ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

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B. Pilgrimage As Jain philosophy emphasizes purity of thought and soul, so from absolute viewpoint t rtha is defined as the efficient cause for achieving emancipation i.e. elimination of the birth-deathbirth cycle called sa s ra. Thus activities and characteristics such as ten virtues (dasa laksa a), 12 types of austerities, self-restraint, and right-faith-knowledge-conduct are called trtha. However, from practical viewpoint, places where the five auspicious events (pa ca kaly akas) of the twenty-four trtha karas or any special event in their life or of the other monks who attained omniscience are called t rthas. In this paper we shall talk of t rtha places as trthas as this is the common meaning assigned by laity. Going to these places is called pilgrimage and spending time there and is an extremely important activity in a Jain's life. Pilgrimage differs from festivals in the sense that festivals are celebrated in the city of your normal residence for a short time while for pilgrimage, one has to leave his /her home and family and go a religious palce for longer periods of time.
As seen above, by definition, trtha is a holy place. It signifies purity, simplicity, holiness, knowledge and bliss all put together. When we go there we start feeling these attributes also. In fact the idea of going there and starting the pilgrimage itself gives a feeling of renouncing the world and enjoying the eternal benevolence of holy people. This is the whole purpose of going on a pilgrimage. Jains go to trtha quite often, especially the middle aged and the elders and stay there for extended periods of time to acquire more religious knowledge, practicing rituals and giving up worldly activities. In a way we can say that pilgrimage is like going on a vacation but with the objective of feeling and being holy and peaceful and cleanse the soul as against just the physical rejuvenation in vacations. Pilgrimage provides us the opportunity to devote full time for spiritual purposes and hence enables us to advance in our path of spiritual purification.
Broadly, a t rtha can be of any one of the four categories:
• •
Place of attaining emancipation, Nirva. Siddha kşetra Place where some divine or other religious event happened. Atiśaya kşetra. Place where any of the five auspicious events of t rthankars took place. Kaly Place of art/ architecture. Kalā kşetra.
aka kşetra.
Let us briefly review each:
Siddha kşetra: There is very limited number of such places in India. Sammeda ikhar or P ras N tha in the state of Jh rkhanda is the place from where twenty out of twenty four trthankaras have attained Nirva. Thus it is the holiest one and is frequented by almost all Jains at least once in their lifetime. Then there are P v puri (Mah vra), Camp puri (V sapujya) in Bihr, Giran ra (Nemi N tha) in Gujar ta and Mount Kaila a (now in Tibet) fordi N tha that belong to this class. There are other places identified also where other omniscient attained Nirva (mostly in the states of Mahārāstra, Gujarāta, Bih r and Madhya Prade a).
Kaly aka kşetra. There is a limited number of such places again. Ayodhy with maximum number of kaly akas (first five t rthankaras). Hastin pura with four kaly akas of three t rthankaras, both in UP and P lit na in Gujar ta are important places. There are many others such places primarily in UP, Bih ra, Madhya Prade a and nearby states.
Atiśaya kşetra Almost all other trthas numbering approximately 200 fall in this category. They are spread throughout the country. Due to some auspicious event happened earlier people start believing in divine powers in such places and visit them primarily to have their worldly needs fulfilled. SriMah vraji and Tij r in R jasth na are most visited ones. They are mostly in R jasth na, Mahārāştra, Gujarāta, Bihāra and Madhya Pradeśa and Karnātaka.
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0