________________
13
SOME REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF THE LAY
FOLLOWERS IN THE JAINA COMMUNITY
Elisabeth Strandberg
From the time it was established that Jainism is an independent teaching, and not a mere offshoot of Buddhism, 1 a certain amount of attention has been paid to the fact that these two heterodox movements came to experience very different forutnes on Indian soil. The idea has been put forward that it was because the Buddhist sarigha cared little for lay people that Buddhism lost its foothold in India at the time of political adversity. The Jaina sarigha, on the other band, embraced within its social structure the two wings of lay male and female followers along with, and as preparatory stages for, the order of monks and nuns. This accouted for Jainism undergoing particularly few changes, and for the resi. stance which the lay community 'members-of-the-church' were able to put up against pressure that was coming from outside, thus saving their religion from becoming extinct. This is the reasoning commonly advanced 3
The only existing detailed study of the Jaina lay disci. pline, by R. Williams, 3 raises sharp criticism against the main idea He states : 'Initially the lay estate was admitted by the Jina only in deference to human frailty'.and · The changelessness of Jiniasm is no more than a myth'.. 5 Williams also touches upon the history of Jainism vis-a-vis Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism without mentioning at all the role which the Jaina lay followers might possibly have played in order to preserve their teaching. Nor do scholars like Schubring and Frauwallner' mention the historical importance of the Jaina lay community in their otherwise broad studies of Jainism.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
