Sambodhi

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Buddhist and Jaina Concepts of Man ...
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could depend on Hinduism for its various institutions which would ensure the security of a social order which would, in turn, sustain the mendicant order. We cannot speculate as to how Jainism would have fared as a majority religion or outside of India in a country which would not provide for its social basis, because Jainism never left India, in part due to its atrict dietary rules.
As for Buddhisnı, which did not survive in India but flourished quite well abroad, it is well-known that it was nowhere the sole religion. Where Buddhism became the principal religion, as in Tibet, Burma, and other Southeast Asian countries, as well as in the far east, it assimilated the secular rites and other features of indigenous religions, such as Bon, nat-worship, Shintoism, etc. Although the monks in these countries can be said to be true Buddhists, the lay people have had to live a double life, relying on the non-Buddhist religions for their mundane rituals, whilo attempting to lead a Buddhist life with respect to supermundane considerations.32 The monks, since they have no mundane concerns, do not need to rely on the indigenous religeons in any respect. In this the situation of the Buddhist outside of India is similar to that of the Jaina in India; he has a double identity, being part of the non-Buddhist society but striving for the only true goal, salvation, through, the only available path, renugciation.
For the most part Indians have always accepted a multiplicity of path's leading to salvation. It is generally agreed that the Vedic hymns attest to both the path of devotion (as in the hymns addressed to Varuna) and the path of renunciation (as in the Munisūkta), as well as to the path of sacri'fice. What is noteworthy of the śrumaņas is that they condemned sacrifice and rejected devotion; thus they were left with only one path, which they tried to make accessible to all segments of society. Brahmanical society only allowed renunciation to a few individuals of the twice-born castes, recommending this path as being suitable mostly for Brahmans. The Jainas and the Buddhists opened the path of renunciation to the entire society. including the sūdras and the so-called "untouchables"
Brahmanical society, moreover, considered the paths of sacrifice and renunciation as the exclusive prerogative of the male; women, even of the highest caste, were excluded from the initiation ceremony as well as from the third and fourth stages of life, namely vānaprastha and sannya sa(total renunciation). In this respect women, even of twice-born castes, were like
ūdras and were encouraged to follow the path of devotion.23 It is therefore very much to the credit of the Jainas and Buddhists that they were Sambodhi ix (7)