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Chapter 5.4 SVETAMBAR RITUALS
The majority of Jains are Svetambar Murtipujakas; among them the rituals vary due to
historical and regional circumstances, but they follow a general pattern similar to that
described in the last chapter. Some Svetambar rituals are very elaborate and colourful and it is believed that they were developed to counter the attraction of the rituals of the Hindu devotional movement' (bhakti marga). This chapter describes worship in the temples and other public arenas.
The daily life of a pious Svetambar is interwoven with the ritual acts of the six essential duties. Every Jain learns the Navakara Mantra from childhood. The Navakara Mantra is a formula of veneration, meditation on the virtues and surrender, not a petition, to the five 'supreme beings' (panca parmesthis). The rolling sounds of the ancient Prakrit language used in this mantra echo at every Jain religious gathering, chanted in unison by the congregation. The meditative, silent recitation of this mantra may be performed at any time, in any place and by anyone. The mantra, transliterated into English, is as follows:
Namo arihantaanam Namo siddhaanam Namo ayariyaanam Namo uvajjhayaanam Namo loe savva sahunam Eso panca namokkaro Savva paavapanaasano Mangalanam ca savvesim Padhamam havai mangalam
I venerate the enlightened souls I venerate the liberated souls I venerate the spiritual leaders I venerate the spiritual preceptors I venerate all ascetics in the world These fivefold venerations Destroy all sins Of all auspicious things It is the most auspicious.
Veneration of the Jina (deva pujaa)
Svetambar murtipujakas believe that image worship is necessary for spiritual progress, which is a gradual process. If one reckons one's age from the time when one gains spiritual understanding, rather than from birth, then most of the laypeople are like children in spiritual terms. They have hardly begun their journey towards spiritual enlightenment. As pictures, figures and drawings are used to help children to acquire an understanding of concepts, in the same way, laypeople and ascetics alike require the help of images in the early stages of their spiritual journey'. The consecrated images used are of tirthankaras and they serve as a focus for devotion, and the lives of the tirthankaras represented by the images are the example which the worshipper seeks, through prayer, meditation and conduct, to emulate. Jain seers teach that worship focused upon images is necessary for the first seven of the fourteen stages of spiritual development. From the eighth stage onwards one's spirituality becomes sufficiently developed so that one can meditate on one's soul without any external aid.
Deva pujaa involves worship of images by: the recitation of the names of tirthankaras; the singing of hymns; listening to the recitation and the hymns; respectfully
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