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Padmanabh S. Jaini
Western scholars have been attracted to Jaina studies for various red sons, but almost none of them have been motivated by a passionate interest In Jainiam as a wholo and for its own sake Congequently there have been great gaps in Western knowledge of Jainsim, caused by the general super ficiality of Western study as well as by the failure of most Western scholars ovon to recognize certain crucial areas in Jaina studies For the remainder of this paper I shall criticize the lack of attention to three critical aspects of Jainism first, the sect of the Digambars, who have been neglected almost completely in favour of the Svetambaras, second, the question of determinism in Jainism and its relationship to the niyativada of the Ājivikas, and last, the soclololgy of Jainism, which, in comparison with even the most minor of the Indian religions and culta, has not been studied to any sufficient extent
Ironically, it was Jacobi, one of the most dedicated Western scholars on Jainism, who was alao largely reaponsible for the Western acceptance of Svetambara claims to authenticity and for the conseqent neglect of the Digambaras. Jacobi was the first to discover the importance of Kesz-Gaya tama samvada' of the Uttaradhyayana sutraAs 13 well known, this Svetambara canonical text records the dfalogue between Kesi, a disciple in the mendicant tradition of Parsva, and Gautama, the chief disciple of Mahavira, It is alleged there that the mendicant disciples of Parsya followed the cauljama-dhamma, translated by Jacobi as the "Law of the four vows," as Opposed to the panca-mahavratas, the "Law of the five vows" laid down by Mabavira, The dialogue further claims that the mendicant disciples of Parkva wore clothes, as do the present-day Svetambara monks, whereas nudity was made obligatory by Mahavira for his ascetic disciples Jacobi correctly showed the identity of the Jaina cauzjuma-dhamma with the Pali catuyama -samvara attributed to Nigaatha Nataputta (1. c Mahavira) in the 'SamaMaphala sutta' of the Dighanikaya Although the Pali term 18 obscure Jacobi was able to demonstrato that the Buddhist references must be to the school of Paráva, thereby establishing the posteriority of Buddbism to Jainism, Bat in dolng this he was guided by the Sveta mbaca meaning of the term caurlama, and appear to be lending his support to the Svetambara claims that the two Jinas abided by different sets of laws, and that, most impo. rtantly, the wearing of clothes 13 justified by a tradition going back to Pariya's time. Thus Jacobi appeared to have granted external support for the authonticity of the Svetambara canonical texts Since the Digambaras do not acoept the Svetambara canonical texts, and bave no canonical texts of their own, Jacobi's findings focused attention on the Svetambara tradition. and led to the almost complete neglect of the vast Digambara literature, The consequences of Jacobi's interpretation may be seen in works of Weber
