Outlines of Jainism

Author(s): J L Jaini, F W Thomas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Page 47

THEOLOGY : PRINCIPLES.
the most popular Jaina invocation is addressed millions of times every day in India. It runs
Vamo arahantānam, namo siddhānam, namo āyāriyānam, namo uvujjhāyānam,
namo loye sabbu-sāhūņam. " I bow to the arhats, I bow to the siddhas, I bow to
the ūcharyas, I bow to the upādhyāyas, I bow to
all the sūdhus in the world." The repetition of these words is accompanied by bowing with folded hands in all four directions : east, north, west, and south.
Four points must be noticed : (1) The catholicity of the Jaina attitude. The worship and reverence are given to all human souls worthy of it, in whatever country or clime they may be. (2) The worship is impersonal. It is the aggregate of the qualities that is, worshipped rather than any particular individual. (3) The arhat, the living embodiment of the highest goal of Jainism, is named before the free soul who has left the world and cannot be approached by humanity, which requires to see truth before it can seek it. (4) The Jaina incantation dum or Om is composed of five sounds: (1, 1, ā, u, and m, which stand respectively for arhat; asarira=“disembodied ”, i.e. the siddhus; āchürya; upūdhyāya : and muni= the silent, or the sūdhu.
IV. The last basic principle of Jainism is this: Man himself, and he alone, is responsible for all that is good or bad in his life (14, 15).
Jainism, more than any other creed, gives absolute religious independence and freedom to man. Nothing