Jain Journal 1991 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 21

APRIL, 1991
165
If this is the case, that Buddhism was not much of a force in the Punjab during the times of Babă Nanak, did Buddhism have any influence on Baba Nāaak? There are certainly some references to Buddha in the Japji and it is known that Baba Nanak visited Bodh Gaya, where Lord Buddha had achieved nirvāņa. It has been suggested by some Sikh scholars (Surinder Singh Kohli, A Critical Study of the Adi Granth, 1961 : 248) that the Buddha is regarded in the Adi Granth as an incarnation of Vişņu. (also cf. Banerjee 1984 : 89)
There does not seem to be any criticism of Buddha's way in the Sikh scriptures, perhaps because it was not much of a force in the Punjab at that time. Hindus had absorbed Buddhism by claiming Buddha as one of the incarnations (avatārs) of Vişnu,
But Jainism did not suffer the same fate as Buddhism in Sikh literature. Banerjee (1984 : 89-90) tells us :
"It (Jainism) was a living faith in Rajputana and Gujarat, and from Guru Nanak's sharp criticism of Jain monks (probably of the Digambara sect) in Var Majh (Macauliffe, I, 150-152) it would appear that they were not unfamiliar figures in the Punjab. He condemns their unclean habits :
They have their hair plucked out, they drink dirty water, they beg and eat others' leavings ;
They spread out their ordure, they inhale its smell, they are shy to look at water;
They are ever filthy day and night ; they have no sacrificial marks on their foreheads.
God hath ruined them : they go about despised; their words are like curses.
The Guru condemns the Jain practice of ahimsa ; he does not recognize man's responsibility for killing animals, for the role of destroyer belongs to God alone.