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Celebrating Jain Society of Houston Pratishtha Mahotsav 1995
Even Jains, however, have not been totally immune to the lure of "divine powers." Under the influence of Hindu devotionals, there appeared certain god
central figure, which conforms strictly to the Jain doctrine that an omniscient being no longer sleeps (as Buddha, for example, is often shown doing), and certainly does not engage in passionate worldly activities. (Compare the dancing, warring, or sportive poses used by Hindus in depicting their various gods). Even the well-known statues of Jain saints standing erect, arm and hands pointed downwards, illustrate a form of deepest meditation in this case conjoined with the practice of kayolsarga). Indeed no Jina-image has ever been found which shows the great being in any but one of these two "orthodox" positions, suggesting omniscient awareness and complete non-violence.
images in Jain temples during the medieval period. The divinities chosen were those associated in a benevolent manner with the careers of various Jinas, for example, the snake god Dharanendra and his consort Padmavati, who protected Parshva from several extraordinary calamities which threatened
him. Such beings, referred to as sasanadevata, guardian Spirits, are considered able to fulfill mundane wishes; they may often be appealed to on this level by "weaker" segments of the Jain community. Even so, they have never been allowed to usurp the primary position occupied by the Jina himself, despite the fact that Jina-worship promises no reward whatsoever save the turning of one's mind towards the goal of Moksha.
Another group of slabs taken from Mathura depicts what appear to be Jain stupas (reliquary mounds): this is particularly interesting since neither the sravakacaras nor the current practices of Jainism give any indication that a cult of relic-worship once flourished within the tradition. No stupas housing the remains of Jain teachers have yet been discovered; those shown on slabs, however, are very similar in design to the Buddhist ones which survive at Sanchi and elsewhere. In any case, we know that Jains never carried the stupa cult to a great extreme; their efforts seemed to have been directed more towards the straightforward construction and veneration of images (or some variation thereof); for a time it seems to have been popular to commemorate the great teachers by placing footprints (paduka) in stone and paying homage to these artifacts.
The "unreachable" nature of a Jina renders the presence of any priest or other intermediary virtually unnecessary in a Jain temple. Hence the Jain community has for the most part never developed a special priestly caste analogous to that of the Brahmans in Hinduism. Laymen are encouraged to carry out ritual services on their own, either individually or in a group.
Whatever the particulars of the development of these practices, building, consecrating, and regularly venerating images of the Tirthankars today constitute the primary religious activities of lay Jains.
The popularity of these practices should not, however, be construed to mean that Jains expect worldly help of any sort from the Jinas thus worshipped; they know full well that these perfected beings are forever beyond the pale of human affairs.
In other words, there is basically no "deity" present in a Jain temple; a one-way relation obtained between the devotee and the object of his devotion. Hence we must understand Jain image-worship as being of a meditational nature; the Jina is seen merely as an ideal, a certain mode of the soul, a state attainable by all embodied beings. Through personification of that ideal state in stone, the Jain creates a meditative support, as it were, a remainder of his lofty goal and the possibility of its attainment.
Shvetambars in particular have been loath to give over the performance of ceremonial functions to a caste of specialists; they may delegate to certain individuals the regular responsibility for cleaning the temples and washing and decorating the images, but such people are by no means priests. Among Digambars in the north, a similar situation has prevailed. But those in the south have developed a class of so-called "Jain-Brahmans"; members of this group were permanently attached to temples or temple lands, and were usually entrusted with the actual performance of rituals held within their domain. The presence of Jain-Brahmans was of course intimately connected with worship of the "guardian spirits" and various yaksas (demigods) who could be "reached" by means of complex religious procedures. But even where such ceremonial specialists did exist within. Jainism, they never assured the sacred status or exclusive sway over religious functions accorded Brahmans in the Hindu community. An ordinary lay person was always free, provided he had taken the mulagunas and sanctified himself with a ritual bath, to perform puja in any Jain temple; this held true even if a JainBrahman was "in charge" there.
"Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research"
(George Bernard Shaw)
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