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JAIN DIGEST .. May 2011
Chunabhatti can also be traced back to this
Samkhya and Yoga are two early and very period. Recently on Jan 20, 2010, this locality was important philosophies that follow the Shramana full of activity. The streets were crowded and a philosophy and whose existence can be traced huge procession was on its way. Young, Miss from archeological finding and related research of Neha Madanlal Godani, college-going girl, dear- the Indus Valley period of about 3000-2000 BCE. pet (laadaki) of her father, was on her way to take Yoga is probably the most important Shramana diksha under Acharya Kirtiyash Suri. On Jan 21, practice to date, which follows the Samkhya 2010, she became Sadhavi Nandishyra Shriji. philosophy of liberating oneself from the grip of Father Madanlal, told us, "It is very difficult to see Prakriti (nature) through individual effort. Jain your young one leave you after 22 years, it
literature credits the beginning of this tradition to specially hurts when one imagines the kind of Bhagwan Rushabdev. While the literal translation hardships one faces in the path of Sadhavi. of the dates in the Jain canons do not match with However, when I am calm, the thought of my the scientifically derived dates of the ancient determined daughter committed to the cleansing human civilization, logical extrapolation would put of her soul makes me immensely happy." When this period at the end of the Stone Age and the we asked Sadhavi Nandishyra Shriji about the beginning of the Agriculture Age. motivations that led her towards the path of sadhutva, she told us that she had come to realize The Sangh of Mahavir that every worldly relationship was temporary and Tirthankar Mahavir swami established a superficial. On the other hand, she saw her elder Chaturvidh sangh-the four community pillars of sister and masi (aunt), both of them were currently Jainism. The sangh pillars are Male monk (sadhu), sadhavis, who were undergoing hardships but Female monk (sadhavi), Male family person were still very happy. So instead of building and (shravak) and Female family person (shravika). As engaging in superficial relationship, it was better to per Jain tradition. Tirthankar leads the sangh while build a permanent relationship with Parmatma. he lives, and continues to be shashan-nayak When we inquired about the hardships she was (head-creator of the order) until a new Tirthankar undergoing as a newly initiated sadhavi, she was arrives. After the Tirthankar attains Nirvana, honest enough to admit to us that it was hard Acharyas who have at least 36 gunas (good sometimes and that she would get emotional at qualities) lead the sangh. times, but her resolve was complete and she had
After Mahavir swami's nirvana in 523B.C., the 5th no shanka (doubt) about the correctness of her
Ganadhar Sudhamaswamy became the first decision.
Acharya. Ganadhar Jambuswamy, the second
Acharya was the last follower of Mahavir Bhagwan Indian Tradition of Sainthood
to attain kevalgyan (omniscience) and ultimately Shramana is one of most ancient ascetic traditions became a siddha in this time cycle. The lineage of of India. A shramana is one who renounces the
the undivided sangh as per the different traditional worldly life and leads an ascetic life for the
and other accounts is given in the figure on the purpose of spiritual development and liberation.
next page. Shramana tradition asserts that human beings are
There are varying accounts about the split responsible for their own deeds and reap the fruits
between Digamber and the Shwetamber sect. of those deeds, for good or ill. Liberation.
There is Shwetamber view, Digamber view, and therefore, may be achieved by anybody
an outsider's view based on certain historical irrespective of caste, creed, color or culture (in
evidences and archaeological findings. A contrast to certain historical caste-based
summary of interesting research done by Prof. traditions provided the necessary effort is made.
Jaini is included in this issue of Jain Digest. A The Sanskrit word shramana is derived from the
terrible twelve-year famine occurred in Magadha Sanskrit verbal root śram "to exert effort, labor or
in 293 B.C and the origins of the great schism can to perform austerity". "Shramana" thus means "one who strives" in Sanskrit. The older Aarhat
be traced to this event. The date of the famine
also is different in different Jain traditions, Dharma or Nirgranth Dharma (Pre-Mahavir names
however, reliable date is 293BC based on reign of of Jain philosophy) would consider this word
Chandragupta Maurya. If one takes into account derived from the original word Saman that means
the historical evidences, and traditional data the one who believes in Samata, i.e. equanimity.
together it seems the separation occurred
sin Education Interational
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