Jain Journal 1991 04

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

Page 22

166
JAIN JOURNAL
God killeth and restoreth animals to life ; none else may preserve them,
Although the Jains do not believe in God, they conform in many ways to Hindu customs. But there are inconsistencies in this conformity, as the Guru points out :
They give not their deceased relations lamps or perform their last rites, or place anywhere barley rolls and leaves for them. The sixty-eight places of pilgrimage grant them no access ; the Brāhmaṇs will not eat their food.
There is no reference to the philosophical basis of Buddhism and Jainism in Guru Nanak's compositions, But he refers to the six systems of Hindu philosophy :
Six the systems, six their teachers, And six their different teachings ; The Lord of them all is the One Lord However various his aspects are.
(Selections from the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs 1960 : 61)
The question that arises now, in one's mind, is : If Jains were not a formidable force in the Punjab of Bābà Nanak's times, why did the Guru show a great disdain towards is monks ?
The most plausible answer is that the Guru equated Jainism with the life-style of its monks. But the common followers of Jainism did not live like that then or now. We are told by Macauliffe (1909, vol. 1 : 151) that Jains did not conform to many Hindu customs and the Guru criticized them for not being "consistent". But, comments Indubhusan Banerjee (1939 : 127), "this is more or less true of all sects that have arisen from within Hinduism including the followers of Guru should particularly select the Jains and censure them for non-observance of certain customs which he himself regarded of little or no consequcnce."
An American scholar, John Archer (1946), gives the following details of Baba Nanak's meeting with Jain monks. It is possible to