Jain Theism

SR No.: 006509
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hemant Shah
Publisher: Hemant Shah
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 218
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Religion
File Size: 10 MB

Page 188

Scriptural and other Arguments for Theism in Jainism
169 (2) Prof. P. S. Jaini
. Śri Padmanabha Jaini is a professor at the university of California at Berkeley, U.S.A. In his 'The Jain Path of Purification' he discusses certain difficulties that come in way of elimination of ignorance and removal of suffering. I do not take you to all these problems and it is not required also, But then Prof. P.S. Jaini says, "Most Indian traditions, with a notable exception of the monistic (Advaita) Vedānta, have dealt with these problems by recourse to a theistic doctrine : the intervention of some divine agency is here seen to provide the 'helping hand' that lifts human souls from the mire of transmigration,"172 In this regard he discusses the Jain solution and says, "Perhaps more than any other Indian tradition, Jainism is imbued with an emotional commitment to self-reliance. "173 But then he also discusses the worship of the
hankaras (DevaPūjā), The great ceremony of the five auspicious ccasions (Panca-Kalyāņaka) in the life of a Tirthaņkara (conception, birth, renunciation, attainment of omnicience and nirvāņa). Further he discusses even the DevaPajā ritual, its fundamental features, actual performance and the adoration of the Jin with various ornaments called the Anga-püjā. Again Prof. Jaini gives an account of the auspicious days, during the year, the Jains celebrate. He has explained all these in quite an elaborative way,174 so much so, that he even writes about the jain pilgrimages or holy places, annual rite of confession .. (Pratikramaņa) and renunciation (Pratyākhyāna), the attainment of equanimity (Sāmāyika), and the holy death (sarllekhanā) what is important is to note the numerous devotees worship their Lord Tirthankara by observing all the rituals and ceremonies most sincerely. For them, they are the devotees and their divine God is the Tirthankaras and Siddhas who are the liberated souls. They are out and out theistic in their spirit, trying to express their utmost faith and devotion towards the sacred religion and holy God. Besides this the medicant's path of the Jains to attain the goal can be also added as the symbol of their ardent religiousness.
172. Jaini Padmanabh S., The Jaina Path of Purification (1979), p. 135 173. Ibid., p. 138 174. Read Chapter VII : Jaina Rituals and Ceremonies in Prof. P.S. Jaini's
The Jaina Path of Purification. 175. Bhattacharya H.S., The Jain Prayer (1964), p. 22