Lecture On Jainism

Author(s): Lala Banarasidas
Publisher: Anuvrat Samiti

Page 13

( 5 ) have looked lipon it as a bundle of unclcanly habits. Some say that the Jains never bathe, that they never clcan the teeth. Some blame the Jains for worshipping naked images. Nay, some mis-chiefmongers have gone to extremes. They have said "If an elephant comes in your face, no matter that it crushes yo'le to death, but do not enter a Jain lemple to say. yourself." Some say that there is no such thing as Jain philosophy:
standing
All this is due to trifling with, mildness, and faction; Causes of win-wuer. trilling with of the western scholars,
mildness of the Jains, and faction between the Hindus and the Jains. Western scholars have done is much good They have brought to light much of the l'edic and Buddhistic literature. They have made other wonderful discoveries. For all this we are grateful to them. But this should not prevenil me froin expressing my idea that they trifle with religions. They play with religions. This you can casily sec, at Icast, in the case of Jainism. Whilc one scholar holds that Jainism is a religion only twelve centuries old, a second says that it is a branch of Buddhism, and a third asserts that it is a product of Brahmanism. Some regard Mahavira its founder, others call Parshva Nath its author. Religions are not things to be thus trilled with. They have a halo of sanctity around them. They are, as it were, under a spell. and conflicting ropinions thus pronounced break that spell, anı! de.