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Jaina Community-A Social Survey
the sectarian feelings have gained such an upper hand that the various sects and sub-sects not only hate one another but try to grab what the others have got. Naturally the Jainas think always of their sub-sect or sect and never of Jainism as a whole. In these circumstances it is obvious that there is no powerful common religious bond which can bring all Jainas together. What is true of religious divisions is equally true of social divisions. The Jaïna system of social organisation was, in the beginning, based on the distinction of function. Birth was not considered as a criterion for determining the status of a person in society. But later on a large number of castes and sub-castes arose in the small Jaina community and today the Jainas are as caste-ridden as the Hindus are. Naturally the castes have fostered separatist tendencies, have created cultural gulfs between the castes, and have stood in the way of social unity in the Jaina community.
5. PRESENT PROBLEMS AND THE WAY OUT At present the Jaina community is faced with various problems which are clamouring for solution. Of these some are of recent origin. The problems like whether the Harijans should be allowed to enter the Jaina temples or not, whether the Jaina ascetics should be excluded from the application of Beggars' Act or not, whether the properties attached to the Jaina temples and Mathas or monasteries and religious endowments should be controlled by the Government or not, whether the term 'Hindu' includes the Jainas or not, etc. are the outcome of the past few years and have arisen mainly due to the excessive legislative zeal. shown by various Provincial Governments after the introjuction of Provincial Autonomy in Irdia in 1937. But these problems need not detain us here. We are more concerned with the problems of a fundamental nature which are existing in the Jaina community for the last so many years. We have already discussed some of these problems in detail. It now remains to recapitulate them in brief and to suggest the ways of solving them so that the Jaina community can hope to lead a more vigorous and prosperous life in the future. (A) The Problem of Declining Population :
The most important, serious and urgent problem confronting the Jaina community is the gradual decline of its number. The Jaina community is one of the most ancient communities in India
