First Steps to Jainism Part 1

Author(s): Sancheti Asso Lal, Manakmal Bhandari
Publisher: Sancheti Trust Jodhpur

Page 92

(Step
Five)
The Five Worships (The Panch Parmeshthi)
From the rudimentary knowledge of Jainism culled in the previous discussions one thing must have become obvious that Jainism is a religion of self-help : without any outside agency-even God- coming to the rescue of the soul. The soul is its own destroyer or liberator. It is the wish fulfilling tree (Kalpa Vriksha) and it is also the poisonous (shalimli) plant. The Soul has to acquire right vision and knowledge and follow the path of right conduct. Thereby it can become God itself, but no other God can help it (nor can it help any one else)except blazing a trail which has to be followed by one's own effort and volition. It is a case of pure and simple rationalism- cut and dry, shorn of any sentimentality which is too evident elsewhere, where God is not only held as the creator, but also the destroyer and maintainer of life and therefore, responsible for all that is good or evil in the world.
2. Jainism should, therefore, have no place for worship, only knowledge and conduct holding sway. However, we do find Jain temples, statutes, stupas and caves built over the last two thousand five hundred years being worshipped devoutly. Also there are hymns and prayers galore in Jain literature. Every Jain prays morning and evening as a part of his religious routine, worships in his temples much like his other brethren - Christians in churches, Mohammedans in mosques, Sikhs in Gurudwaras and Hindus in their temples.
3. Much of this praying by Jains is imitating others, due to the mutual influence between Jainism and other faiths. Eve'n some Jains bathe in Ganges to expiate the sins. Then there is the practical approach-vyavhar-due to which Jains, forgetting the intrinsic beliefs, fall in line and pray like others for boons, after all this is the easier way than the harder path of right conduct with its vows and penance. Then the concept of an all powerful creator, preser