Anuvrat Movements Theory and Practical

Author(s): Shivani Bothra
Publisher: USA Florida International University

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exemplar within the Jain tradition, which I will explore further in the remainder of the
chapter.
In the fourth category I will include all of the diasporic responses in that there
were almost no practicing Anuvrati and overall much less awareness of the Anuvrat
Movement. Here I observed that what awareness there was centered on two things. First
was the symbolic attention that the movement had garnered from
internationally
acclaimed peace-building bodies. Hereby implies the effectiveness of the movement in
transcending global boundaries. The second was a greater appreciation of the movement
as being free from strong sectarian influences. In fact, in many of the Jain meetings I
attended, the members were singing the Anuvrat song composed by Tulsi even though
they themselves were not Terapanthi. I attributed such an outcome to the periodic visits
of the Samanis from India to the United States, who travel to almost every center in
North America and sometimes give reference to Tulsi's movement. Thus also ties into
my thoughts about the role of the exemplar.
Another observation from my interviews that I found of interest was the rhetorical
nature of some of my respondents' answers. Earlier I referenced Tulsi's remark that he
was not interested merely in the increasing number of Anuvratis but on the quality of the
Anuvratis. However, during my interviews and conversations in India, my respondents
often resorted to hyperbole, describing the numbers of modern Anuvratis as being in the
“millions." While I do not have an accurate figure to dispute this, the opposite is also
true. They do not have an accurate figure to support it. Throughout my interviews, I also
heard the following statement parroted: "The Anuvrat Movement is more significant and
relevant today." It seems to me that these respondents judged the movement as significant
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