World of Conquerors

Author(s): Natubhai Shah
Publisher: Natubhai Shah

Page 18

Chapter 1.2 THE ANTIQUITY OF JAINISM
Ind
ndia is a land of religious people. In the West people see religion as a mental and spiritual activity but in the East people think of it as activity concerned with all aspects of mind, body and speech, so that every person, irrespective of his or her outlook, is a religious person. In India, the word usually translated by the English word 'religion' is dharma, but dharma has a wider connotation, it involves the individual's duties and functions, physical and spiritual, throughout life. It is a way of life, thought and action, unlimited in scope. However, traditionally, the dharma is defined as those activities, which lead one to total happiness and self-realisation. It is this meaning of dharma that we shall use throughout this dissertation.
In the Jain view, the ideal religion would be capable of being a universal religion having the widest possible appeal. However, we know from history and our own experience that the world's major religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism have so far been of limited or qualified appeal. Some of these religions are named after a historical figure, Christ or Buddha, some after a nation or its lands, Hind or Judah, and others after particular qualities, Islam (submission to God). Jainism falls into the latter category, taking its name from Jina (self-conqueror). Jainism sees self-conquest as a goal to which all human beings should aspire. It is in this that modern Jains see its potential for universality.
The Indian sub-continent has long been a land of many religions: today Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are all - important living religions. Though the 1981 census shows a fairly small number of Jains, around three millions, the number of people who follow the Jain way of life, whether consciously or not, is many times more, not only in India but also throughout the world. Jain organisations in India estimate that the number of de facto Jains may be as high as twelve million. The discrepancy in the figures of Jain organisations and official figures may be due to the fact that in the 19th century British rule gave the name Hinduism to the coalition of religions that existed in India (Bowker 1997: p.18).
There has long been confusion, among scholars as well as ordinary people, regarding the history, origin and status of Jainism. It is only in the last hundred years that Eastern and Western scholars have studied this religion and the results of their researches have done something to clear the clouds of confusion which long veiled Jainism. Dr S. Radhakrishnan, the great philosopher, scholar, who was the President of India (19621967), wrote 'Jainism is a Pre-Aryan religion, which prevailed in India long before Mahavira and Parsva, the last two tirthankaras' (Radhakrishnan 1929-31: vol 1, pp.287). In 1947 Pandey has stated that the anti-ritualistic tendency, within the Vedic fold is the impact of an asceticism (predominant in Jainism) which antedates the Vedas. (Pandey, quoted in Roy 1984: p.12). The scholars such as Hiralal Jain, Zimmer, Jacobi, Vincent Smith, and Furlong have studied Jainism and the results of their researches have cleared the clouds of confusion surrounding Jainism.
These scholars have confirmed that it is without doubt one of the oldest religions of India, distinct in its own right from Buddhism (with which it was long confused in Western eyes) as well as from other Indian faiths. In the Majjhima Nikaya (Mahasimhanada Sutta: 1,1,2), it has been noted that the Buddha was from the sramana
18