Jaina Religion Historical Journey of Evolution

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 44

34 Jaina Religion: Its Historical journey of evolution institution of Varna got distorted and led to the division of society into higher and lower castes, and that in turn led to a disharmony in social health. Jaina thought-process was opposed to this kind of caste system, and proclaimed the equality of mankind. On the one hand Harikesibala of lower caste was ordained and on the other hand the aspirant like Gautama who was a Brahmin by birth was initiated in the spiritual order with the same sense of equality. Not only were caste differences considered meaningless, economic disparity was also disapproved of. For example, in their viewpoint the Emperor of Magadha and Puniā an ordinary householder, were regarded as equals in Jaina tradition. Thus, Jaina tradition by rejecting the concept of higher and lower class structure emphasized on equality of man. This also had an influence on Hindu tradition, and thus in the postGupta Bhakti period there was an opposition to the institution of varņa and the supremacy of the Brahmin class. In fact, the influence is evident during the period in which the Mahābhārata was written (i.e. about 4h century AD). Liberation from subjugation to God and independence of Man
The other problem of that period was that man's independence was being ranked low in the