Jaina Community a Social Survey

SR No.: 007019
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vilas Sangve
Publisher: Popular Book Depot Bombay
Publication Year: 1980
Total Pages: 484
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

Page 279

Jaina Ethics and Miscellaneous Customs and Manners
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13. JAINA TĪRTHAKSHETRAS OR PLACES OF PILGRIMAGE
All Hindus believe that visits to holy places will bring special merit to them and dispel their demerits. That is why they have been advised to make a pilgrimage to their sacred places known as Tīrthas. According to the Hindus a Tirtha is a place which is considered holy for certain specific reasons. The rivers near some famous temples have been attributed with the power of destroying demerit and gaining merit and such places are known as Tirthas. Similarly the place where a lady had gone as sati, i.e., had ascended the funeral pyre of her husband, is regarded as a Tirtha or holy place by the Hindus. But the Jainas do not accept these meanings as they go against their religious beliefs.209 The Jainas attribute only one meaning to the word Tirtha and that is the Tirtha is a place which shows the way how to cross the ocean of Samsāra. Just as an idol reminds us of the virtues and qualities of a great personage whom it represents, similarly a Tirtha reveals the nature of life led on this place by great personages. As Tīrthas are connected with the lives of great persons who have achieved liberation, it is natural that they are helpful in creating Atmajāgrtī, that is, self-enlightenment in the minds of people who visit them. That is why Jaina laymen have been advised to visit Tirthakshetras for purifying their faith in Jainism.210
The Jainas regard the following places as their Tirtha. kshetras : . (i) The places where the Tirthankaras were born, for example,
like Kundalapura which is the birth place of Lord Mahāvīra, Rājagļha, the birth place of the 20th Tirthankara Lord Munisuvrata, Vārāṇasi the birth place
of the 7th and 23rd Tirthankaras, Lord Supārsvanātha · and Lord Pārsvanātha, etc.
s where the Tirthankaras first renounced the Samsāra and initiated into a religious life, for example, Kampilā in Uttar Pradesh where the 13th Tirthankara
Lord Vimalanātha took to religious life, ect. (iii) the places where the Tīrthankaras practised great austeri
ties, for example, Prayāga for the austerities of the first Tirthankara Lord Rshabhanātha, etc.