Collected Research Papers in Prakrit and Jainology Vol 02

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: University of Pune

Page 31

Models of Conflict - resolution and Peace in Jaina Tradition
(A Research Paper presented in the National Seminar jointly organised by Centre for Studies in
Buddhism and Dept. of Buddhist Studies, Uni. Pune, February 2009)
Introduction
In spite of using the word 'Jainaism', the title of the paper contends the word 'Jaina Tradition' which is very significant. If we try to search the models of Conflict-resolution and Peace in Jaina environment, we see that these models are pervaded in the Jaina way of conduct, in Jaina society, in their pattern of observing religious practices, festivals and celebrations, in their history, in their Socio-political reactions, in Jaina Art and Sculpture and in Jaina Literature. All these aspects put together suggest that Jainaism is not a mere philosophical system but a full-fledged tradition flourished in India, long back before the advent of Buddhism.
Three Inherited Models in Representing Jainism
In the first model, Jainaism is re-presented as a negligible sister-system of Buddhism, as an essentially marginal unimportant heterodox group. This model is best seen in the countless references to the Jainas in the compound, "Buddhists and Jainas" and so on. The assumption is that by understanding something of the Buddhists, one know all one needs to know about their
*darker reflection' - the phrase used by Louis Renou."
In the second model, Jainaism is represented as a minority ascetic tradition, it is incapable of influencing political institutions or developing a mass popular following. The Jaina tradition is characterized as boringly ascetic, austere, unimaginative and so forth.
In the third model, 'pure' Jainaism is defined as conservative and unchanging and all innovations are portrayed as degenerations. Original Jainaism is the essence and historical Jainaism consists in falling away from that essence. In this model, all innovation is ascribed to Hinduism, which is a dynamic and changing tradition. According to this model, influence moves in only one direction, from active Hinduism to passive Jainas.
Thorough study of 'Pure Jainaism' and 'Historical Jainaism' reveals a different picture. Jainaism is one of the most ancient of India's indigenous traditions and the oldest of the surviving non-Vedic schools. It is quite evident that though Jainas are in minority from the ancient period till today, still they have not lost their identity. They stick to their fundamental tenets, doctrines and ethics but they are not 'fundamentalists in the modern sense of this word.
In this paper, an attempt is made to enumerate the models of conflict-resolution and peace which have helped the Jainas in surviving without loosing their identity.