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JAINISM
whole demand that the strong industrial groups allow new people in the industrial sphere."
People, similar to the author of the above lines are the spokesmen of the growing reformatory tendency in Jainism.
In the modern epoch of religious movement, sectarian traditions, aspirations to reorganise religious communities—all this is above all noticeable amongst the so-called middle classes i.e. petty and middle bourgeoisie with which the handicraftsmen often side in these movements. A part of intelligentsia, representing these same social strata also participate in these movements. It is characteristic that the ideologies of modern Jainism, as also of any other modern religion depart from the purely theological positions and strive to attach social content to the new religious movements, including in their programme quite a number of purely social demands or claims. The leading personalities of the Jain community resolved for example to award a prize of a lakh of rupees to the best writer (in 1966, this prize was awarded to Shankar Kurup from Kerala). They conduct all-India seminars on the questions of culture, sciences etc.
The movement, known as anuvrat i.e. movement for the moral revival of the society is an interesting attempt to conduct the new line in modern Jainism, which tries to unite and coordinate new social-economic conditions with the ancient religious dogmatics.
Terapanthi--the big subsect of the Shvetambaras, which consists of more than 700 shramanas (ascetics) and lakhs of laymen serve as a basis of the movement. Acharya Shri Tulsi, one of the ascetics from the family of prosperous Rajasthani Jains of Oswal caste is the initiator of this movement. He became the head of the entire subsect (9th in succession from its formation) in 1936, at the age of 21.
In the course of a number of years, he travelled on foot (as this has been prescribed for Jain monks) with a group of monks in the western and northern regions of India, giving sermons on the teaching of Terapanthi. He paid and continues to pay great attention to the spread of education among members of his subsect and especially among monks and nuns.
3. Quotations from the book Modern Indian Bourgeoisie, by L. I. Reisner and G. K. Shirokov, p. 67.
