Jainism Parity And Patriarchy

Author(s): Anand Shah
Publisher: Anand Shah

Page 16

Anand Shah | Prof. Ulrike Stark | 6.8.18
between the Jain and Hindu law systems. With the death of the husband, all of the estate goes to the son in the Hindu system.31,32 The primary reason for this is given to be the concept of pindadana: because the son is responsible for giving oblations to his forefathers, he is responsible for the honor of the family in Hindu philosophy. However, the son's actions have no impact on the father's soul after his death in Jain philosophy, because karma (the generator of life's conditions in Jainism) is earned individually.33 So, as Jain and Hindu laws were fashioned, they centered the son differently -- this resulted in especially divergent conclusions in the case of property rights.
Sangh
Perhaps the first thing to note is that nuns are recognized in the sangh; gender does not seem to have been an issue for Jainism in terms of the creation of a female order. And, in terms of the size ratio between the male and female orders, that also has had a historical continuity: female mendicants far outnumber the numbers of male mendicants in the Jain sangh. Since before the time of Mahavir, the number of sadhvis has always been written to be more than double the number of sadhus; modern censuses give the numbers to be 2,572 male mendicants and 8,946 female mendicants.34 However, this lopsided ratio has not translated into a more egalitarian mendicant hierarchy over the years.
The first restrictions put specifically on female mendicants are restrictions of action: nuns are not allowed to be alone, to travel alone, or stand in kayotsarg (meditative posture). In
31 "Marriage and Position of Woman." Jaina Community: A Social Survey, by Vilas Adinath Sangave, Popular Prakashan, 1980.
32 Jain, Prakash Chand. "Women's Property Rights Under Traditional Hindu Law and the Hindu Succession Act." Journal of the Indian Law Institute, vol. 45, no. 3, July 2003, pp. 509-536.
33
Ibid., 31.
34 From Jain Samagra Caturmas Suchi (1998) cited in Balbir, 'Women in Jainism', 88.
35
Schubring, Walther. Brhat-Kalpasutra 5.15-21 Translation. 1977, pp. 31-55.