Jainism in North India

Author(s): Chimanlal J Shah
Publisher: Longmans Green and Compny London

Page 55

JAINISM IN NORTH INDIA
legendary in nature also have been told by other religions about their own prophets What strikes us most is not the nature of the tradition, but the spirit behind it. Does it mean, from this attitude on the part of the Jainas, that their monastical order was originally intended only for the Kshatriyas? It seems not; because, tracing from the days of Mahavira down to our own times, we find that some of the greatest and most prominent figures of the Jama fold were Brahmans as well From Indrabhûtı1 down, right to the last Ganadhara of Mahavira, all were Brahmans Then in later history we have prominent Gurus and scholars bke Siddhasena and Haribhadra who also were originally Brahmans.2
It may be that just at the beginning of the rationalistic period, when Brahmans were more or less at the height of their glory, and when other castes were getting more and more conscious of their previous subordination to Brahmans, this belief on the part of the Jainas got a certain definite form. The Buddhists also seem to have entertained a similar feeling, emphasising the prominence of the Kshatriya touch in their church. In one of his sermons at Benares, Buddha speaks of his religion as that "for the sake of which noble youths fully give up the world and go forth into the houseless state" s
With all this it must be borne in mind that the Jainas did not mind the Brahmans becoming Jaina Gurus and enjoying the highest posts in the Jaina church, but they made this distinction, that a born Brahman may become a Kevali and attain Moksha, but he cannot become a Tirthankara This may be just to wipe off the common belief of the people of those days that Brahmans alone were entitled to be at the top in all spiritual matters We know from authentic sources that during the early days there was nothing like the Brahmans enjoying monopoly about religious and other ceremonial affairs "Numerous instances have also been cited to show that men of low birth actually entered the priestly caste by
2 "There is a legend about Indrabhuti which shows how much he was attached to his teacher At the time of Mahavira's death he was absent On his return, hearing of his beloved teacher's sudden decease, he was overcome with grief He became aware that the last remaining bond which tied him to the Samsara was the feeling of love he still entertained for his teacher Therefore he cut asunder that bond, and thus Chinnapiyabandhane he reached the stage of Kevalin He died a month after Mahavira's Nirvana "Jacobi, Kalpa-Sutra, Int, p 1
Haribhadra was
"Siddhasena Diväkara, the son of a Brahman minister originally a learned Brahman "-Stevenson (Mrs), op cut, pp 70, 80
Rhys Davids and Oldenberg, SBE, ш, p 98
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