________________
Social Divisions in the Jaina Community
73
of castes and sub-castes, with their population figures as given by the Digambaras and Svetām baras are entered in Appendices VI and VII respectively. As many castes in the Jaina community are engaged in commercial activities, they are spread over a wide area, especially in big commercial towns and ports." In cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Nagpur, etc., nearly fifty Jaina castes can be easily found. As regards the names of different castcs found in each Province, Appendix VIII gives the names of the Digambara Jaina castes with their population according to Provinces.41 Even though castes have spread over a wide area, yet there are different places where different castes have been concentrated. Thus Grimālis will be found mainly in Gujaratha and Kathiawar, Osavala in Gujaratha and Marwar, Khandelavālas in Marwar and Malavā, Agaravāla in the U. P. and Delhi, Humbadas in Marwar, Paravāras in Bundelakhanda, Saitavāla in the former C. P. and Berar, Chaturthas and Pañchamas in Karnātaka
former Deccan States. This is the reason how they could keep up their identity up till now.
4. JAINA CASTE SYSTEM
We have seen that the caste-system among the Jainas is a social, and not religious, institution. Jainism does not recognise castes as such and at the same time the Jaina books do not specifically obstruct the observance of caste rules by the members of the Jaina community. The attitude of Jainism towards caste is that it is one of the social practices, unconnected with religion, observed by people, and it was none of its business to regulate the working of the caste system. Naturally the Jainas evolved a caste system of their own which is more or less similar to the caste system found in the Hindu society. This was bound to occur sooner or later because the Jainas were surrounded on all sides by the Hindu, and at times they were recruited from the Hindus, and as such they could not escape from copying the most important characteristic of the Hindu society, viz., its caste system. Practically all noteworthy features of the caste system among the Hindus. found a place, to more or less extent, in the caste system among the Jainas. It is therefore necessary to see what are the prominent features of the Hindu caste system and to what extent they are: discernible in the Jaina caste system.
