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38
PRABUDDH JEEVAN
JANUARY 2017
JAIN PATHSHALAS OF NORTH AMERICA
Dilip V. Shah, Philadelphia, USA Dear Parents of young kids:
Jainism. Swetamber, Digambar or Sthanakvasi How comfortable would you be answering the parents, all send their kids to our unified pathshalas. following questions?
Medium of instruction is mostly English but Gujarati What are the differences between the Maha Vrats
and Hindi classes are offered as language studies. and Anu Vrats? Which stotra is sung by Lord Indra in
in The 925 questions cover most of the topics young Jains praise of the Tirthankars? The single lamp in Mangal
must learn: In the category of basic Philosophy, they Divo represents which Gyan/knowledge? What was
are introduced to the concepts of Ratnatrayi; six the century when Sthanakvasi sect was formed?
universal substances; Nine Tatvas, theory of Karma, According to Digambar tradition, name any four
Anekantvad and Fourteen Gunsthanaks. For lessons
in proper Jain conduct they learn about Panch Tirthankars who never got married. Name the five causes of Ashrav. What day was Shrimad Rajchandra
Parmeshti; Jain Ascetics, twelve Bhavnas, Leshyas, born? Name the eight attributes of a Siddha.
Panchachar, Jain ethics, environment, Jain yoga and
forgiveness. They are taught rituals like going to These questions are part of the 925 "Questions and
Temples in both Swetamber and Digambar traditions, Answers Book" pathshala kids all over North America
Pooja, six Avashykas, Paryushan and Das Laxana. study when they wish to take part in the JAINA
They are encouraged to read Jain history life stories Academic Bowl (JAB) competition. JAB is a team
of Tirthankars, important Acharyas and virtuous competition for young Jains held biennially at the JAINA
shravaks/shravikas. conventions. This competition tests the overall knowledge of Jain philosophy, Jain history, Jain
The main goal of the Pathshalas is to teach our kids Conduct, Jain Literature, Ritual sutras, Tirthankars,
the message of compassion and nonviolence in all Revered Jain personalities, the Jain Way of Life, and
aspects of life, encourage vegetarianism and vegan more, as well as the ability of participants to answer
life, alcohol and drug free lifestyle. This stems from a quickly. The competition is held in a game show format
desire to practice compassion and nonviolence. This where teams of different Sanghs from all across the
also will instill Jain Values and our rich heritage and US and Canada are invited to participate. It helps to
culture. Pathshala days are the days when attendance increase their knowledge of Jainism, provides
in the Temples are the highest. There are about 2,500
students ranging from 4 to 18 year old attening Pathshala opportunity to forge new friendships with Pathshala students nationwide, and much more. In the end, every
classes in their centers mostly on Sundays. In many
cases, the parents of the kids in the Pathshala are participant is a winner because of the immense knowledge they acquire and the fun they have being a
themselves the teachers and are known to the kids participant in this team competition. In the last two
first as uncles or aunties. It is estimated that there are conventions, there were 17 teams from various Jain
at least 300 adults providing volunteer service as Centers participating in the JAB competition. You can
teachers and other help. These teachers are aided by watch a sample competition video
a very valuable resource JAINA has produced. A
comprehensive, grade wise curriculum in simple at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVL52Z dfdvg&feature=relmfu
English is presented in 12 different but uniform books
available to all the pathshalas. The books are sold at All the educational materials for the Pathshala are a
extremely low prices so much so that it would cost result of relentless pursuit by Pravin K Shah, chairman
more to the individuals if they attempted to photocopy of the JAINA education committee for the past 15
them. These books are never copyrighted and they are years. He recruited volunteers from various pathshalas
all freely available on the JAINA website for easy and methodically updated educational material prepared
downloads. Many of the books are also available for by his predecessor Dr. Premchand Gada. You may
download on Amazon.com site! have noticed that the questions cover all traditions of
These books are continuously upgraded from the
