Book Title: Jainism in Ealy Medieval Karnataka
Author(s): Ram Bhushan Prasad Singh
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas

Previous | Next

Page 47
________________ Idol Worship and Tantrism 29 for a Jaina it is not necessary to surrender to any higher being nor to ask for divine favour. There is no place for divine grace nor for the whims of a superior deity for the sake of attaining liberation, Stevenson too supports the same view. She holds that the attitude of Jaina worshipper seems nearer to the French soldier paying homage at the tomb of Napoleon and saluting the memory of a great liero than to the warm personal adoration and loving faith connected with the Hindu idea of bhakti. All this would suggest that the devotecs offered obeisance to the Jinas for realizing the virtues of the Jinas in their own lives and not for any worldly gain. But it is difficult to accept the views expressed above. The Jainas performed worship not out of selfless devotion but from a desire to gain temporal as well as cternal blessings and. happiness. Like the Hindus, the Jainas completely surrendered to the Jinas and expected favour froin them. It is also wrong to think that the Jinas did not dispense divine grace to their devotees. The Jaina Puranas and the stotra literature of the Karnataka Jainas reveal the fact that the Jainas were moved by the samc feelings and desires as are found in any ordinary human being. They appeal to the Jinas as ardently as the Hindus to Brahma and Vişnu. From the study of the Blaktam mara stotra of Mănatunga, it is apparent that the devotee can get victory over the enemies and escape thc grip of diseases by remembering the name of the first Jina Adinātha. Mānatunga himself is said to have released himself from the bondage of forty-two chains by the mere recitation of the name of the Jina." The Haritamsapurana of Jinasena Sūri also repeatsthe same idea and states that one can release himself from the influence of evil spirits by uttering the name of the Jina. The Varangacarita refers to the various results of performing Jina worship with eight different articles. Each article of 1. S. Stevenson, ERE, X, p. 188. 2. N.R. Premi, tr., Ādināth-Stotra, v. 13, p. 47. 3. Ibid. v. 45, p. 50. 4. 1. id. v. 46, p. 51. 5. Harivansaprāna, pt. ii, ch. 66, v. 41, p. 804.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195