Book Title: Life in Ancient India as Depicted in Jain Canons
Author(s): Jagdishchandra Jain
Publisher: New Book Company

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 217
________________ 215 Vanimaga-They were greedy of food and begged alms by cxhibiting themselves to the devotees of Sakya etc 164 They put themselves in a pitiable state and in order to divert the attention of the donors spoke pleasing words, 165 RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS Väribhadraka-They lived on water or moss and engaged themselves in bathing and washing their feet 16 Värikhala-They washed their pot with mud twelve times Then various other classes of ascetics are mentioned is Some believed in abstention from acids, salt, garlic, onions, young camel's milk, beef and liquors as the path of perfection 189 Some lived in woods, huts, near the villages, practised secret 11tes and never abstained from killing living beings. They declared "I am not to be punished, tormented or deprived of life because I am a Brahmana, Südis only must be put to such tates because they are mean and low *170 Then there were you nuns such as cankā, pannāphī, kapalika ticiannikā bhāzeraï und the lit they moved in the county of Sindhu in luge numbers' POPULAR DEITIES III Religion in its essence is based more on intuition and emotion than a rational attitude of mind It is with the help of religion that man tried to explain natural forces and phenomena of the universe by imagining the existence of ever present agencies which, he thought, controlled the cosmic system Thus came into being the workshop of various gods and goddesses and ancestral spirits which were supposed to be the controllers of the universe The worship of various dentics in India is quite ancient 172 Jain texts mention the festivities (maha) in honour of (1) Inda, (2) Khanda, (3) Rudda, (4) Mukunda, (5) Swa, (6) Vesamana, (7) Naga, (8) Jakkha, (9) Bhuy, (10) Apa and (11) Kottakery 178 We shall deal with them one by one 104 Pinda Vir 444 f Tha T 5 154 al o cu 13 p 6 Da C1 I 19 108 Suya Nr 7 90 p 151 185 187 Brh Bha 1 1735 188 Bloomfield describes asc ucs who practised atrocities professo who were smitten by love, who wcze giredy gluonous, or otherwis VICIOs and who shained asceticis (7 405 Vol 44 pp 202-42) 169 Su 1 7 13 I and com Mahal odhi Jataka 171 Brh Bha 47441 17 There we mnges of gods and goddesses in tle days of Pin which were used for the pup s of making a living (Gopinath Itement of Hindi Iconography, Introduction) 178 Naya 8, p 100, Bhas 3 í The Lalitaristara (p 120) mentions the images of Siva, Shanda, Narayana, Kubera Candia Surva, Vaistavana, Sakra, Brahma and Lokapala. 170 Ibid, II 2 28 cf also ft alt Jata'a (II No 246) p 2021 (No 528) P 240

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429