Jainism

Author(s): M R Gelra
Publisher: Createspace

Page 77

2. Two categories of Jainism
There are two principal categories of Jainism:
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Anagar Dharma (prescribed for the indoctrinated) Agar Dharma (prescribed for the followers).
The spiritual part of Jainism emphasizes the uprooting of primary passions like raga (attachment) and dvesha (aversion), which are the very root of all bondages of the soul. One then is able to develop a sense of equanimity. Saints successfully conquer these passions. For an ordinary follower of Jainism, evaluation and monitoring of emotions (attachment and aversion) is required. The goal should be to balance these passions and not to suppress them as every feeling has its value and significance.
At present, Jainism has its own living tradition of Shramans and Shramanis, scriptures and their millions of followers. In the morning after the prayer, Jain Shramans and Shramanis deliver sermons on the basis of their classical literature to uplift human beings spiritually and morally at large.
Anagar Dharma
Shramans and Shramanis are those who have renounced the worldly pleasures and family lives and have pledged to strictly adhere to the five ultimate vows (Mahavrata) of non-violence, non-larceny, non-indulgence, truth and renunciation. They abide by these guidelines in totality and even if these rules are flouted inadvertently, they undergo reparation and atonement.
Jain religion categorically denies the existence of any super-natural power or God as a creator and perpetuator of the universe and life. Nature exists and functions according to a set of rules with no scope for anybody's discretion. The responsibility therefore rests on the individual himself to attain liberation. Sadhu and Sadhvi, observing Anagar Dharma, undergo penance and meditation in order to attain Mukti (liberation of soul). The Chinese traveller Hun Tsang aptly describes the extent of penance they undergo. He writes in his two thousand year old travelogue, "Jain shramans are different from other Brahmins and sadhus in that they live nude. They uproot their body hairs themselves, their skin lakhrate and their heels show cracks as a tree bark." This is an ample historic proof of arduous penances undergone by the shramans of Jain sect. It is believed that penance and meditation build determination, generate the heat which in turn shrugs off the Karma bondage. This emancipation eventually results in attaining right vision, rightknowledge and right-conduct.