Charlotte Krause her Life and Literature

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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[ XVi ]
cultural material of that period. But it is unfortu-nate that while writing cultural history of India, this material has not been properly utilised. Though in this article Dr. Krause has shown the richness of Jaina canonical and narrative literature regarding its cultural data which reflects on the life of Indian society at that time. Here on the basis of Jaina canon she has mentioned that the system of Pardāh was a well established custom prevailing in Indian society, particularly in royal class, before the arrivals of Mohamme-dans to India. This essay lacks the original references from the Jaina canons. Had the author supplied the references, it would have been a good research article.
In the fifth article "The Social Atmosphere of Present Jainism”, Dr. C. Krause has given her accounts of observations of social atmosphere of Jainism. She propounds that not only a person who took his birth in the Jaina community or in Jaina family, is a Jaina, but the persons who took their birth in other communities and the followers of align faiths or religions, if they observe the fundamental principles of Jainism, such as non-violence etc. and have a regard towards Jaina ideals can also be included in Jaina community. Jainism is not a birth based religion, it is the religion of those who observes its ideals in their lives. The second aspect of this article on which Dr. Krause has stressed more is that Jainism was the religion, which strongly opposed the birth-based four-fold Varņa system as well as caste system of Indian society, but unfortunately at present it is completely in the grip of that Varņa and caste system. In this regard she had made a complete survey of the rites and rituals, prevalent at that time in different Jaina castes and her observation were true in that regard. But we must be aware of the fact that in these fifty to sixty year this position altogether has changed and that rigidness of class and caste system in Jainism had become only a historical fact. She has expressed her anxiety regarding the prevailing bitter sectarianism in Jainas which is totally against their liberal outlook of Anekāntavāda. Her observations