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158 :: Aspects of Jaina Religion
make special efforts to give these charities to the needy irrespective of caste or creed.
From the beginning the Jaina householders made it one of their cardinal principles to give these four gifts to all persons who are in need of such help. In fact this help was extended to the protection and well-being of insects, birds and animals also. For this the Jainas established alm-houses, rest-houses, dispensaries and educational institutions wherever they were concentrated in good numbers. The annachhatrālayas, i.e., alm-houses, were conducted at pilgrim and other centres for the benefit of poor people. In the dharmaśālās, i.e., rest-houses, lodging arrangements were provided without any charges or at nominal charges at important towns, cities and pilgrim places. The ausadhālayas, i.e., dispensaries, provided free medicines to the afflicted persons. Along with the dispensaries for men, the Jainas conducted special institutions known as Pinjarāpolas for the protection and care of helpless and decrepit animals and birds. In unusual times of flood and famine these pinjarāpolas carry out various activities for animal protection. There is hardly any town or village of Gujarat or Rajasthan, where a pinjarāpola is not present in some form or other. The spread of education the Jainas took a leading part in the education of the masses. Various relics show that formerly Jaina ascetics took a great share in teaching children in the southern countries, viz., Andhra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In this connection Dr. A.S. Altekar rightly observes (in his book Rāstrakūtas and Their Times) that before the beginning of the alphabet proper the children should be required to pay homage to the Deity Ganesha, by reciting the formula SriGarešāya namaḥ, it is natural in Hindu society, but that in the Deccan even today it should be followed by the Jaina formula 'Om namaḥ siddham', it shows that the Jaina leaders of medieval age had so completely controlled the mass education that the Hindus continued to teach their children this originally Jaina formula even after the decline of Jainism. Even now the Jainas have rigorously maintained the tradition
