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Role of Women in Jain Religion
him a smiling farewell. Jyestha was the wife of Nandivardhan, Prince Vardhman's elder brother and she remained steadfast in her loyalty to her husband, despite many temptations from the gods.
The early scriptures of Jain religion like Uttara-dhyayan Sutra, Gnata Dharmakatha, Antankrut Dasha specifically mention that both men and women are considered as equally eligible for the ultimate goal of liberation. Moreover, there are a number of references to women having attained liberation. According to the Shwetambar tradition Jain Tirthankara Mallinath attained Kevalgnan and liberation in Stri Yoni itself. As against other Tirthankaras, who were men, the most outstanding aspect about Mallinath is that she attained Kevalgnan on the very day on which she was initiated to diksha. For years together she preached religion by roaming in rural and urban areas and showed them a way to self-purification. With the conferring upon women the right to being eligible for liberation, she automatically became entitled to other rights.
A significant aspect about the role of women in Jain religion is that since prehistoric times the Jain Sadhus are outnumbered by Jain Sadhvis. So also the number of Shravikas, women, who first join the fold, is far greater than that of Shravaks. The twenty-third and twenty-fourth Tirthankaras of Jains, Parshwanath and Mahavir Swami unhesitatingly admitted Sadhvis along with the Sadhus and Shravikas with the Shravaks. Thus, the Jain religion was committed to the equality of all, in fact, it achieved equality between men and women. The ancient sculptures of Mathura contain the sculpture of a Sadhvi very similar to that of a Sadhu and another sculpture of a man and woman together offering prayer. This is an enough
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