Studies in Jainism

Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

Page 144

ETHICO-RELIGIOUS CLASSIFICATIONS
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sub-castes amongst which the Jaina community is at present divided; for, the origin of these castes etc., is not religious but probably it is a matter of convenience of the Jaina society. It may be added that these castes are not a barrier for taking part in a common dinner like Navakārsi, having a religious tint of sādharmika.vātsalya. Even the question of intermarriage amongst the Jainas does not depend upon castes; for, Yākinimahattarāsūnu Haribhadra Sūri observes in Dharmabindu as under :
"समानकुलशीलादिभिरगोत्रजैर्वैवाह्यम्, अन्यत्र बहुविरुद्धेभ्य इति"
Four types of Jaina Saints
In the seventh adhyayana of Jñātādharmakathānga, the 6th anga, we come across four varieties of Jaina saints: (1) those who discard the five holy vows (mahāvratas) after they have taken the same, (2) those who observe the five mahāuratas only for the sake of livelihood and who remain unduly attached to food etc., which they get from laymen in virtue of their outward get-up of a saint, (3) those who observe the five mahāvratas as enjoined by the scriptures after they have renounced the world and (4) those who not only observe the vows only in spirit but even continue practising them very rigidly.
The eleventh chapter of this 6th anga, too, furnishes us with another sort of the four types of Jaina saints. It is the presence or absence of forbearance in part or in toto, which gives rise to these four types. To express it explicitly, there are some saints who do not lose their temper, when offended by their correligiounists but do so, in case they come in contact with the heterodox. There are some saints whose conduct is just the reverse of this. There is another class of saints who get provoked, no matter whether the individual concerned is a Jaina or a non-Jaina. There is still another class of saints, who, under no circumstances become angry and who maintain the spirit of forbearance in speech and thought as well.
Out of these four types, the first includes those saints who are partially virādhaka i.e. those who do not partly conform to the sermon of Lord Mahāvīra. The second