Book Title: Jains Today in World
Author(s): Pirre Paul AMIEL
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 206
________________ Their Rites, Cults and Religious Festivals : 165 black colours. One may also see bearers of fans (cāmaradhara) and guardians or servants (yaksa and (yaksi) by their side. For the Digambara, these servants are always males. Behind the statue one can often see the special tree, "kevala vrksa”, under with the Tīrthankara has attained omniscience. When there is no temple near they live, Jains place a statue of the Tirthankara they prefer at home, if they practice this kind of cult. Every day, they view him, wash him, praise him, and sometimes swing a lamp in front of him in performing the "ārati". The Svetāmbara make offerings of flowers, sweets and so on. Hereby, they strengthen their faith in their religion. Sometimes, they place also at home an image of the deity they want to receive favours from, for example goddess Laksmi or Sarasvati. Often, they also have a "mandala" or a "yantra” at home to do their meditations, like the ascetics, when they have reached the step of high spiritual progress. The Jain cult regarding statues must not be considered as fetishism or idolatry. It is the same practice as in other religions that also represent their God and saints in that way. These statues and images represent human beings that Jains consider to have obtained liberation and thereby merit to be honoured, revered and worshiped. The ablutions and offerings the Jains make to them do not aim to render them propitious. These gestures have only a symbolic meaning about what we will speak later. The Tirthankara are, for the Jains, in the "Siddha loka" where they have absolutely nothing to do with our world. They are totally cut from our problems. Concerning celestial beings, Jains also represent them in the form of statues or images to whom they address prayers. They have a more magic than religious character and their number remains limited compared to Hinduism. One should recall that not all Jains follow the cult of statues and that those who practice it do not worship them as idols but express this way their respect to those they represent. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360