Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

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332
YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
the Jaina Sudras does not appear to have been more favourable than that of their brethern in Hindu society.
It was impossible for Jainism to remain unaffected by the influences of local customs, beliefs and cults. Ample testimony is borne to this by diverse religious customs such as the burning of the dead and the offering of rice-balls to the crows on the tenth day, the belief in ghosts and spirits, and the worship of various deities, like Padmavati. Cakreśvari, Padmavati, Ambika and Siddhäyikä are, in fact, well-known goddesses of popular Jainism." Of these Somadeva mentions Siddhayikä as 'a city goddess who has inspired. faith in many people' and refers to the pleasance dedicated to her as a refuge. for all creatures, in Yasastilaka, Book I.
Medieval Jaina religious Canon seems to have sanctioned, or at least not to have opposed, the observance of local customs and practices. Somadeva says, for instance, that the religion of Jaina householders is of two varieties, laukika and paralaukika: the former is based on popular usage and the latter on the scriptures. The castes, he continues, are without a beginning and so are their observances; it is immaterial whether the Jaina Scriptures or any other S'astras are accepted as an authoritative guide. with regard to them. Somadeva sums up by observing that it is legitimate for Jainas to follow any custom or practice sanctioned by popular usage so long as it does not come into conflict with the fundamental principles of the Jains faith or the moral and disciplinary vows." Such views no doubt
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1 Sharma: Jainism and Karnataka Culture, p. 145 ff. The Dharwar Jains are said to have as their family gods Cakreśvara, Dharanendra and his wife Padmavati, Lakṣmi-Narayana [1], and Kṣetrapala, whom the head of the family daily worships. They go on pilgrimage to the shrine of Padmavati at Hombas in Mysore. Bombay Gazetteer (op. cit.), p. 118.
2 For Ambika see Journal of the University of Bombay, Vol. IX. Part 2, p. 147 . She is represented in sculpture, painting and religious texts with two children and a lion as her vehicle. The latter feature makes her akin to the Brahmanical goddess Ambika or Durga, although the mythological background is altogether different. Nevertheless she too has a grim aspect, and is invoked in Jaina Tantric texts as Siva, Caṇḍikā, Aghora etc. Ambika is still worshipped in Jaina temples in various parts of the country. There was a temple of Ambika famous as a place of Jaina pilgrimage at Kodinar in South Käthiäväḍa. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I, part I, p. 182.
3 ' तदेवमनेक लोकोत्यादितप्रत्यवायाः पुरदेव्याः सिद्धायिकायाः सर्वसत्वाभयप्रदावासरसं सरसौमनसं नामोयानम्' P.107. 4 द्वौ हि धर्मों गृहस्थानां लौकिकः पारलौकिकः । लोकाश्रयो भवेदाद्यः परः स्यादागमाश्रयः ॥ Book VIII,
Section 34.
5 जातयोऽनादयः सर्वास्त कियापि तथाविधा बुतिः शास्त्रान्तरं वास्तु प्रमाणं कात्र नः क्षतिः ॥
6 सर्व एव हि जैनानां प्रमाणं लौकिको विधिः । यत्र सम्यक्त्वहानिने यत्र न तदूपणम् ॥ Ibid.