Jinamanjari 1996 04 No 13

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 29

that its impact on them can be deduced. In short, the presence of Indus imagery within all three emerging and solidifying religious traditions, which were each attempting to co-opt aspects of the popular tradition in order to draw and maintain public support, points to the popular tradition as the common source of this imagery and as its sole link to the Indus culture.
The laukika, or popular religious traditions, preserved the religious importance of the Indus culture imagery for many centuries and, as Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism each sought to incorporate aspects of this popular tradition within themselves they borrowed, absorbed and adapted portions of this imagery to suit their individual needs. However, before the transmission of specific images is explored it is important to first identify why these traditions needed to confront and interact with the popular traditions at all.
Jainism and the Popular Tradition
As Padmanabh Jaini points out, the merit making goals of the laity and the nirvana seeking ideals of the monks and nuns are not always compatible, but are necessary to the continued support and existence of the monastic community. To accommodate this dichotomy all the sramana religions had to make concessions to the popular traditions of the day in order to maintain and gain popular support. Jainism changed in this way much less than Buddhism, although it did borrow some aspects of the popular traditions.
One of the clearest examples of this borrowing can be seen in the growing importance of yaksas and yaksis within the history of Jainism itself. In the earliest texts the yaksas are represented as malefic beasts who threaten the safety of humanity in a passionate rush to satisfy their own appetites. Before long, however, tales were being written in which Mahavira, like the Buddha, begins to convert these fierce, hungry creatures by calmly teaching them the Jain doctrines.?