Jainism in Ealy Medieval Karnataka

Author(s): Ram Bhushan Prasad Singh
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas

Page 69

Idol Worship and Tantrism
51 shipping the Jina images, it seems possible to infer that there emerged a class of priests from among the monks who took part in the celebration of worship rituals.
The rcasons which impelled them to adopt the profession of priest are not difficult to find out. The rise of hedonistic tendencies and slack practices and the luse for material gains among the Jaina monks would have forced them to encroach upon the rights of pricst class which prevailed in Karnataka during the 5th-6th centuries. Thus, tlic distinction between Jaina monks and priests gradually disappeared from the 7th8th centuries. The change in the usual practice of priesthood would have surcly made them the solc master of cnormous wcalth, acquired from endowments made by the Jaina devotees,
The above analysis of the nature of Jaina monks in Karnataka slons how far they departed from the preccpts of their founder Malıāvīra, who denounced the infallible authority of the priest class among the Hindus and laid emphasis on the purity of soul rather than the observances of ritualistic formalism. The rituals introduced by the Jaina teachers of Karnataka were not in keeping with the original puritan character of Jainism The introduction of rituals also affected the Jaina vow of ahimsa (non-injury). In the course of performing worship and rituals, the Jaina devotees occasionally committed acts of injury to unseen germs in water, flowers, etc., which were used in the worship of the Jina. The offering of homa or fire oblation and āratz or waving the lamp round the Jina killed small insects. Jaina Goddesses and their Association with Tantrism
The worship of mother goddesses appeared as an entirely new phenomenon among the Jainas of Karnataka during early medieval times. The elevation of some Jaina Yaksinis from the minor deities to a superior position formed the basis of the mother cult in Karnataka.
The Yaksiņīs, who figure most prominently in the early Jaina Iitciature, were a class of attendant deities and had no separate existence apart from the Jinas. Their position underwent considerable change during this period. They were now