Anjan Shalaka Pran Pratistha Ceremony Shwetambar Sect

SR No.: 199998
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee
Publication Year: 2015
Total Pages: 4
Language: English
Classification: Article, Jaina_Education, & 0_Jaina_education
File Size: 54 KB

Page 5

However, all 20,000 murtis require Puja and Arti daily. The Jain institution, the Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi has hired around 250 Pujaris for performance of the daily puja of these murtis. All Pujaris are non-Jains. You can imagine the quality of the puja they perform. I visit Palitana almost every year, and mostly take a long (Nava Tuk) route to reach the main temple because there is so much history associated with the place. One can easily visualize how pujaris perform the daily Puja rituals on these murtis. It is a production operation on a large scale. After watching this I am sure that one loses some respect and faith in our religious rituals. The payroll liability of pujaris and the associated staff is about Rs. 1,00,00,000 ($250,000) per year. Most of the donations received from the pilgrims are used to pay the salaries of these pujaris and the associated staff. The situation is so bad that about 50 to 60 years ago the Pedhi decided not to install any new Murti with the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on Mount Shatrunjay. We have created a tremendous liability to ourselves and there is no practical solution for the problem. The Story of Jesalmer Tirtha in Rajasthan: A Jain friend observed this about 15 years ago and I have also verified with other sources that Jesalmer Tirth (Rajasthan, India) has 400 to 500 Dhatu Pratima (metal murtis). They are all Anjan-Shalaka murtis, but are not installed permanently in one place. It is called Chal Pratishtha where the Tirthankar murtis can be moved from one place to another to celebrate special occasions. Every day a pujari brings a bucket of water and immerses one murti at a time in the bucket and then puts its back on the platform to dry naturally. After immersing all murtis in this way, he returns to perform puja on the murti. He does it just like a mass production of a commodity in a factory. If we believe that the Shasan Devata is always present at all times, we can imagine how unhappy and angry he might be. In India, we have 18 different independent Jain Gacchadhipati Acharyas. If all of them get together and come up with a practical unified solution, then and only then there is a hope to resolve the situation. Summary and Recommendation: The Prana Pratishtha ceremony is considered the most pious ceremony of our religion. Before any American Jain society installs such a murti, they must make sure that their members are ready to perform Puja and Arti daily forever. Their first-generation Jain youth/adults (they are now around 40 years of age) must also accept the responsibility to continue to carry on such rituals voluntarily After the Prana Pratistha ritual, the Murti is considered a living Tirthankar. To transport a living Tirthankar (who has Keval-jnan) from India to USA in a plane is not proper because nonvegetarian food is served around the living Tirthankar Murti. Significant Ashatana occurs. It would be better if Shri Acharya Maharaj who will be doing Anjan Shalaka Vidhi flies with Aloyana or Prayashchitta from his Guru or from the Jain Sangh. Employing a paid pujari to perform daily rituals on Anjan Shalaka murties, cannot enhance our spirituality. Spiritually we cheat ourselves. This is not what the Jain religion teaches us. This is not what we want to teach our children. We cannot attain liberation by paying someone (Jain or non-jain) to do a religious act that was meant for us to do voluntarily with proper reflections for our spiritual progress. I think this way we do more Ashatana (committing higher sin) than not doing the daily puja at all if we do not have time to do it. The belief that once the Anjan Shalaka (Pancha Kalyanak) ceremony is performed, the spiritual aura of the murti covers a much larger area of the community is in clear violation of the basic Jain principles. The Jain Tirthankars are Vitaragi meaning they do not possess any attachment and aversion. Hence our spiritual progress will occur if we truly pray and reflect in front of any