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Views of Jainism in Sikh Scriptures
Abstract:
Sushil Jain
This paper deals with the images of Jainism as noted in the writings of the first and last Gurus of the Sikhs, and in the biographical commentaries of the first Guru, popularly known as Janam-sakhis. Certain excerpts from the foreign writers of Sikhism are also included to emphasize the points made by the Gurus.
A description of Jaina religious philosophy and ethics, not common practices of the Jain monks, is also obtained from Sikh sources to emphasize how Jainism is currently understood by Sikh scholars.
Prologue :
There are perhaps no other two religions of India so diametrically different from each other, in their approaches to God, as are Jainism and Sikhism.
Jains, for example, do not believe in a Creator-Destroyer God, whereas the Sikhs believe in One All-Powerful God.
Whereas the Jains believe in and practise ahimsā (non-injury to all living beings), the Sikh Gurus did not attach such a great importance to the concept of non-violence. In fact, some Sikh Gurus carried arms and participated in armed conflicts.
Whereas Lord Mahavira, the Jain Tirthankara, renounced the world and gave up the householder's life, the Sikh Gurus specifically honoured the householder's life.
Whereas Jain Sadhus and Sadhvis (monks and nuns) pull all hair
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