Jainism a Theistic Philosophy

Author(s): Krishna A Gosavi
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 30

JAINISM: A THEISTIC PHILOSOPHY "GOD IN JAINISM"
5. The treatment accorded by Jainas towards the humanity is very severe and cruel act. 44
The attacks made on Jaina by Lala Lajpat Rai were repudiated point by point by the Jaina Association of India, in their book “Historical Facts about Jainism."-45
Here are some whimsical, absurd and ridiculous theories by some European scholars, which have been effectively refuted by Jaina scholars, in past: 1. Colezer derives Jainism from "Jesus,' a Roman Deity. 2. Colonel Franklin finds strong resemblance between “Jains' and
‘Junnes,' a magician of the Egyptian King Pharoah. 3. A missionary discovers similarity between “Jain' and 'Cain' of
the Bible. 4. Scholars like Lassen, Weber and Hunter make Jainism an
offshoot of Buddhism. O
In conclusion and analysis of the reasons for the misunderstanding, misconception and misrepresentation of Jainism by the scholars, from all around the world, a high court judge, J. L. Jaini, said that Jainas of India were ignorant of the west and western methods of study. Worse than this, Jains were religiously averse to letting non-Jains read or even see or touch their sacred books. In consequence Jainism was misunderstood, misrepresented and misquoted. Jaina tradition and teaching suffered from scholars partially for their accustomed studies in Brahmanism. But by the efforts of men like Weber, Buhler, Jacobi, Hoernle and others, the credibility of Jaina tradition has been established and received recognition due to its antiquity and long preserved tradition through long struggle, hostility from Brahmanism and Buddhism.
44 Jain Association of India, “Historical facts about Jainism, “Bombay
1925, P-IV 45 Jain Association of India, “Historical facts about Jainism, "Bombay 1925, P-IV *Dr. Surendra Kumar, “Glimpses of Jainism", Delhi 1997,P-3