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that the differences between them are very great and their agreement is in respect of a few particulars only concerning the ordinary mode of living. Even the ceremonies which appear to be similar are in reality different in respect of their purport if carefully studied. The sacred books of the Hindus like Vedas, Smṛtis, Purāṇas, etcare not accepted by the Jainas and the Hindus also do not recognise even a single scripture of the Jainas. While the Jainas regard the world as eternal, the Hindus hold it to have been made by a creator. In Jainism worship is not offered to an eternal and eternally pure God, but to those Great Ones who have realised their high ideal and attained to Godhood themselves; in Hinduism worship is performed of many forms of one God who is the creator and the ruler of the world. The significance of worship in Hinduism is also not the same as that in Jainism. In Jainism there is no offering of food and the like, nor is a prayer made to the deity for boons. In Hinduism the attainment of the object is by the will of certain divine beings who are to be propitiated.144 The animal sacrifices practised by the Hindus have no place in Jainism. The Hindus believe that Gods alone can attain salvation, while the Jainas consider that it is the right of human beings only. The Hindus regard Karma as an invisible power but the Jainas think it as a form of matter which can stick to the soul. In Jainismn there are various principles like Dharma, Adharma, Leshya, Ginasthāna, etc. which are not found in Hindu spiritual ideology.145 The Jaina Gods, temples, places of pilgrimage, holy days, fasts, festivals and rituals are quite different from those of the Hindus.146 While the Hindus consider marriage as a religious sacrament, the Jainas regard it as a civil contract. The begetting of male children is prescribed by Hinduism for the spiritual welfare of the people; but in Jainism the presence or absence of a son does not make any difference in the spiritual progress of a person. The peculiarly Hindu practices like Niyoga and Sati are not approved by the Jainas.147 Further a large number of Hindu religious practices, which are repugnant to Jainism, have been termed as Mudha or stupid customs and beliefs and the true Jainas are required to be absolutely free from them. They are sun-worship, bath during eclipses, giving away money on Sankranti days, the morning and evening ablutions, fire-worship, the worship of edifices, ceremonial bathing in rivers and the ocean, adoration of trees, stūpas, and sacred offerings of boiled rice, religious suicide by falling
