History Of Jainism With Special Reference To Mathura

SR No.: 022807
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: U K Sharma
Publisher: D K Printworld P L
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 304
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 45

Jaina Tirthamkaras and antiquity of Jainism
Jaina worship
The tīrthamkaras are liberated souls and they neither care for nor exercise influence on worldly affairs.47 Yet, temples are erected to them where the Jainas worship them in concrete form.49 In fact, the Jainas consider the practice of image-worship of the tīrthamkaras as co-eval with the foundation of Jainism.50 This seems to have started at an early time.51 The discovery of a highly polished torso of a jina image from Lohanipur near Patna,52 and a possible reference in the Hāthīgumphā inscription to the removal of a jina image from Kalinga to Pātaliputra by the Magadhan King Nanda at the time of his invasion of Kalinga,53 prove that image-worship was certainly in vogue among the Jainas in the Maurya period.54 An inscription discovered from Kankāli Tīlā, Mathurā55 leaves us in no doubt that image-worship was an established custom among the Jainas as early as the second century BC.
Jainism does not believe in a Creator-God. It also holds that idol-worship is not essential for the attainment of salvation.56 Therefore, the pertinent query is: What is the rationale of idol-worship in Jainism? The answer is not far to seek. The attitude of the Jaina devotee is expressed in the following quotation:
Him who is the leader of the path to salvation, who is the dispeller of mountains of karmas, and who is the knower of all reality, Him I
47. ERE, II, p. 186; ERE, VII, p. 466. 48. Ibid., p. 187; Ibid., p. 466; IP, p. 69. 49. AJAA, p. 50; IP, p. 69. 50. AOIU, p. 425. 51. JAA, I, Editorial, p. 3; SIJA, p. 40; AJAA, pp. 50 ff. 52. AOIU, p. 425; SIJA, p. 5; JAA, I, Editorial, p. 3. 53. EI, XX, pp. 71-89; AOIU, p. 426. 54. AOIU, p. 426; SIJA, p. 5. 55. EI, II, Inscription no. 1, pp. 198-9. 56. AJAA, p. 62.