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ASPECTS OF JAINOLOGY VOL-VII grains and fruits which have been offered by the associated with the Brāhmaṇa. One noteworthly devotees at the altar of a Jina. These offerings are example is fire (Agni) which is thought to be sacred called Devadravya (goods intended for the worship by all Hindus. Being both a divinity (Devatā) as well of the Lord) and are considered nirmālya, fit to be as the priest of the gods, fire is belived to have an discarded, either by burying them in the ground or by innate sacredness of its own. The importance of fire, throwing them in water. In traditional Hindu temples around which almost all the saṁskāras revolve, such substances would be regarded as prasāda, food including those associated with the funeral ceremony, blessed by the Lord, and thus the purest of substances, is well documented. Given this pan-Indian belief which is eagerly consumed by the devotee. For the concerning fire, one would expect the Jainas also to Jaina devotee, the worship of the Jina is a meditational retain some modicum of veneration of fire. But such act, despite its apparent similarity to the Brahmanical is not the case if one observes Jaina attitudes both as pūjä. Strictly speaking there is no deity in the Jaina revealed in their scriptures and in their social customs. temple : the Jina, unlike the Brahmanical gods, The Jainas do indeed include agni or fire in their list transcends all pretense of "descending" into an of celestial beings (jyotişks devas) together with the image. 12 The visit to a temple is a meritorious act sun and moon. But agni is not considered any more simply because it reminds the devotee of the Jina's sacred than the other celestial beings. preaching. The Jaina layman regards the temple as
The ancient Jaina texts, on the other hand, the holy assembly (samavasarana) of the Jina and
repudiating the efficacy of the fire sacrifice, appear imagines the Jina's presence in that image. It would
to be silent on the role of fire itself. In the postbe socially unacceptable to approach such an august
canonical period, Jainas, especially in the South, assembly empty-handed. The offerings therefore are
undertook the task of integratiæg themselves into neither received by the Lord nor blessed by any ritual
Brahmanical society. It is to Jinasena, a ninth century act on the part of the priest. The "Jaina-Brāhmana,"
Digambara ācārya, that credit is due for achieving this by eating the offered food, demeans himself and for
assimilation at a social level, without compromising that reason is considered lower in status than the
the basic Jaina doctrines. He introduced, apparently śrävaka, the initiated Jaina layman. These
for the first time, a large number of Saṁskäras for observations should show that, for a Jaina, neither
initiating a Jaina layman into the four-fold aśrama the image, the offerings, nor the priest are holy or
scheme, and laid down a variety of ceremonies pure. Rather, the idea of renunciation, as symbolized
involving the kinding of the sacred fire and the by the image of the Jina,"" is the source of purity. By
offering of food in Jaina temples. Explaining the extension, only the emancipated soul or his follower,
worship of fire, however, Jinasena proclaims: the mendicant, may be regarded as the embodiment of purity. In Jainism, the Sramaņa replaces the Fire has no inherent sacredness and no divinity. Brahmana in the caste hierarchy, leaving no truly But because of its contact with the body of the Tirthankara defined station for the latter. The Jina or his mendicant (at the time of his cremation), it can be considered pure. disciple may be called a māhana metaphorically, but
Such worship of fire, in the same way that the worship of
holy places is made sacred by the Tirthankara's having he is certainly not a Brāhmana in the sense of a
attained nirvana there, is not in any way blameworthy, member of the classical Brāhmaṇa Varņa.
For the Jainas, fire is regarded as suitable for worship Certain objects of veneration, which are also only on a conventional level. It is in this wise that Jainas considered agents of purification are usually worship fire as part of their veneration of the Jinas. 15
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