Jinamanjari 2001 04 No 23

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

Page 43

svādhyāya. In addition to valuing the didactic nature of the texts, some of his works are also worshipped in their own right. For example, every November, on the anniversary of his birth, śrīmad's famous poem Atmasiddhi becomes the object of bhakti.
The publication of śrīmad's photographs and writings made a significant impact on the cohesion of the Srimad Rājacandra movement. Followers worship before the same image and refer to the same canon of scripture. These are the two physical characteristics that an outsider entering a śrīmad Rājacandra mandir would notice as distinctive. Followers are also united by a common doctrinal commitment, which is expressed as a shared belief in the method of liberation explained by Srimad in his writings. Devotion to śrīmad denotes a shared image, shared canon and shared belief system, and it is these factors that unite devotees into a movement. However, as this paper will now go on to explain, Śrīmad's religious instruction, and his followers' interpretation of it, has caused the movement to evolve with a fragmented social structure,
DIVERSITY IN THE ŚRĪMAD RĀJACANDRA MOVEMENT
Śrīmad was an independent, anti-sectarian religious practitioner. He was not associated with a particular established gaccha (monastic order) and his personal history holds no evidence of a living guru-disciple relationship. Disciples confirm his religious authority by the example of his own life, as described above. Śrīmad's independence gives his followers considerable freedom in their social organisation because they are not constrained by an existing organisational structure. Srimad offered instructions about religious practise, but because he had not intended to establish a new Jain sect he did not set down a code of administration.
śrīmad emphasises that the purpose of religion is liberation. At the centre of his philosophy is samyak darśana, self-realisation, which is the aspirant's first step onto the mokşa märg, the path to liberation. Samyak darśana is the immediate religious goal of the vast majority of śrīmad's followers. Śrīmad taught that guru bhakti is the surest way of attaining self-realisation during the current cosmic era. In accordance
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