International Journal Of Jaina Studies Vol 01 To 03 2005 To 2007

SR No.: 022773
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Peter Flugel
Publisher: Hindi Granth Karyalay
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 202
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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over the country" (Latthe!6 1906: 31f.);"7 particularly in view of the fact that in Harnabh Pershad v. Mandil Das 27 C. 379 (1899) "the homogeneity of the Jainas was recognised by holding that Jaina customs of one place were relevant as evidence of the existence of the same custom amongst Jainas of other places" (J. L. Jaini 1916: 22). In 1904, members of the Young Jain Men's Association (later All-India Jain Association) and the Digambara All-India Jaina Mahāsabhā reiterated earlier suggestions to collect "materials from Jain Shastras for compiling a Jain Law like the Hindu Law" (M. S. Jaini 1904: i), i.e. as a "code of Jain customs" (J. L. Jaini 1905: 144). Already in 1886, Pandit Padmarāja published A Treatise on Jain Law and Usages. But it contained merely selections from medieval Digambara codifications of local customs which reflected southern Indian practices, for instance of cross-cousin marriage. Only in 1910 a Jaina Law Committee was formed by the Mahāsabhā to formulate a common legal code and to claim rights and privileges for 'the Jain community as a whole' in the new Legislative Assembly.'' Barrister Jagmander Lal Jaini's (1881-1927) landmark translation of the Bhadrabāhu Samhitā was published in 1916. After the Montague Declaration in 1917, the Jain Political Association was set up by the same circle of predominately Digambara Jain intellectuals to create a unitary political representation for the Jains. Following the
16 Annāsāheb Bahādur Laththe (1878-1950), a lawyer, was the Dīvān of Chhatrapati Shahu (1874-1922). Mahārāja of Kolhapur. He was a major leader of the Non-Brahman Movement, and founder of the Daksin Bhärat Jain Sabhā.
17 "Our common religion is the basis of our common aspirations and what little work is possible in the direction of evolving cominon social life over and above this basis, is being done by our Mahasabha, our J.Y.M. Association and your esteemed Gazette. Reforms which are completely involved with family life must, I think, be left to individual evolution, for a long time to come" (Latthe 1906: 32).
15 At the time, presumptions of homogeneity were also imposed by the lay leaders of the new sectarian Jain Conferences. The newly invented self-designation 'Sthānakavāsī', for instance, was originally intended to incorporate also the Lonkāgaccha traditions and the Terāpanth: "It is no doubt very gratifying that LokaGachha, Tera Panthi, Sadhumargi, Daya-Dharmi - all these have realised that they are one and the same as Swetamber Sthanakvasi Jains (and this is really so) and they heartily participate in this great movement. The most prominent men of the Loka Gachh of Bengal also exhibit their readiness and willingness to lend every support to this pious cause" (Swetambara Sthanakvasi Jain Conference 1905: Appendix 1). See Flügel 2005
14 "A large No. of responsible persons solved the problem, wherein various manuscripts, old and new, and other pontiffs of the religion were consulted" (Jain Mitra Mandal 1927: 47).
20 According to J. L. Jaini, the various initiatives were manifestations of a 'Jaina enlightenment': "It is as if yesterday that after the red day of the Mutiny, India slept like a psychologised baby under the spell of British domination and the Jainas like other sections of the Indian nation had no consciousness of their
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