Jains in India and Abroad

Author(s): Prakash C Jain
Publisher: International Summer School for Jain Studies

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the birth day of Mahatma Gandhi, should have been celebrated as the World Ahimsa Day by the United Nations.
Last, but not the least, Jainism stands for self-reliance, humanism and social welfare. It is often said that there are no beggars and criminals in the Jain community. The Jains run the largest network of philanthropic activities, including schools and hostels, hospitals, dispensaries, birds hospitals, drinking water facilities, and nongovernmental organisations for disbursement of loans and scholarships for students, and other forms of charities. Of the 16,000 Cow-sheds in India, 12,000 shelters are run with the donations of the Jains.
Concluding Remarks This chapter introduced Jains as a community in the wider context of Indian history and society. It is argued that the Jains belong to the Shraman tradition, an indigenous tradition that is older and rival to the Vedic tradition. As a community, the Jains have been an integral part of Indian society and culture since time immemorial. Of all the religious communities in India, the Jains have been closest to the Hindus in terms of social organizational features and life cycle rituals, and the overall cultural ethos. So much so that the Jains, in spite of belonging to a separate religion, are often subsumed within the Vaishya category of the Hindu Varna system - a situation that they have been trying to protest and correct since the late 19th century and more intensely since the early 1980s by claiming for themselves a separate community identity as well as the formal legal status.
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