Jain Spirit 2002 10 No 12

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 55

Conferences Inspired Reforms
Echoes of these reform conferences can be found in the JAINA conventions in North America and the Oshwal Education and Relief
Board conventions held regularly in Kenya for over 50 years
We do not have actual transcripts of the conferences, but the written reports indicate that there was little public debate or dispute at the meetings. Instead, they were held in a highly ritualised form of public rhetoric. The ritual nature of the meetings is further indicated by the fact that the dates were set by astrologers jyotis). Speeches (bhasan) opened with mangalacaran, the recitation of Jain auspicious verses (mangalik). Sermons (pravacan) were delivered by leading Jain sadhus. Speeches were made both by the participating leading Jains, and also by other important Hindu leaders such as the Maharashtrian nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak who addressed the Third Conference in Baroda in 1904. Representatives of the princely government too delivered addresses when the conference was held in a princely state. Resolutions were introduced then approved, presumably after little substantive debate. The written reports of the conferences consist largely of transcripts of the important speeches and copies of the resolutions.
I will focus upon the resolutions approved at the ninth conference at Sujangadh from 27-29 January 1915, since that is the only conference for which I have a full set of resolutions available. The first four resolutions expressed the situation of the Jains as loyal and thankful participants of the British Empire. The first resolution was a pledge of loyalty to the Emperor George V, the second a note of sympathy to the Viceroy Hardinge on the recent death of his wife and son. The third was a resolution of thanks to the Maharaja of Bikaner, in whose state the conference was held. The fourth resolution thanked the Viceroy for his positive response to an active campaign that had been espoused in the resolutions of earlier conferences for the removal of a moral insult (asana) at Mount Abu (many Europeans who came there during the summer season did not remove their shoes when they visited the Jain temples of Dilwara). The fifth resolution supported the ultimately unsuccessful campaign for at least two Jain holidays to be listed as public holidays.
The remaining ten resolutions all pertained to social and ritual matters within the Jain community itself. They called for
greater support for educational institutions, in particular: (6) religious, (7) general, (8) commercial and (9) women's education.
The tenth called for financial and other support to Jain libraries, a task called at other conferences the restoration of books (pustakoddhar or pustak-uddhar). The preservation of texts and supporting the work of preparing and publishing critical editions was central to the reform efforts. The reformers assumed that the contemporary debased practices ran counter to textual norms, and so the study and publication of those textual norms would contribute to the spread of reformed practices. The eleventh resolution was related to this, calling the propagation (pracar) of Jain literature through the support of publication schemes.
The twelfth resolution appointed a special committee to draw up a constitution for a conference within six months to ensure the orderly continuation of the reform efforts. The thirteenth resolution was in response to the official censuses of India, which seemed to indicate that the Jain population as a percentage of the total Indian population was shrinking. This resolution called for positive steps to reverse this trend, such as reconversion, education, increasing medical knowledge and financial aid for lower and middle class Jains. The fourteenth resolution called for the restoration and rebuilding of old temples (jinroddhar).
The fifteenth and final resolution dealt with a wide array of harmful customs practised by Jains. These were non-Jain customs violating either the Jain ethical principle of ahimsa or else the Jain merchant principles of social restraint and decorum. Among these customs were child marriage, marriage of young women to old men, second marriage when the first wife was still alive, singing of bawdy songs, the use of fireworks at weddings, dancing by prostitutes at weddings, special meals or excessive mourning and breast-beating at the time of death, and the worship of and belief in non-Jain deities. Other harmful customs enumerated at other conferences included the observance of non-Jain festivals such as Holi. Sitala Poojan, Satyanarayan, Ssomvar vrat, Muharram, and the performance of Lakshmi Poojan on Divali; paying a brideprice, using non-Jain wedding rites, conspicuous consumption and wearing bangles made of elephant ivory. As a result of the efforts of the Conference and other reform-minded organisations, many of these practices have largely disappeared from contemporary Shvetambara Murtipujak Jain life. In some cases, however, such as the use of non-Jain wedding rites and the observance of Lakshmi Poojan on Divali, the reformers met with little or no success.
John Cort is Professor of Religion at Denison University, Ohio, USA. The above essay is extracted from his Roop Lal Jain lecture in Toronto, 1994. He is a member of the advisory board of Jain Spirit and a prolific scholar of Jainism.
September - November 2002. Jain Spirit 53
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