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 410

Jaina Community-A Social Survey
the only means left under the circumstances of preserving the Jaina religion and the Jaina community. Some of the Hindu gods were also given minor seats in the Jaina temples with a similar motive. They are termed Kshetrapala i. e. the Protectors of the place. Even at present the worship of non-Jaina gods and goddesses is indulged into by some Jainas.151 Thirdly, it was impossible for Jainism to remain unaffected by influences of local customs, beliefs and cults. As a small number of Jainas had to live amidst the non-Jainas, and especially among the Hindus, it is but natural for them to adopt the Hindu practices. That is why we find some Jainas observing the customs like wearing the sacred thread,152 participating in Hindu festivals, keeping day in memory of the dead, offering of rice-balls to the crows on the 10th day after the death, asking boons from the gods, believing in ghosts and spirits, worshipping non-Jaina deities, etc. Thus the Jainas, as a policy for survival, willingly accepted the infiltration of non-Jaina element in Jaina practices. But in doing so they made every attempt to maintain the purity of religious practices as far as possible. The Jaina Āchāryas, mainly with a view to maintain the continuity of the Jaina community in troubled times, did not oppose but on the contrary gave tacit sanction to the observance of local customs and manners by the Jainas. In this connection Somadeva, the most learned Jaina Acharya of medieval age in the South, observes in his Yasastilaka-Champu that
384
हि धर्मो गृहस्थानां लौकिकः पारलौकिकः । लोकाश्रयो भवेदाद्यः परः स्यादागमाश्रयः ॥ सर्व एव हि जैनानां प्रमाणं लौकिको विधिः । यत्र सम्यक्त्वहानिर्न यत्र न व्रतदूषणम् ।।
the religion of Jaina householders is of two varieties, Laukika, i. e., this-worldly, and Paralaukika, i. e. the other-worldly; the former is based upon popular usage and the latter on the scriptures! Further, it is legitimate for the 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 Jaina faith or the moral and disciplinary vows enjoined by the religion. It thus means that by showing the leniency to the Jainas in observing the well-established local practices, provided they do not harm the highest principles of Jainism, a conscious effort was made by the