Jain Journal 1997 01

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

Page 5

JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXI, No. 3 January 1997
Drawing upon an existing body of literature and on his own personal research in the field, Babb summarizes the diversity amongst Jains (pp. 4-5), touches on "Jain Basics" (pp. 5-6), and raises the issue of Jain identity vis-à-vis the wider Indian community, stating that "there is no clear boundary between Jain and Hindu traditions" (p. 21).
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In Absent Lord, Babb manages the difficult task of explaining a vast and complicated ritual culture of Jains with both passion and insight. With a perfect pace, in well-crafted text, and with the help of well-chosen photographs, the author successfully renders the Jains predicament-praying to an entity that has no concern for the worshipper-without sacrificing any details. The result is a wonderful book full of clarity and sympathy towards the Jains that he studied and befriended, who in turn opened their heart and hearth to an outsider (now to become an insider). The picture of Jains that emerges from Absent Lord is far from what has been depicted early in this century: people devoid of Grace and heart.
Though the text is usually full of descriptive details, once in a while the author leaves the reader asking for further information. For instance, on page 33, the author says, "One spring season Parsvanath saw a picture of Neminath's wedding party, and his mind turned to thoughts of world renunciation." It is not explained what was in that picture that turned Pārśvanātha's mind to renunciation. A Jain, familiar with the lives of Tirthankaras, in this case Neminatha and Pārsvanatha, may know that it was the possible butchering of hundreds of animals for his wedding feast that swayed Neminātha, a cousin of Lord Kṛṣṇa, to renounce the world, but others would have benefited if such an explanation had been offered.
All in all, it is an excellent book, except perhaps for a solitary typographical error (knobs for knots, para 3, page 152). With Absent Lord, Babb joins ranks with Banks (Organizing Jainism in India and England, 1992), and Laidlaw (Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy and Society among the Jains, 1995) whose studies have shed a very important and different light on Jains, much different from what was previously known from the works of Mrs. Sinclair (The Heart of Jainism, 1915), or Vilas A. Sangave (Jaina Community: A Social Survey, rev. ed. 1980).
Sushil Jain