Jains Through Time

Author(s): Shilapi Sadhvi
Publisher: Veerayatan

Page 40

The Jains through Time
learned the local language, culture and customs with a view to making their message more accessible and easy to adopt Professor Frazer has written that it was entirely thanks to the Jains that a cultural revolution occurred in South India and that new ideals, new literature and new modes of behaviour came into being"?
religion. Jain sadhus and sadhvis are restricted in their means of travel, so this has been used as an excuse to prevent them taking the inspirational message of Tirthankar Mahavir to other countries. sometimes following a set code of conduct in such a rigid way can become a hindrance to the dissemination of the great message. I am compelled to think that if Jain followers in the past had allowed themselves to be hemmed in by such narrow ideas and beliefs, Jain history would have ended before it properly began.
The Jains did not remain tied to one place, one class or one community. 'Friendship to all' is emblazoned on the 'forehead' of Jainism. And it is the vitality of this message that enabled the Jains to cross any boundary. They ventured far and wide, reaching Yunan Province, Russia, Norway, Iran, Arabia, Afghanistan, Java and Sumatra. Theirs was a missionary spirit tempered in the flame of austerity and they were extremely successful at spreading the tenets of Jainism.
These people who dedicated their lives to teaching Tirthankar Mahavir's precepts to an expanding following, not only observed the tenets of his inspirational message, but also steeped themselves in his way of life - a life given over to an empathy for all beings. They walked the same path of good thoughts and good deeds as had Mahavir. With the objective of savva-jaga-jiva-rakkhana dayatthayae - 'compassion towards and protection of all living things in the world' -Tirthankar Mahavir walked from village to village and city to city for 30 years. I have a
History bears witness to the fact that the blaze of 'missionary fervour' Jainism once possessed is now much abated. Far from taking the word to distant countries, Jain families themselves seem to show little enthusiasm for learning about their own
The Joumal of Royal Asiatic Society, vol.22.p.249
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