________________
226
JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXVIII, NO.4 APRIL. 2004
roţi-lūgā nike rākhai, āgehū kī veda bhākhai; bhalo hvaihai tero, tātem ananda lahata haum// priti ko pratiti mana mudita rahata hauṁ/
Ibid. 76. 14. (a) In the month of Srāvaņa every year there is a mass pilgrimage of kāmvariyas on foot from Sultanganj in Bihar to Deoghar (Vaidyanāthadhāma) in Jharkhanda, a distance of nearly 80 kilometers, for bathing the symbolic Siva-idol with gangā-water. The whole route remains crowded with pilgrims. On the way there is a pilgrims' shelter built by a devotee popularly known as kāṁvariabābā, who permanently stayed there. During the pilgrimage one morning it was rumoured that the bābā had misbehaved with a woman pilgrim. The mob at once got into a fury, passed a judgment and executed it. In religious frenzy the mob forgot that the crime had to be investigated and punished by proper agencies. This illustrates how crazy religion becomes irreligious.
(b) In Bihar there is a Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsā, supposedly situated near the birth-place of lord Mahāvīra viz. Kundagrāma. Adjacent to it there is a place of devi-worship. On special occasions, such as the navarātra, animal-sacrifice is offered at the place by the villagers. The said Institute is functioning there for nearly fifty years. The animal-sacrifice is going on as usual, nobody yet having successfully convinced the villagers that what they were doing in the name of religion is a slur on religion.
This shows how formalities and abstractions remain wide of the mark.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
onal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
