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WORSHIP, RITUAL, FASTS AND FESTIVALS
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Worship is, thus, an act of selfless devotion, done with joy, cheerfulness and due humanity, and as a result the worshipper earns merit (punya) and destroys demerit (papa). Earning merit means obtaining worldly happiness and the means thereof, while incurring demerit implies the reverse.
Moreover, the very act of worship, and all that it implies is ennobling and does instantaneous good to the sincere performer. The joy, the peace, and the equanimity which pervade his or her soul, for the time being at least, are no mean achievements. Worship is, therefore, recommended in Jainism, to quote Prof. Thomas, "because of the inherent power of all forms of true worship to elevate the soul of the worshipper. It is like giving alms with no intention of alleviating the suffering of the beggar, but on the principle that giving away in charity is good for the giver."
Nature of Worship
It may well be pointed out in the context that worship in Jainism is worship with a difference. In its essential characteristics, the Jaina conception is considerably different from what is generally understood by the term worship, or from what the practice usually is elsewhere, Jainism does not recognise invocation or propitiation in any form, nor the idea of making offering or of the acceptance of offerings by someone to whom they are made. It also does not believe in prayers for asking boons, favours, the fulfilment of some worldly desire or warding off some danger, disease, trouble, harm or loss, simply because no power is capable of answering them.
Moreover, such prayers impair ones self-confidence, weaken his will-power and tend to shift the responsibility of his actions to some other agency. He becomes supplicatory, complaining, cringing and whimpering, and begins to suffer from a sort of inferiority complex. Jaina worship is also not flattery or appeasement, nor is it unduly ritualistic. It is not a very complex, but is a comparatively simple affair. What is it then?
