step further and establishes the historicity of Krsna himself on the basis of that of Neminatha, by observing that "Notwithstanding remarkable differences, the Krsna story in the Jaina Puranas is essentially similar to that of the Vedic Puranas The appearance of the Krsna story in the Jaina sacred books shows that Krsna of the Mahabharata may not be a purely imaginary being, but that in all probability he was a historic person, a high-souled powerful monarch." And, in the opinion of another scholar. "The Jaina traditions represent the oldest form of the Krsna legend."12 Yet another writer, P. C. Dewan, concludes that the Jaina books contain many 6 The Vedic Age, (HCIP, Vol. I, Bombay, 1957), p. 269; Jain, J. P. : Bharatiya Itihas: Ek Drsti, (2nd ed., Varanasi, 1966), pp. 35-36. 7 The Vedic Age, op. cit., Ch. XIV; Guseva, op. cit., p. 15 f.n.; Basu, N. N. : Harivamsa Purana, Introd.; etc. 8 Jain, J. P. Jainsm, the Oldest Living Religion, (Varanasi, 1951), pp. 20-24; Sramana, op, cit., pp. 13-17. 9 Basu, N. N. Harivamsa Purana, Introd., p. 6. 10 Karwa Bhagavad-Gita, Appendix. Dr. H. C. Raychaudhuri also describes Aristanemi as a cousin of Krsna in his Ancient History of Vaisnavism. 'Heroes of Jaina Legends'-Jaina Antiquary, Vol. XIV, Part 2, p. 77; Lord Aristanemi, pp. 88-89. 12 Kennedy, Rev. J.: 'The Child Krsna, Christianity and the Gujars'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1907, pp. 951 ff. 11

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JANUARY, 1972 111 16 historical facts which are not to be found in the Bhagavata literature, and that simply because there are certain discrepancies between the Hindu and Jaina accounts or because the latter puts too long an interval between Aristanemi and Parsva, the account of Aristanemi's life as given in Jaina books based on ancient Prakrit texts does not deserve to be ignored.13 Well-known Vedic scholars like Swami Virupaksha Vadiyar are convinced that the Vedic and Puranic allusions to Aristanemi refer to none else but the Jaina Tirthankara of that name.14 On the same basis, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan has observed, "There is no doubt that Jainism prevailed even before Vardhamana or Parsvanatha."15 And, Dr. Fuhrer categorically asserts that, "Lord Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas has been accepted as a historical person," which view has been expressed by Prof. L. D. Barnett as well.17 A very old copper-plate grant, discovered by Prof. Pran Nath Vidyalankara from some place in Kathiawad, and published by him in the Times of India (Weekly), dated 19th March, 1935, purported, according to his decipherment, that "The King Nebuchadnazzar, who was also the lord of Rewanagar (in Kathiawad) and belonged to the Su (-mer) tribe, has come to the place (Dvaraka) of the Yaduraja. He has built a temple and paid homage and made the grant perpetual in favour of Lord Nemi, the paramount deity of Mt. Raivata.' The donor was identified with the Chaldean King Nebuchadnazzar of Babylonia, who is assigned to circa 1140 B.C.18 This record provides an additional proof in support of the fact that the 22nd Tirthankara had already become sanctified as a popular worshipful object in the post-Mahabharata period, centuries before the advent of not only Mahavira but also of Parsva, the penultimate Tirthankara. About a hundred years earlier than Prof. Vidyalankara, Col. James Tod had suggested that of the four distinguished wiseman of the ancient world the first was Adinatha (Rsabha, the first Tirthankara) and the second was Neminatha, the 22nd of the Jinas, whom he assigned to 1120 B.C., and whose influence, Tod believed, had extended into China and Scandinavia where he was worshipped under the names Fo and Odin, respectively.19 There may be any truth in such speculations or not, it is amply evident from the Jaina historical traditions relating to his times that 18 14 16 Annals of the Bhandarkar Research Institute, Vol. XXIII, p. 122. Cf. Jain, J. P., op. cit., p. 22 ; Jain Path Pradarsak, III, 3, pp. 106-112. Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 287. Epigraphia Indica, Vol. I, p. 389; Vol. II, pp. 206-207. Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, Vol. I, Foreward, p. iv. Cf. Jain, J. P., op. cit., p. 23. Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, pp. 97-99. 16

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112 JAIN JOURNAL Aristanemi wielded considerable influence. Krsna himself may not have been an avowed adherent of the Jina's creed, his love and esteem for the cousin whom he even looked upon as a guru and mentor, were nevertheless undoubted. Vasudeva, his father, Balarama, his brother, Pradyumna, his son, and several other members of the family, were followers of the Tirthankara, as were also many other Ksatriya princes of the time, including the Pandavas. The Pandava brothers, it is said, became devotees of Aristanemi in their later years when they migrated to South India, practised severe austerities as Jaina ascetics there and ultimately attained salvation ; the existence of places like PanchaPandava-malai and Madurai in South India seem to support the tradition. Prior to the Mahabharata War, the Madhyadesa of northern India had for a long time been the chief and very powerful stronghold of Vedic religion and culture with the political power also weilded mainly by Vedic Ksatriyas. This rapid progress and ascendancy of Vedicism had evidently been achieved at the cost of the Sramanism of the Arhatas. The war reversed the scales, giving a severe blow to the temporal power of the Vedic people there, while their religion and culture, based principally on yajnas which involved animal sacrifice, visibly lost ground and such sacrifices became rare even in those regions because of the revival of Sramana Dharma under the leadership of the Tirthankara Aristanemi and due, in a large measure to the influence of his Ksatriya followers like Krsna, Balarama, Pradyumna and the Pandava brothers. It also appears that the western and southern parts of India m cularly came under the influence of this Tirthankara. The fact that his images have been discovered in these regions in larger numbers than those of any other Tirthankara is not, perhaps, a mere accident, and points to the greater popularity he has since enjoyed there. It is also not without meaning that Jainism has often been described as the Ksatriya religion, especially in the light of frequent allusions in the literary and oral traditions of ancient India to the proverbial Brahmana-Sramana rivalry which was taken to be synonymous with the Brahmana-Ksatriya antagonism.20 About the earlier half of the first millennium B.C., there existed in eastern India a class of people known as Vratya-Ksatriyas, i.e., Ksatriyas-by-vow, not by birth, 21 which is evident from the many references made to them in early Brahmanical literature. They have been described as being outside the 20 Cf. Guseva, op. cit., p. 3. 21 lbid., p. 11.

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JANUARY, 1972 113 pale of Brahmanism and Brahmanic society, and there is ample reason to believe that they were no other than the Jainas of those times. 22 An important result of the impact of the revival of Sramana Dharma under the leadership of Aristanemi was the development of the philosophy of the Upanisads within the bounds of Vedicism itself, but accepting many non-Brahmanic, and sometimes anti-Brahmanic ideas. With its proximity to the Ksatriya ideology, it had much in common with Jainism. At least, the concepts of atmavidya and moksa-dharma, on which the philosophy of the Upanisads is based, are not in agreement with the Vedic or Brahmanical teaching, while they agree in full with the philosophy enunciated by the Jaina Tirthankaras, 23 including Aristanemi and his successor, Parsvanatha. It has also been suggested that in those times followers of Jainism were, in the main, representatives of preAryan population of the country, and that the chief components of this non-Vedic religion were engendered by non-Aryan ethnical environments. 24 To be continued Ibid., p. 23; Jain Gazette, XXI, p. 6; Jain, J. P., of. cit., p. 53. 38 Guseva, op. cit., pp. 20-23; Munni, N, : Philosophy of Soul is the Gift of the Ksatriyas to Indian Thought, pp. 180-181. 24 Guseva, op. cit., p. 24.

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PAUMA CARIU (from the previous issue) SVAYAMBHUDEVA UTTARA KANDA Reunion with Sita: Departure for Ayodhya After Ravana's death, the leading members of Ravana's family including Indrajit, Kumbhakarna and Mandodari renounced the world and joined the religious order. Then Vibhisana took Rama to the Nandana Park to meet Sita. The two met with great feeling. Then it was time for a triumphal entry into Lanka. Rama with all his allies entered the great city and proceeded to the temple of Santinatha Jina to offer his prayer. Rama sang in praise of the Tirthankara. Now Vibhisana was crowned king of Lanka. Rama, Laksmana and Sita remained there. Other girls whom the two brothers had married on their way from Ayodhya also joined them here. Six years passed in this way. One day the wandering sage Narada arrived there. He brought news about Rama's mother Sukosala who had grown old and was suffering from physical disabilities. Besides, the pang of long separation deeply bore on her health. Rama was now decided to return home without any further delay. For, mother and motherland are even above heaven. niya janmabhumi jananiye sahiya sagge vi hoi ai-dullahiya So the aerial chariot was made ready for Rama and his party to fly back to Ayodhya. It was indeed a pleasant journey full of reminiscences of the recent past. It was a great pleasure to point out from the chariot all the important places connected with their life in exile, and particularly with the Sita episode.

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JANUARY, 1972 When news reached of Rama's return, Bharata hastened to welcome his brother. It was a happy reunion and a glorious home-coming. The joys of the mothers of Rama and Laksmana knew no limit to see their darlings after so many years. Now Bharata felt that he had played his part in the world and it was time he should lay down the reign of office and embrace the religious order. He expressed his desire to Rama. But Rama could not afford to miss such a loving and devoted brother. He ordered all material comforts for Bharata. But these had no charm for him any more and he was bent on renunciation. The opportunity came from a small event. One day a palace elephant had gone mad and it was impossible to control him. But when he saw Bharata, he was pacified. Thereupon the monk Kulabhusana explained the reason which was connected with one of Bharata's previous births. After this delineation Bharata was decided to leave worldly life and joined the order of monks with many others, the most notable among them being his own mother Kaikeyi. The responsibility of running the state at Ayodhya now fell on Rama who was duly crowned king. On this occasion all his friends and allies including the king of Lanka joined. 115 After his corronation, Rama bestowed territories on his associates and allies in recognition of their very honest and faithful service during the days of his adversity. Satrughna then expressed a desire to conquer Mathura of which the king was Madhu. The city was beseized. Satrughna was a mighty warrior. There was a severe battle in which Madhu's son Lavanamaharnava was killed and Madhu himself was fatally wounded. This was followed by the fall of Mathura. Satrughna was now crowned the king of Mathura. Sita's exile: Birth of Lavana and Ankusa Meanwhile Sita had become pregnant and she expressed a desire to worship the Jina. Rama was anxious to fulfil readily the desire but it was ordained otherwise. Some messangers came to Rama and conveyed to him the popular gossip about Sita who had spent a year in Ravana's custody. The theme of popular gossip was that a young and charming lady like Sita could not have remained unmolested for such a length by a powerful monarch like Ravana. Kim Ramu na bhunjai Janaya-sua barisu basebi ghare Ramanaho. (Is not Rama enjoying the company of the daughter of Janaka who had spent a full year in the house of Ravana ?) Rama was shocked at the popular gossip. It was scandalous though he had no shade of doubt in his own mind that Sita was above adultery. But vox populi is too powerful to be con

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116 JAIN JOURNAL vinced by arguments, still less suppressed by force. Rather, any such move had a perverse consequence. Rama was apprehensive of the larger social consequence. For, if he himself would not give up Sita in fulfilment of the popular demand, adultery would be rampant and it would be impossible to check it. Expedience and duty rather than conscience therefore guided his decision and Rama decided to exile Sita, no matter what irreparable personal loss this might mean to him. So he ordered his commander to take Sita and discard her in the wilderness. This was a cruel decision indeed and Laksmana would not agree. But Rama was adamant. Sita was totally in the dark about the decision and she took her departure as the outcome of her own express desire. But when the news was broken to her in the wilderness by her escort, she bewailed and broke down. This was a shocking blow to an innocent heart. But such was the royal order. Sita remained there utterly horrified. Luckily Vajrajangha, Rama's brother-in-law from his sister's side was passing by that way. He soon recognised Sita and came to know all that had happened. He took Sita with him and sheltered her with full dignity in his palace as his own sister. Here Sita gave birth to the twins -Lavana and Ankusa. Exploits of Lavana and Ankusa Lavana and Ankusa grew as mighty warriors. They were now grown to full age. So Vajrajangha sought the hands of the daughters of the king Prithu for Sita's sons. Prithu, however, refused. So Vajrajangha marched against him. There was a severe battle in which Prithu was defeated and was obliged to give his two daughters. Lavana and Ankusa then conquered many other kingdoms, some even those that had not yielded to the mighty arms of the king of Ayodhya. The two were the worthy sons of the worthy father. Meanwhile they came to know from the sage Narada of the wrong that Rama had done to their mother. So they decided to take revenge. They marched on Ayodhya and laid seize of the city. Rama and Laksmana accepted the challenge. There was a severe battle in which the heroes of the Lanka war were worsted by two young men. The situation was now pretty desparate. To save it Laksmana hurled the cakra ; but to the surprise of all, the cakra would do no harm to the young men and came back to its own master. It was then repeatedly discharged but with no improved outcome. At this point the eternal Narada descended there and clarified the situation. He even chastised Rama for entering into en

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LANUARY, 1972 117 counter against his own sons. The hostilities could no longer continue and Rama was happy to meet his own progeny. [Here ends the great Apabhramsa epic as written by Svayambhudeva, the king of poets. The rest, known as Paumacariyu sesa is composed by Tribhubana, his son. This brings the great Rama Sita story to its end. Only the relevant portions from this is retold below.] Sita's Ordeal and renunciation Now Lavana and Ankusa entered Ayodhya and they were given a fitting reception. Hanumat and others now pleaded for Sita and pressingly urged for her reacceptance by Rama. Even Vibhisana who was present there offered the good offices of Trijata to testify Sita's innocence during her stay in Ravana's park. On Trijata's advice Rama decided to hold a fire ordeal in public to satisfy popular conscience. But Sita would neither agree to it nor was she keen to come back to Ayodhya. Vibhisana and others exerted their utmost to persuade Sita to accept the ordeal. So she was brought to Ayodhya. fire was lit and she was to enter into it and remain unburnt in order to establish her chastity. Sita faced the great fire unperturbed and enetered into it. But a miracle happened. As she entered the fire was transformed into a charming lake with aquatics joyfully swimming in it. A divine throne then appeared on it with Sita seated thereon. Sita had passed the ordeal and there was joy everywhere. Gods were beating drums in heaven. Such a universal rejoicing had never been witnessed in the past. The great assembly hailed Sita and all rallied towards her, led by her two great sons. All paid their homage to a chaste lady who had never succumbed to the temptation of the flesh even under most adverse circumstances but remained devoted to her husband in body and mind. Rama then offered ample apologies for the personal injustice he had done to his beloved and publicly announced his reacceptance of Sita. But by this time Sita had seen enough of life and she had no more attraction for it. Besides, her mission on earth had ended and so she expressed determination to renounce the world. All persuations to change her mind failed. Sita was ordained to the holy order by the monk Sarvabhusana. Rama was now a really lonely man and his only support and strength in the world was his beloved brother Laksmana. Laksmana's death : Rama's loss of reason One day it so happened that Indra in heaven was speaking to the gods about the merits of the human birth. For, said he, in human

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118 frame alone could the soul practice religious duties, destroy the bondage of karma and be liberated. This facility was not available from any other station, in the upper or lower sphere. This was the great privilege of the human frame. But one god contradicted Indra, pointing to the great bondage that the earthly life itself was : jiva-nihaya nirundhanahan samsare saneha-nibandhu didhu majjhe asesaha bandhanahan and and cited Rama's own case who was now shattered lonely after Sita's renunciation and was yet tied to the worldly life. So Indra sought to explain the position. It was all due to Laksmana to whom Rama was greatly attached and so long as Laksmana was by his side Rama would not renounce the world. The gods felt curious to test the correctness of Indra's observation. They came down to earth to the spot where Laksmana was and casually remarked: Ha ha Rahabacandu mu-u. (Alas! Raghavacandra is dead.) The moment these words reached Laksmana's ears, he fell utterly lifeless. Soon the news of Laksmana's sudden collapse spread and there was grief every where. Extremely overwhelmed at the death of their beloved uncle Lavana and Ankusa renounced the world. Now it was time for Rama's final exit too. JAIN JOURNAL Shattered with repeated grief, Rama's balance was shaken beyond repair. He would not allow Laksmana's dead body to be cremated but believing it to be alive he placed it on his shoulders and wandered for six months. He would bathe it, clothe it and even try to feed it. But at last Rama regained his senses by the strivings of Krtantavakra and Jatayin both of whom were now reborn as gods in heaven. With his senses revived, Rama discarded the corpse of his brother and renounced the world. Others joined him on the occasion, notably among them being Satrughna, Sugriva, Vibhisana and his own mother. Hanumat had renounced the world even earlier. Rama attains liberation The rest of Rama's life was spent on the Kotisila where he practised severe austerities. He overcame all temptations that usually appear to create disturbance and ultimately attained omniscience and liberation from all bondage. Laksmana and Ravana were, however, directed to hell after their death where they were still involved in a feud. Here ends Paumacariu.

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A Note on the Nirgranthas mentioned in the Delhi-Topra Pillar Edict VII of Asoka P. C. DAS GUPTA Among all the inscriptions of Asoka Priyadarsi the Delhi-Topra Pillar Edict has a special significance of its own not only for high-lighting the principles of Dharma and corresponding implementation of lofty ideals, but also for recording certain details of endeavours twenty seven years after coronation of the emperor. In this Dharmalipi inscribed on a pillar now standing to a height of about 43 feet leaving away its capital which is lost is obviously one of the most important relics of the Mauryan age. According to the Muslim historian Shams-i-Siraj, the pillar "originally stood at Topra (in the Sivalik hills, between Ambala and Sirsava, 18 miles S. of Sadhora and 22 miles SW. of Khizrabad), and was known as 'Bhimasena's pillar' and 'golden pillar' ; Sultan Firoz had it carried on a truck with 42 wheels to the bank of Yamuna, whence it was floated down the river to Delhi on a number of large boats tied together, and erected on the top of his palace." (Amulyachandra Sen : Asoka's Edicts, Calcutta, 1956, p. 140). It is important to notice that this edict at one place refers to the Nirgranthas in con ction with the activities of the Dharma-Mahamatras (nigamthesu pi me kate-ime viyapata hohamti', Ibid, p. 163). The relevant portion of the inscription conveys that the Dharma Mahamatras had been ordered to make themselves occupied concerning the Brahmanas, the Sangha, the Ajivikas, the Nirgranthas and various other sects. The relevant lines may be interpreted as follows :

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120 JAIN JOURNAL "My officers charged with the spread of Dharma are occupied with various kinds of services beneficial to ascetics and householders, and they are empowered to concern themselves with all sects. I have ordered some of them to look after the affairs of the Samgha (the Buddhist religious orders), some to take care of the Brahmin and Ajivika ascetics, some to work among the Nirgranthas (the Jaina monks), and some among the various other religious sects. Different officials are thus assigned specifically to the affairs of different religions, but my officers for spreading Dharma are occupied with all sects." (The Edicts of Asoka, Edited and Translated by N. A. Nikam and Richard McKeon, Chicago, 1962, p. 32). Since there is no doubt about the main import of the statement it is obviously understood that the edict had been intended for commendation to a people belonging to diverse religions and sects referred to. It is very likely that the imperial edict proclaimed its ideals along with an enumeration of aspects of a pious administration involving the Brahmins, the Buddhists, the Ajivikas and the Nirgranthas alike. If this is accepted the Pillar Edict VII of Asoka will again prove like various other sources the important prevalence of Jainism in the Punjab before the opening of the Christian era. In this connection may be recalled a famous legend according to which Taksasila was graced by the visit of Rsabha, the first Tirthankara, who went there to meet his son Bahubali. There are also annals in respect of Samprati, the grandson of Asoka who is known to have been a great patron of Jainism. It is well-known that the religion once flourished in Taksasila which was a seat of Jaina shrines in antiquity. There are still certain ruins and relics at Taksasila which may bear evidence to the faith of the early Nirgranthas. Even the ritual of the Pancanadi Puja instituted by pious Jinadatta Suri in early mediaeval times may be regarded as a symbol of an ancient tradition. As it appears, the Nirgranthas were living in the Punjab even in Pre-Asokan times. It may be recalled that when the army of Alexander was voyaging and retreating along the Indus the region was famed for the learning of a class of Indian Philosophers the Gymnosophists "so called from their habit of going entirely naked". (Plutarch's Lives of Alexander and Caesar, Extracted from the edition of "Plutarch's Lives" in Bohn's Standard Library. Translated from the Greek by Aubrey Stewart and George Long, London, 1913, p. 366). Though the extracts from the work of Bardaisan (Bardesanes) as preserved by Joannes Stobaeus in about 6th century A.D. may regard the Gymnosophists in a wider sense as including the Brahmanas and the Sramanas the exact faith of the sages encountered by the Macedonian general is yet to be ascertained. The description of Stobaeus leaves a little doubt that the Sramanas (Samanaeans) included the Buddhists and the Jainas alike (Dr. R. C. Majumdar : The Classical

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JANUARY, 1972 121 Accounts of India, Calcutta, 1960, p. 425). It is told by Onesikritus, the philosopher of the School of Diogenes the cynic that one of the naked sophists Kalanus "is said to have received him very rudely and to have proudly bidden him to take off his clothes and speak to him naked, as otherwise he would not hold any conversation with him, even if he came from Zeus himself." (Plutarch's Lives of Alexander and Caesar, as cited before, p. 367). Plutarch has further recounted that when Dandamis, another of the Gymnosophists was told of Sokrates. Pythagoras, and Diogenes, "said that they appeared to him to have been wise men, but to have lived in too great bondage to the laws." (Op. Cit., p. 367). This attitude towards life and living and the emphasis on the freedom from bondage will support the view that the Sramanas belonging to Gymnosophists referred to by Stobaeus included the Jainas. If this is reviewed in actual perspective the site of Topra was befittingly selected by Asoka for his Seventh Pillar Edict. The milieu of religions and sects also might have included the Ajivikas whose last Tirthankara was Gosala Mankhaliputra.

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An Unpublished Image of Adinatha in Bharat Kala Bhavan MARUTINANDAN PRASAD TIWARI Bharat Kala Bhavan at Varanasi preserves a few Jaina bronzes and sculptures brought from different places. Sculpture No. 22073 hewn out of sand stone deserves special attention. The image coming from Khajuraho represents the first Tirthankara Adinatha along with miniature figures of other twenty-three Tirthankaras above his head. On stylistic and iconographic grounds the sculpture can safely be dated between 10-12th centuries A.D. The principal deity is seated in the attitude of meditation (dhyana mudra) with his legs crossed. His left leg is partly mutilated. The portion below the wrist of both the arms are damaged but from the pose it is obvious that the hands were laid in the lap being placed one over the other and palms facing upwards. He is sitting on a cushion supported by two lions giving the idea of lion-throne (simhasana). Tirthankara wears the srivatsa symbol in the centre of his chest. His hair is treated in short schematic curls and two hair locks seen falling on his each shoulder bear testimony to its identification with Adinatha. His face is very much defaced. On front of his pedestal is. delineated the figure of a bull, cognizance of Adinatha, much worn. To his sides stand the figures of two-armed attendants bearing some round object in one of their arms and the object held in the other is not discernible. The figure standing to right and wearing high headdress is intact while the head of the left hand figure is broken away. Both the figures wearing srivatsa symbols are decked with similar ornaments, namely, necklaces, armlets, girdles, etc. From the shoulders of the two figures hang a scraf. On each end of the pedestal is delineated the figure of a worshipper with the hands clasped in the attitude of adoration. Above the head of the Tirthankara can be seen a trilinear umbrella on either side of which is sculptured an elephant with a rider. Though the figures of the riders are very much effaced yet each of them betrays a pitcher (vase) in their hands. Over the triple umbrella are depicted in two rows the figures of the twentythree subsequent Tirthankaras. The lower row shows the figures of eleven Tirthankaras, three of them being seated and the rest of eight as standing. In the second row rest of the twelve Tirthankaras were

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JANUARY, 1972 Tirthankara Adinatha 123 Courtesy: Bharat Kala Bhawan, Varanasi carved, out of which only eight are extant now. Of the eight figures two are seated and six are standing. All the figures of the twenty four Tirthankaras are defaced. On either end of the sculpture is shown a vyala figure. The idol is perfect in modelling and execution.

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JAINISM SRICHAND RAMPURIA Jainism is a very ancient religion. Of the twentyfour Tirthankaras Rsabha, the first Tirthankara, was the son of the fourteenth Patriarch Nabhi. His mother's name was Marudevi. He was the first king of the land of Bharata. He taught his people to fight, to write and to cultivate land for growing food. He also taught arts, seventytwo to men and sixtyfour to women and a hundred sciences. He had one hundred sons. King Rsabha divided his kingdom into hundred parts and distributed them amongst his sons. After that he renounced the world and became a monk. Bharata, the eldest son, asked his brothers to acknowledge his supremacy. The result was the possibility of an imminent war. Rsabha at once preached to his sons the virtue of ahimsa and initiated nintyeight of them in his monastic order. Thus the war that was looming large was avoided. This was one of the finest events of Rsabha's life. Bharata became the king-emperor and it is after his name that this land became known as Bharata. The Rsabha had two daughters named Brahmi and Sundari. earliest Indian Script 'Brahmi' is named after one of them. When his second son Bahubali (he did not renounced earlier) became a monk and would not give up his ego it was at Rsabha's suggestion that these two ladies went to their brother and asked him to give up his ego. It was the first instance in Indian tradition where a man was inspired by women. Rsabha's name is found in the Rgveda, Yajurveda and elsewhere. From this it is proved that this religion is at least as old as the Vedas,

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JANUARY, 1972 125 if not older. His life as depicted in the Bhagavata and other Puranas tallies in outline with that which is available from the Jaina sources. Aristanemi was the twentysecond Tirthankara of the Jainas. He was a cousin-brother of Vasudeva Krsna. In Jaina Agamas, enough material about Krsna's heroic life is available. Aristanemi being moved by compassion on seeing the large collection of beasts in a pen to be slaughtered for his marriage banquet renounced the world and became a monk. This revolt of a ksatriya prince against the slaughter of animals contributed much to the development of the ahimsa idea. The name of Aristanemi is also found in the Vedas. Parsvanatha was the twentythird Tirthankara. He was a prince of Kasi. It is mentioned in the Buddhist Pitakas that he preached four-fold Nirgrantha religion. This is also what the Jaina Agamas record. He entered nirvana some 250 years before the nirvana of the twentyfourth Tirthankara Mahavira. Mahavira, the elder contemporary of the Buddha, was a great saint, a great ascetic. For twelve long years he gave himself up to severe penance and bore all kinds of hardships. After that he obtained kevalaknowledge. Now he became a savant, knower of reals, a philosopher and totally non-violent. He was a great revolutionary and builder of - his age. And he laboured hard for the purification of the common people. Once a Sravika Jayanti asked him : "O Lord, what is good for the jivas--to sleep or to remain awake ?" He replied, "It is good for the virtuous to remain awake and for the sinners to sleep." When he was asked whether jivas were eternal or non-eternal, he replied : "From the standpoint of soul, the jivas are eternal; from the standpoint of body, they are non-eternal." These replies of Mahavira were based on his theory of relativity. This became the basis of what is known as anekanta. Much has been written on anekanta in Jainism which has proved useful and benevolent in resolving unnecessary controversy and dissensions. But the applicability of anekanta is not limited to logic only. We find its application in the Jaina Agamas in the context of the composition of this universe. Jainism is a non-atheist religion and believes in the existence of souls. According to it there are an infinite number of souls. Each soul has separate existence. The main characteristic of an individual soul is its consciousness which manifests in the form of knowledge and

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126 JAIN JOURNAL vision. This consciousness is equal in all the souls. When Mahavira was asked, "Are the souls of an elephant and an ant equal ?" he replied, "From the standpoint of the body space occupied by these, they are unequal but from the standpoint of consciousness, they are equal." This is why Jainism encourages to respect life both great and small. Jainism does not acknowledge God as the creator of this universe. The universe was not created, nor its preservation or destruction is caused by Him. According to Jainism, this universe consists of six substances which are distinct, separate and eternal. They are : jiva, pudgala, dharma, adharma, akasa and kala. But though the substances are eternal, their modes are ever changing, from which we have the three core words, viz., utpada (formation), vyaya (transformation), and dhrauvya (permanence). The trio pervades all the substances and attributes to the world a pernament and eternal character. The varieties of death or destruction and birth or origin seen in this context are but modifications of those eternal substances. In the Jaina view, jivas are born again and again in this world. They always do something which lead to the acquisition of karma which in turn leads to bondage and gliding from life to life. Karma is a technical term. Due to good or evil actions done by a jiva, pudgala penetrates into soul spaces and becomes karma. As in the God-centred religion, God is the giver of pleasure and pain so is karma in the Jaina view. It not only gives a material body, a name, a lineage, a life-span --it even bars knowledge and vision, creates delusion and obstructs fulfilment. Mithyatva (perverted belief), avirati (lack of vow), pramada lethargy, kasaya (passions like anger, conceit, deciet and lust) and yoga (activities of body, speech and mind) collectively called asravas lead to new bondage of karma. One who is on the spiritual track has to stop the asrava by spiritual practices called samvara. But still there are some accumulated karma which have to be got rid of for which the spiritual process is nirjara. When these two processes are completed the soul stands liberated and is all consciousness and attains unlimited knowledge, unlimited perception, unlimited power and unlimited bliss. The core words in the spiritual process are : jiva (soul), ajiva (non-living substances), asrava (influx of new karma), bandha (bondage), punya (virtue), papa (vice), samvara (arrest of the influx of karma), nirjara (exhaustion of old karma), and moksa (liberation). The central theme of Jainism is ahimsa. It has been stated with much emphasis that one should look at creatures -- big or small, as one's own self. Ahimsa is the main pivot on which revolves the life and con

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JANUARY, 1972 duct of a Jaina monk. A lay follower is asked to give up himsa as much as he can. It has been stated in the Agamas, as your life is dear to you, so are others' lives to them. Therefore it is not just to kill a creature however small. Jivas have their different bodies due to karma. A non-violent person cannot take advantage of this. 127 There are jivas which move and which move not in this world. Whether it is in one category or the other it is due to divergent karma. The jiva which moves in this life may be born as a jiva which moves not. Whether it moves or moves not, none desires suffering. Know this and be restrained towards them. There is much stress on aparigraka or non-accumulation and restraint in Jainism. Riches, rice, house or property, movable or immovable can't save one who is suffering due to the fructification of his own karma. Until one gives up his attachment to things movable and immovable or desist from approving attachment cannot get rid of karma. By enjoyment of senses one incurs bondage and for this he roams in the cycle of life and death. One who desists from enjoyment will be free from bondage. Jainism has denounced outward form and ritualism in the following words. Bark, deer-skin, nakedness, matted hair, rags and tonsure save not one who is wicked. A bhiksu, who lives on alms, is sure to go to hell if he is wicked. A monk, even a householder, will go to heaven if he is restrained. Jainism does not believe in caste. According to it all men are equal. One becomes a Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaisya or Sudra according to his own karma.

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128 JAIN JOURNAL Him I call a Brahmana who speaketh not a lie in anger or in fun or out of lust or fear. Him I call a Brahmana who taketh not a thing unless given, be it sentient or not, small or big. Depth of vehmence against caste can be measured from the following: This jiva was born many times in high caste and many times in low. This has neither degraded him nor made him respectable. It remained ever in bondage and its transmigration never ceased. Don't desire a life where there is no cessation of the cycle of life and death. Knowing this who will fight for caste, proclaim it or glorify it. Don't be proud of your high caste nor be angry with one who is of low origin. Think and realise this that every jiva desires pleasure. One who sees this should be restrained. He should not do anything which will hurt others. Women also were initiated in great numbers in the Jaina Order. They are as free as Jaina monks to follow the path of spiritual progress. This had never been a problem in Jainism. In Buddhism, as we have in history, this became a problem and the Buddha himself was opposed to taking women in the spiritual order. But he yielded at the pressing request of one of his disciple Ananda. Jaina order is divided into two categories: monks who have renounced the world and householders. While for the monks are five mahavratas or total abstention from himsa, lie, theft, sex-relation and attachment, for the householders these are lesser vows, e.g., according to their ability and environment. Besides these lesser vows they are required to ovserve other seven vratas. In the first vrata which is sixth vow, one limits the sphere within which one is free to move for trade or other purposes. In the second varta which is seventh vow one has to limit the things to be used by one, like food, etc. (used only once) and clothes, etc. (used repeatedly). In the third vrata which is eighth vow one is required not to indulge in sinful acts not required for one's own

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JANUARY, 1972 for family's maintenance. In the fourth vrata which is ninth vow one is required to sit at one place at least for fortyeight minutes, concentrating one's mind on religious activities. In the fifth vrata which is tenth vow one is required to set new limits every day within the limitations already set by the sixth and seventh vow. In the sixth vrata which is eleventh vow one is required to live for a day the life of monk keeping with him minimum requirements. In the seventh vrata which is twelvth or the last vow one is required to give food, etc., to a deserving person. Thus adomonitions based on psychological grounds are given to live a restrained and quiet life as far as practicable keeping in view the mottow 'restraint is life'. Jainism asks its adherents to rely on their own strength and endeavour to the best of their ability to rise from this mundane existence. * Greater will be his victory who conquereth his self only, than him who conquereth thousands and thousands in a valiant fight. Fight with thy self ; why fight with foes external ? is he who conquereth his self by his self. Happy Conquer thy self, for difficult it is to conquer self. If self is conquered, ye shall be happy in this world and after. Speech delivered on the occasion of 77th commemoration of Parliament of Religions (Chicago) on the auspices of Akhil Bharat Vivekanand Yuva Mahamandal at Calcutta Information Centre on September 11, 1971.

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