________________
Vol. XXVI, 2003
IMPACT OF RELIGION IN THE GROWTH OF....
However, the distinct areas, which indirectly benefited the social status of women from this community, were education and philanthropy. Jainism inculcated in their followers the respect for knowledge. High level of literacy found in this community could be attributed to business and trading professions. In these professions elementary knowledge of three R's was essential. This had made the community not only economically prosperous but educationally forward. During the social reform movement in Gujarat, this community played a major role in advocating education.
Education was not confirmed to males. Equal treatment was given to females in the matter of education. This was again due to the impact of religion, which favoured female education. The root cause of Jaina's advocacy for female education would be traced from Mahavira's attitude towards women. He recognised the equality of man and women and allowed women to enter the order. In Hindu scriptures the equality for male and female education was not spelt out specifically. Jaina works discuss on the issue of female education particularly religious education on equal footing with men. According to Jainas works, a women was expected to know 64 arts like dancing, painting, music, aesthetic, medicine, domestic science and so on". The wide spread literacy among females of Jaina community was attributed to the element of religious freedom
given to women. In the widowhood stage a woman was left of the options of · either to pursue education or enter the religious order,
Though the religious positions of Jaina woman been far well than their Hindu counterparts, their social position was relatively equal. During this period, women from this community suffered mainly from two social customs widespread among Jainas - child marriage and widow-hood. In the various census reports right from 1881 to 1901, of all communities in Gujarat, the Jaina community topped the list of female widows12. The chief reason behind large number of female widows was the problem of inheritance anticipated in the wake of remarriage.
Legally a Jaina woman was well protected economically in her destitute state. Jaina law entitled the right to maintenance out of the family property and the expenditure on the marriage of unmarried daughters and sisters. A widow could inherit the properly of her deceased husband and hence could pass widowhood without and serious economic difficulty 13. This factor of inheritance of family properly prevented them from remarry, as possibility of losing the family property to outsider was high. Jaina society, in general favoured widow-hood as
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
