Jain Spirit 2004 06 No 19

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

Page 61

Samani Pratibha Pragya
All photos: Dinodia.com/ Milind Ketkar
A UNIQUE CONGREGATION
ATUL K. SHAH REPORTS ON A FESTIVAL OF SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
nterdependence. This is a law of the Universe. In spite of their significant austerity, Jain monks and nuns are dependent on householders for their food and well-being. In return, they provide invaluable spiritual
nourishment. This mutuality is very vivid in India, but virtually absent in the west due to the absence of saints. In January this year, I was very fortunate to have been invited to the annual Maryada Mahotsav, organised by the Terapanthi sect led by Acharya Mahaprajna in Jhalgaon, Maharashtra. The festival lasts several weeks and brings together monks and nuns and followers from all over India. In total, the Jain Shvetambara Terapanthi Sangh has nine hundred monks, nuns, samans, samanis and Mumukshu sisters. The aim of this is to maintain the rules and regulations of sainthood, and keep the unity of what is today one of the largest Jain sects. Some thirty thousand people come together in this event, which is planned well in advance and requires significant management and hospitality skills. Suppose you were living in India, and somehow were attracted to some gurus when they were travelling through your town. How do you meet them again? As Jain saints are nomadic, forced to wander from place to place, this becomes logistically very difficult. Also, suppose you are a saint and belong to a very large order of monks and nuns. How do you congregate if you are spread out? The Maryada Mahotsav is a festival planned specifically for this purpose, bringing together householders and saints to facilitate dialogue, reporting and planning for the next year. It is here that the Acharya decides who should go where for the Chaturmas, the rainy season when saints are supposed to stay in one place for four months. The next year's Maryada Mahotsav is also announced here to facilitate planning and to ensure that wandering monks and nuns reach there by
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