Jainism And Its History

SR No.: 032590
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Research Foundation for Jainology
Publication Year: 2018
Total Pages: 328
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 34 MB

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as Šramanicagainst the ritualistic emphasis of Vedic tradition and the worldly outlook of caste-ridden Brahmanism became stronger in Jainism and Buddhism, along with the other minor Sramaņicsects. Thus the Aupanisadika trend as well as Jainism and Buddhism provided a resort to those fed up with Vedic ritualism and worldly outlook towards life.
Not only Jainism and Buddhism but some other sects and schools of Indian thought such as Ājivaka and Sānkhya also adopted more or less the same view towards Vedic ritualism. However, Jainism and Buddhism were more candid and forthcoming in their opposition to Vedic ritualism. They rejected outright animal-sacrifice in Yajñas, the birth-based caste-system and the infallibility of the Vedas. In the person of Mahāvīra and the Buddha, the most prominent rationalist preachers, we find real crusaders, whose tirade against caste-ridden and 'ritualistic Brahmanism which was touching an ever so low level and crumbling under the weight of its own inner inadequacies, gave it a severe jolt. Jainism and Buddhism came forward to sweep away the long accumulated excrescences that had grown on Indian culture in the form of rituals, casteism and superstitions. But we shall be mistaken if we presume that in their attempt to clear off the dirt of Vedic ritualism, Jainism and Buddhism remained intact. They were also influenced by Vedic rituals considerably.
After the 3rd or 4th century AD, ritualism in the new form of Tantrika rituals crept into Jainism and Buddhism and became part and parcel of their religious practices and mode of worship. With the impact of Hindu Tantrism, Jainas adopted various Hindu deities and their mode of worship with some variations, which suited their religious temperament but were alien to it in
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