Dr. Noel King
Santa Cruz, CA, U.S.A
Dr. Surendra Singhvi
Spring Valley, OH, U.S.A
Early Western Knowledge of Jainism Many westerners well versed in European culture had read and wondered at the stories brought back from ancient India by the Greeks. They were told that there were in that far-off land naked philosophers who gave themselves to the solitary; neither they possessed home nor material, and could not be coerced even by Alexander himself. They observed strict continence, ate little and willingly gave themselves to death. The stories are rather in a muddle because even to this day few scholars versed in Indian lore and the western classical languages have bothered to go over these accounts with care and detail they deserve.However, a discernable eye that knows something about Jainisim and monastic features of its holy people suggest that the medieval Cathari's may have had contacts with the Jains and thereby were influenced. This is indeed quite possible, though the connecting link may be the overlap of Mani's teachings with Jainism.
Study of Jainism Before GandhiA century before the arrival of Virchand Gandhi to the West, the work of the Orientalists and the missionaries in India were quite exhaustive in 179s-1820s. In this regard, the account of the German scholarship in Jainology is very rich. Dr. George Buhler (1837-1898) who taught at Elphinstone College, Bombay from 1863 to 1878 collected large number of Jain manuscripts; established the antiquity of Jain ascetic lines of spiritual and teaching descent from inscriptional studies and wrote books on various subjects.Herman Jacobi (1850-1937) produced two volumes on Jain texts. In Boston with its Harvard Indological scholars, the first Indian work reaching U.S. is a book printed and published by the American Mission Press in Bombay in the 1840s. Its title page speaks of :"Historical researches on the origins of the Buddha and Jaina religions, embracing the leading tenets of their systems as found prevailing in various countries."
- James Bird esq, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., Bombay Printed at the American Mission Press T. Graham, Printer, 1847
The book is beautifully printed with colour-tinted works of lithographic are; describes a colossal image of a Trithankara as 'words cannot well convey an idea of this magnificent sculpture;' or of the Jaina ascetics as 'the ultimate object is to obtain a state of perfect apathy or quiescence through the practice of abstraction and mortification.' Kalpasutra and Nava Tatva translation was done by Rev.J.Stevenson *1847). Life and Stories of Jaina Saviour Parsvanatha is another valuable work on Jainism published by Prof. Mauric Bloomfield, who was born in Austria and moved to Milwaukee at the age of four. He studied at Chicago, Furnam is South Carolina and Yale; went as a Fellow to John Hopkins where Lanman, the doyen of Sanskrit Studies in the United States, was establishin School in Sanskrit. Obtaining his Ph.,D. in 1879, Bloomfield went off to Berlin and Leipzig for further studies. In 1881, he returned to John Hopkins as Prof. of Sanskrit. Late in his career, he began his work in Jain Maharashtri and Jainology.
Coming of Gandhi to AmericaFollowing the Columbian Exhibition of 1892 in Chicago, the Parliament of World Religions was planned by a group of religious leader and institutions - a Swedenborg follower, a Presbyterian, a Ukrainian and the Vatholic Churches. Virchand Gandhi, an English educated Jain thinker and social reformer of the times, came to America as a delegate to the Parliament representing Jain religion. Gandhi, was introduced at the Parliament as 'a lawyer from Bombay and one of the chief exponents of Jain religion.' In his own words Gandhi introduced Jainism in its most brevity: "I come from India, the mother of religions. I represent Jainism, a faith older than Buddhism, similar to it in ethics, but different from it in its psychology, and professed by 1.5 million of India's most peaceful and law abiding citizens." Of the Parliament, Gandhi observed that 'it has (also) been the dream of Atmaramji's life. I am (as such) commissioned to offer congratulations on the achievement of the consummation of that grand idea, of convening a Parliament of Religions." Again in his main address Gandhi reiterated that he speaks " simply as the mouthpiece of Muni Atmaramji, the learned High Priest of the Jaina community of India."Gandhi delivered a short no-nonsense, highly condensed and technical account of the ethics and history of the Jains, their books, precepts and practices. The word 'Hindu' in his speeches he used is in its generic and geographical sense: 'people following a certain type of culture and originate in a certain area.' In the Conference Plenary, he was to refute a speaker who had "cast reflection upon the chastity of the women who serve in Hindu temples. Gandhi, maintaining the dignity and the decor, responded:" I did not want to allow free scope to an un- Christian spirit which seemed to interpose from time to time. I am glad that no one has dared to attack the religion I religion I represent. It is as well they should not. But every attack has been directed to the abused existing in our society."The thought of Gandhi and its akinness to his guru, Atmaramji, can be traced in considerable detail in the Chicago-Prashnottar, a valuable compendium of Jaina doctrine of the day and age in logical terms.After the Parliament, Gandhi stayed on a while in the United States. He contributed a paper titled 'Christian Missions in India' found in The Arena of 1895. While still in the West, He captured the hearts and minds of many, and a permanent work was begun. An overview of his teaching and the integration of his religion with plans for education, social reform, politics etc., can be seen in the work if his English disciple Herbert Warren.
Study of Jainism After GandhiColebrook and Buchanan acknowledged it. Margret Sinclair Stevenson spoke with affection of the women, pundits and instructors who taught her so much with generous patience. Schubring rejoiced in the company of his Jain colleagues and in community events. As foreign scholars began studying Jainism, Jains themselves also produced their own works with editions and critical texts.William Norman Brown (1892-1975) from Balitmore studied at John Hopkins and Varanasi and taught at Jammu. His works included Jain miniatures and manuscript illustrations. Champat Raj Jain (1867-1942), who had Bar-at-Law from England (1892-1897), wrote many books on Jainism. His important publications are Kay of Knowledge, Confluence of Opposites, Jain Logic, Jain Psychology, What is Jainism, Jain Law, Jain Penance, Jain Penance, Jain Culture, Jain also worked on Jain archaeological findings.Barrister Jugmandir Lal Jain (1881-1927) who went to Oxford (1906-1910) devoted much of his time to the study of Jain scriptures and literature. He translated Tatthvarthasutra, Atmanushasana, Pancastikayasara, Samayasara, Jica-Karma Kanda, and initiated the translation of Gommatasara. His The Library in London, and Central Jain Publishing House in India.Dr. Hiralal Jain (1898-1973), who followed J.L. Jaini, completed the translation of Gommatasaara (1923); edited 16 volumes of Satkhandagama Siddhana (1935-1959) and Prakrit works. Heinrich Zimmer, whose main career had been in Germany, gave courses of lectures at Columbia in New York in 1942-43 on the philosophies of India including Jain teachings. He died before they were finalized in writing for publication. They were edited and put through Press by Joseph Canpbell, Oriented Mythology: The Masks of God (1962) and Zimmer's Philosophies of India, Bollingen Series, Vol. XXVI.
Y. J. Padmarajiah's, A Comparative Study of the Jaina Theories of Reality and Knowledge published in 1963, is his work (1947-4952) for which the degree of Doctor of Philosophy was awarded by Oxford University.
The work of Kendal W. Folkert, the promising Jainologist from Harvard, raised many critical question of his predecessors in the best revisionist style. He questioned the focusing on texts for Jainas do not have a narrow authoritative cannon such as the sixteenth and later century European Christians had imagined. He questioned how any philologist sitting in Europe or America can think he understands what he is studying. His article in the Penguin Handbook of Living Religions is one of hte best encyclopedia articles.
R. Willians Jaina Yoga is basically a technical discussion of medieval texts but also portrays Jain ideas of physiology, psychology and holistic approach to health. Prof. Padmanabh S. Jaini's The Jaina Path of Purification has rightly been hailed as one of the best studies sin the religions of South Asia in this century and certainly the best on Jainism. More recently, he has Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debated on the Spiritual Liberation of Women wherein he presents tightly and meticulously argued analysis of ancient Jain discussions about whether only the totally unclothed can reach the goal, whereas most agree it is indecorous for a woman to appear before mixed groups unclothed. Even long ago and even among male ascetics who are well known throughout world history for their suspicion of womanhood, the Jain community has had strong groups of those who insisted on women's absolute and universal rights.
La Voie Jaina, Histoire, Spiritualite, Vie des ascetes pelerines de I'nde (1985) by N. Shanta is a field-work of total immersion.
Harvard Pluralism Project supervised by Prof. Diane Eck has a number of papers on the Jain side of the research prepared by Holly Seeley.
Structural Development in Jaina DiasporaEmergenca into self-consciousness if the world-wide Jaina diaspora - people of Jain faith domiciled overseas - calls for their strict retention not only to discover ways of retaining them in modern environment but demands to think of the : laity and the house-holders.' their strengths and what they can do. It is they who are the mainstream and backbone of Jainism in the west. In this sense, a house-holder is a person in his or her own right, not just a deficient monk or nun. The fluidity and inter-dependence with elements recognized as specific, pointing to a certain primordiality of Jain features,may or may not present with a positive change for the fullest development of the community as in the case of Jaina diaspora. They demand a new and tightly defined, but to work within the present condition a structural development in social, psychological and physical contexts, both of the individual and of the institutions. It is to emerge fresh and new in the choosen environment taken for granted on the good promise and premise.
The organizational structures through the establishment of societies and associations in North America began in the early 1960s as the Jaina community grew numerically. Following is the list of some organizations:
Jain Centre of New York (1966) changed to Jain Society of America at Queens. It has temple building with community oriented activities.
Jain Centre of Boston (1973) has temple with Community oriented activities. It pioneered the publication of Jain Directory of North America, and regularly brings out updated editions.
Jain Meditation International Centre (1975) founded by Gurudev Chitrabhanu. Meetings and Lecture on meditation etc., caters mainly for westerners.
Siddhachalam (1983) founded by Acarya Sushil Kumarji. It is Jain ashram and resident community of monks and nun, laymen and laywomen on 108 acres of hill top near Pocono mountains in Blairstown, New Jersey.
Jain Society of Chicago, IL. It built America's largest Jain temple complex in 1993.
Jain Society of Washington D.C. It acquired property and established Jain temple in 1987. Dr. Manoj Dharamsi was its active President till 1993.
Jain Society of South California, CA. It established a Jain temple and library in 1986.
Jain Society of New Jersey, NJ. It has established Jain temple.
Jain Society of Northern Texas, TX. It has established temple in Richardson.
Jain Society of Toronto (1981) has the largest temple building in Canada, and has community oriented activities to observe Jaina festivals and pravacans.
International Mahavir Jain Mission, USA & Canada (1986) It was founded by Acarya Sushil Kumarji. It is involved in Jain Campls during the summer months of August both at Siddhachalam and Nigra Falls, Canada. The Toronto organization often promotes Jain Seminars in Canadian universities. And in conjunction with Jain Society of Toronto, it produced shows on Jainism for public television in 1989-90.
Jain Meditation and Philosophy (1981) It is established by its President Irena Upenick. Mainly caters to westerners on meditation, Vegetarianism, fasting and Jaina basic philosophy. Independently it promotes Jaina precepts and practice among westerners through networking.
Rooplal Jain Lecture Foundation (1990), Toronto. Founded with the aim of promoting academic study of Jain religion. Sponsors annual Jain lectures at the University of Toronto, and it began its first lecture in 1990 delivered by Prof. Padmanabh S. Jainni of the University of California, Berkeley.
Jain Federation of North America (JAINA) founded in 1981 with Lalit Shah as the President. Dr. Manoj Dharamsi was elected after a few months, and he continued devising developmental plans up to 1985 when it had its first Bi-ennuak Cibcention organized on a large scale in Detroit, MI. At this gathering, a quarterly magazine, Jain Digest was launched with S.A. Bhuvanendra Kumar of Mississauga, Canada as its editor, elected by Directors of JAINA. The first issue of Jain Digest came out in memory of the Air India bomb victims travelling from Toronto to Bombay in 1986. In 1989, it established JAINA Library in Lubbock, Texas and Toronto Canada with funds provided by Dr. Premchand Gada of Lubbock, Texas. In the same year, Young Jains of America and Matrimonial Information Bureau were established under the leadership of Dr. Urmila Talsania of Chicago and Fakirchand Dalal of Baltimore repectively.
Bramhi Society U.S.A. and Canada (1989) It was founded by a group of twelve individuals from the U.S.A. and Canada to make a contribution in a contemporary environment to the study and promotion of Jaina reflection in the West. It has begun the publication of Jinamanjare, a bi-annual Journal, with the first issue in October 1990. S.A. Bhuvanendra Kumar is the founder and editor.
In 1991 Bramhi Society organized Jain Youth Exchange is association with Young Jains of U.K., and the Jaina Federation of North America.
These organizations and asscociations while are important indeed, the onus for the development of Jainism in the West falls squarely upon the Jaina laity who lives the life in mainstream America. The term laity in Jain sense has altogether different meaning then in the Christian parlance. In Jainism, it means those who follow the faith but have nit entered monastic life - being monks or nuns. The term laity in Jainism consists of an intimate symbiosis of four orders, namely - male and female renunciates, women and men, and so in the American condition, the onus inevitably falls on the latter two to bring out Reality and Truth in terms of Jain precepts and practices. Similarly, it is largely their task to maintain symbiosis with the ascetics.
Ordinary renunciates in the West understand a very little of their importance in this symbiotic inter-relationship, as propagators of Jaina gospel and making history; however they will be the originators in the given situation.
Where were those Jains of 1960s - 1990s? Whence and why did they come? What did the principles of religion teach them? A lot unanswerable questions arise now, and if it is not addressed properly, the Jain diaspora in the west will manifest itself in an unstructured and highly ambiguous condition.
The four teachings which the Jains have unflinchingly witnessed: co-dependence as part of an organically interrelated universe, positive non-violence in all its aspects, the aspects, the realization that there are various paths to the Truth and the importance of the feminine. The educational task and maintaining of it through these four Jaina covevant will indeed insure strength to the organizational structure and to the Jaina diaspora in the West.
Showing posts with label humanities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humanities. Show all posts
Nov 19, 2008
Apr 26, 2008
Jain Vestiges in Coimbatore District
By M. AROKIASWAMI, M.A., Ph.D.
COIMBATORE, the headquarter of the district which goes by its name in the State of Madras, is well-known to-day as the "Manchester of South India." There is perhaps not another place in the whole of this region to equal it not only in the numerous spinning and weaving mills it possesses but also in the general standard of wealth, health civilisation and culture. But few are interested in studying the history of this district and particularly the development of culture in this area. Of the era preceding the period of British occupation of the district, which began in 1799, particularly little or nothing is known.
In this paper I propose to make an enquiry into a subject which forms part of a larger whole, viz., the cultural development of the Coimbatore region in early times and the particular subject for enquiry here is an estimate of the Jain contribution to this quota. So many vestiges of Jainism are to be found in this district that there is no doubt about the great influence this religion must have exerted over the people of this region in early times. That it must have been much more than any one would suspect is certain. Names of places like seenapuram clearly remained one of the early jain influent over the region; while old jain shrines found in places like. Vijayamangalam, Tirumurthimalai and Karur bear an equally strong evidence to the same. A figure of the Jain Thrithankara is found in Tirumurthimalai; and a number of Jain beds are found to this day in Arunattarmalai in Karur Taluk while in Arasannamalai near Vijayamangalam the Neminatha temple has been now converted into a Vinayaka temple. Not only this. The district of Coimbatore in early times seems to have been the home of several Jain scholars, not the least of whom was the great Bavanandi, the author of the celebrated Tamil grammar, Nannul, who seems to have lived in the region of Vijayamangalam in Erode Taluk.
It is impossible for us to explain these vestiges unless we postulate a period of Jain glory in the district at some time during its sojourn in South India. The Kongadesarajakkal, a XVII century Tamil Mss., which has been recently edited by Mr. C. M. Ramachandran Chettiar, Advocate, Coimbatore, (Madras Govt, Oriental Series, VI, 1950) brings to light a set of seven rulers called Rattas (Rashtrakutas?) in this region during the period between 250 A.D. and 400 A.D. Many if not all of them are represented in this work as professors and strong supporters of Jainism. (Ibid., pp. 1-2). In the reign of the fourth ruler, Govindaraya, a grant to the jain Arishtanna is mentioned and in that of the sixth ruler, Kannaradeva, the names of three great Jain theologians, of whom one Naganandi is mentioned by name, are referred to. (Ibid)
The history of the origin of the Ganga dynasty of Mysore indicates even more clearly how deep-rooted was janism in the district of Coimbatore in early times. It would appear that in the closing years of the IV century A.D., King Padmanabha of the Gangas had to send his two sons, Dadiga and Madhava to the south by way of preparing himself to meet his enemy, King Mahipala of Ujjain. (Rice; Mysore and Coorg; p. 31). The rest of the narration as found in Rice's words is as follows:
"When they arrived at Perur, which is still distinguished from other Perurs as Ganga-Perur (in Cuddapah district), they met there the Jain Achariya Simhanandi. He was interested in the story of these Ganga princes and taking them by the hand, gave them instruction and training and eventually procured for them a kingdom."(Rice: Op., cit., loc., cit).
Many Ganga records like the Udayendiram plates of Prithvipati II, the Kudlur grant of Marasimha and the Santara inscription on the Huncha stone* bear clear evidence to the fact that Simhanandi gave them a kingdom and that he was a reputed Jain teacher. The last mentioned record indeed refers to him as "the archariya who made the Ganga kingdom.":
"Ganga-rajyaman madida Simhanandy acharyya."(EC., VIII, Nr. 35)
Indrabhuti in his Samayabhushana names him as a great poet to be kept on par with Elacharya and Pujyapada. (IA., XII, 20). Still, no better description can be given of Simhanandi than what is found in the Jaina record near the Siddhesvara temple at Kallurgudda in Shimoga Taluk:
"The Vijaya or victory to the farthest shore of learning, the full moon to the ocean of the Jaina congregation, possessed of patience and all the ten excellent qualities, his good life, a secure wealth, rejoicing in the modest, his fame extending to the four oceans, keeping at a distance from the evil, a sun in the sky of the Kranurgana, devoted to the performance of the twelve kinds of penance, promoter of the Ganga kingdom-Sri Simhanandiacharyya."(EC., VII, Sh. 4)
On the other hand we owe to the evidence of inscriptional records like those of the Parsvanathi Basti at Sravana Belgola and others to be seen at Kallurgudda and Purale in Shimoga Taluk that Madhava definitely came under the influence of Simhanandi, who intiated him into jain doctrines and conferred on him a kingdom on condition that he always took care to uphold that Faith throughout its confines. (Ibid, also 64). The latter tow give a detailed account of this origin of the Ganga Kingdom, which deserves to be quoted at least in part, as it gives one an idea of the depth of Jain influence that ruled over the region where the Ganga kingdom was founded:
"On Madhava impressing him with his extraordinary energy... Simhanandi made a coronet of the petals of the Karnikara flowers bound it on Madhava's head, gave them (the two brothers) the dominion of all the earth, presented them with a flag made from his peacock fan and furnished them with attendants, elephants and horses. Along with these he gave them also the following advice: 'If you fail in what you have promised, if you do not approve the Jina sasana; if you seize the wives of others; if you indulge in wine and flesh; if you form relationship with the low; if you give not your wealth to the needy; if you flee from the field or battle-your race will go to ruin.
The question that has to be decided here is the identification of Perur mentioned in ganga records. Taken in conjusction with the history of the Rattas, the Kongadesarajakkal furnishes proof that it was on their fall that the Gangas rose to power and began ruling from Skandapura in Kongudesa (which is the ancient name for the territory comprising the modern disteicts of Coimbatore and Salem). The Chronicle would even inform us that the last Ratta ruler changed his religion from Jainism to Saivism and that was the cause of his downfall. Further, all the early activities of Konganivarman-as the first historical ruler of the Ganga house becomes known in all the records of this dynasty-are confined to this Kongudesa. (Kongadesarajakkal (Or Mss. Edn.) pp. 2-3). It is true that we lack definite epigraphic evidence in support of this, which we have mainly only from the Tamil chronicle above referred to. But it must be remembered that in the first place we have only a few records for the Ganga period here referred to; and even the few references that we have to the early grants of the Gangas seem to refer only to places in Coimbatore district. Such are places like "Kudluru" to the west of the Tatla and east of "Marukarevisaya", in which the names of Kudluru and Marukarevisaya are easily identifiable with the present Gudalur and Madukari in this area. (Kudaluru grant of Madhavavarman; MAR., 1930).
The conclusion naturally follows that Per here referred to as the spot on which Madhava was initiated into Jainism and conferred a kingdom on condition that he upheld it through all its confines must be the Perur within 3 miles from Coimbatore. We have numerous evidences to show that at the time referred to and for long afterwards this Perur was indeed an important place. The place referred to by this name cannot be the Perur in Cuddapah district, as Rice surmises, where no Jain remains are to be found. The tratdition is that Dadiga and Madhava were sent to the south of Mysore, as already indicated. Further, the very title assumed by the first ruler as Madhava Konganivarman seems to give an unmistakable proof of this conclusion, since as the Kongadesarajakkal aptly remarks:
As wealth, the Kongu country and great munificence were possessed by him he was styled srimalt Konganivarman Dharmamahadiraja. (Kongadesarajakkal (Taylor's trans.); MJLS., XIV)
While the mention of Simhanandi as a "person of the southern country' in the inscription at Parsvanatha Basti at Sravana Belgola already referred to, seems to set the seal upon this conclusion.
It is an agreed fact that the canarese country of which modern Mysore forms the crown and centre furnished a home for the religion of Mahavira in the days when it was not very much liked by his own countrymen of the north. The Brihatkatha of Harisena clearly refers to the migration of the Bhadrabahu mission from Mysore to Punnata in the years following the dealth of Chandragupta Maurya. (Rice; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 146; IA., XVII 366). Historians are not yet agreed as to what country is meant by the name, 'Punnata.' All available evidences seem to point to the region of S. Coorg and N. Coimbatore district as the region designated as 'Punnata' by Harisena, so that it would appear that a portion at least of the modern district of Coimbatore was the central hearth of Jainism even before the beginning of the Christian era.
A copper plate of the Ganga King Durvaniti seems to give a direct clue to this identification, when it refers to the King's conquest of Punnata in his 20th. regnal year. (MAR., 1916). On the other hand, the Komaralingam copper plates of the Punnata King Ravidatta indicate the occupation of the Kingdom by Durvaniti by positing a break in the regular line of Punnata rulers. (IA., XVIII, 362). The latter plates record the grant of the village of pungisoge by Ravidatta while on his victorious march an in his camp at Kirtipura-a place generally identified in the southern portion of modern Mysore. Whatever be the strength of this identification, if cannot be definitely said what region was comprised in this kingdom of Punnata.
In the first place, it must be remembered that Kirtipura was not its capital, as has often been maintained by writers, but only a camp in the victorious march of King Ravidatta. It is quite possible that he had undertaken a campaign in the attempt to strengthen his possessions, which had suffered during the occupation of Durvaniti. The mention of varuous grants made on the occasion from Kirtipura of places like Kolur, Kodamuku etc., "to persons to whom they belonged," as the grant clearly mentions, only confirm this conclusion. Further, the copper plate grant which gives evidence here is obtained from the village of Komaralingam in the Udumalpet Taluk in the modern district of Coimbatore; and Ptolemy designates a country called 'Ponnuta' as a "land of beryls," so much found in the Kangayam area of the same district. Besides, the donor of the grant, Ravidatta, expressly states that he is making it with the permission of the Cheramman:
"While his, Ravidatta's, victorious camp is at the town of Kirtipura, which is the best of towns, with the permission of Cheramma(n) ........the village known as Pungisoge in the east central desa in the Kudugur nadu which is in the Punnadu vishaya has been granted." (Komaralingam Copper plates, 11, 11 ff)
As has been already said, several villages like Kolur, Kodamuku, Tanagundur and Elagovanur are mentioned as coming under other grants made on the same occasion. Though these names must still remain unidentified, it is clear that all these places abutted on the Kongu frontier. The location of Pungisoge as mentioned in the above quoted passage, "in the eastcentral desa in the Kudugurnadu (Modern Coorg) only supports this conclusion. The name Elagovanur itself suggests the possibility of a location near to if no Coimbatore itself. That Ravidatta was a feudatory of the Cera sovereign of the time is put beyond doubt by the permission he is said to have obtained from the Cheramman for issuing the grants referred to.
From all these considerations it seems but natural to conclude that the Kingdom of Punnata must have been a small state carved out from parts of S. Mysore and N. Coimbatore during the period of the weak rule of the Gangas over Kongu, possibly immediately after the death of Vishnugopa. This period seems to have offered a golden opportunity for Chera revival. Through silence is no argument the omission of the Chera name in all the victories detailed in the inscriptions of the various Ganga rulers from Kongani I down to Durvaniti is very significant. A few inscriptions from Vellalur in Coimbatore district give the names of two Cera rulers, Kokkandan Viranarayana and Kokkandan Ravikodan who style themselves "sovereign jewels of the luni-solar race (ARE, 1910 pp. 147-'48). Unfortunately there is no indication about their date, except the fact that the letters of the records are of old archaic characters. On the other hand, the style assumed by the kings, "Jewels of the luni-solar race" clearly indicates the Cera-Pandya connection, since the moon (luna) is mentioned. The effective appearance of the Pandya in Kongu occurs only in the VII century AD, so that it may be safely surmised that these inscriptions of the Cera must belong roughly only to this period.
These points of information help us to posit
(a) that the Ceras had come on a decline after the era of the sangam age and it helped the rise of ganga power in Kongu and Karnataka;
(b) that the Ceras made attempts to revive in the VII century AD;
(c) that the Vellalur inscriptions record the establishment of Cera power once again in Kongu;
(d) that the line of rulers of the Komaralingam copper plates were Cera feudatories.
From these deductions the indentification of the Punnata country seems plausible. It must have been a kingdom subordinate to the Ceras comprising parts of Coorg and Coimbatore district. Ptolemy's description of Punnata as "a land of beryl" seems definitely to point to the region of Kangayam in modern Coimbatore Dist, as lying within the kingdom of Punnata (McCrindle: Anc. India). The Mercara copper plates refer to Punnata as a "ten-thousand country;" and, as Mr. Rice contents, it must be the same as the later-day "Padi-Nadu" (Ten country), mentioned in the Yelandur inscription of AD. 1654 (Mys. Inss., P. 283, 334). In locating this region the above mentioned record clearly mentions the place. 'Tarapura,' evidently modern Dharapuram in the district of Coimbatore, which is said to lie SE of the kingdom (Ibid, p.334). 'The fact that equidistant to both Kangayam and Dharapuram (lying within a distance of six miles) is Padiyur, which is still famous for the far-famed beryls of Ptolemy, must be taken as giving a very strong cnfirmation to the view here advanced. That Coorg and this region of Coimbatore district must have once formed a unit in early times is seen from what the celebrated historian of Mysore, Col. Wilks, records in his "History of Mysore":
"In the southern part of Mysore the Tamil languageis at this day named the Gangee from being best known to them as the language of the people of Kankayam. (Wilks, Mysore, p. 4, F, N.2) On the other hand, the same Wilks bears testimony to the fact that for some time the Cera king had complete mastery over this region, when he says:
"Cheran united Kangiam and Salem to the dominions of Kerela of Malabar."(Op., cit., p.5).
Even the name 'Punnata' and be explainted. It seems to be just a corruption of the name, 'Pounnadu' the land of gold. That there was much gold to be had from the region of Coorg and Kongu is unexceptionalble. While the Mysore gold minies bear evidence to this in some indirect way, the XVII century Tamil work, Maduraikalambakam speaks of the "gold that is found in Kondu" (Konguraippon), thus bearing a direct testimony to the Kongu wealth of gold. (The term Ponnadu seems to have been analogous to the name of the Cola country watered by the cauvery, Viz., the 'Punalnadu'.
Thus we are able to posit that the region of modern Coimbatore was a central hearth of Jainism in the south at least three conturies before the Christian era and that it continued to be so for a long time afterwards certainly through-our the period of the Ganga rule. An inscription of the XII century which referring to the Hoysala conquest of Kongu under Vishnuvardhana (1120 AD), Speaks of his general in that region, Gangarajah of great fame as" :a devout Jain. "(See Sastri; Colas, II, i). We need not try to trace the later history of Jainism in Kongu. Probably it came on a period of steady decline from that date onwards. But what has been so far said is enough to explain the numerous Jain vestiges in this region, to be seen to this day.
COIMBATORE, the headquarter of the district which goes by its name in the State of Madras, is well-known to-day as the "Manchester of South India." There is perhaps not another place in the whole of this region to equal it not only in the numerous spinning and weaving mills it possesses but also in the general standard of wealth, health civilisation and culture. But few are interested in studying the history of this district and particularly the development of culture in this area. Of the era preceding the period of British occupation of the district, which began in 1799, particularly little or nothing is known.
In this paper I propose to make an enquiry into a subject which forms part of a larger whole, viz., the cultural development of the Coimbatore region in early times and the particular subject for enquiry here is an estimate of the Jain contribution to this quota. So many vestiges of Jainism are to be found in this district that there is no doubt about the great influence this religion must have exerted over the people of this region in early times. That it must have been much more than any one would suspect is certain. Names of places like seenapuram clearly remained one of the early jain influent over the region; while old jain shrines found in places like. Vijayamangalam, Tirumurthimalai and Karur bear an equally strong evidence to the same. A figure of the Jain Thrithankara is found in Tirumurthimalai; and a number of Jain beds are found to this day in Arunattarmalai in Karur Taluk while in Arasannamalai near Vijayamangalam the Neminatha temple has been now converted into a Vinayaka temple. Not only this. The district of Coimbatore in early times seems to have been the home of several Jain scholars, not the least of whom was the great Bavanandi, the author of the celebrated Tamil grammar, Nannul, who seems to have lived in the region of Vijayamangalam in Erode Taluk.
It is impossible for us to explain these vestiges unless we postulate a period of Jain glory in the district at some time during its sojourn in South India. The Kongadesarajakkal, a XVII century Tamil Mss., which has been recently edited by Mr. C. M. Ramachandran Chettiar, Advocate, Coimbatore, (Madras Govt, Oriental Series, VI, 1950) brings to light a set of seven rulers called Rattas (Rashtrakutas?) in this region during the period between 250 A.D. and 400 A.D. Many if not all of them are represented in this work as professors and strong supporters of Jainism. (Ibid., pp. 1-2). In the reign of the fourth ruler, Govindaraya, a grant to the jain Arishtanna is mentioned and in that of the sixth ruler, Kannaradeva, the names of three great Jain theologians, of whom one Naganandi is mentioned by name, are referred to. (Ibid)
The history of the origin of the Ganga dynasty of Mysore indicates even more clearly how deep-rooted was janism in the district of Coimbatore in early times. It would appear that in the closing years of the IV century A.D., King Padmanabha of the Gangas had to send his two sons, Dadiga and Madhava to the south by way of preparing himself to meet his enemy, King Mahipala of Ujjain. (Rice; Mysore and Coorg; p. 31). The rest of the narration as found in Rice's words is as follows:
"When they arrived at Perur, which is still distinguished from other Perurs as Ganga-Perur (in Cuddapah district), they met there the Jain Achariya Simhanandi. He was interested in the story of these Ganga princes and taking them by the hand, gave them instruction and training and eventually procured for them a kingdom."(Rice: Op., cit., loc., cit).
Many Ganga records like the Udayendiram plates of Prithvipati II, the Kudlur grant of Marasimha and the Santara inscription on the Huncha stone* bear clear evidence to the fact that Simhanandi gave them a kingdom and that he was a reputed Jain teacher. The last mentioned record indeed refers to him as "the archariya who made the Ganga kingdom.":
"Ganga-rajyaman madida Simhanandy acharyya."(EC., VIII, Nr. 35)
Indrabhuti in his Samayabhushana names him as a great poet to be kept on par with Elacharya and Pujyapada. (IA., XII, 20). Still, no better description can be given of Simhanandi than what is found in the Jaina record near the Siddhesvara temple at Kallurgudda in Shimoga Taluk:
"The Vijaya or victory to the farthest shore of learning, the full moon to the ocean of the Jaina congregation, possessed of patience and all the ten excellent qualities, his good life, a secure wealth, rejoicing in the modest, his fame extending to the four oceans, keeping at a distance from the evil, a sun in the sky of the Kranurgana, devoted to the performance of the twelve kinds of penance, promoter of the Ganga kingdom-Sri Simhanandiacharyya."(EC., VII, Sh. 4)
On the other hand we owe to the evidence of inscriptional records like those of the Parsvanathi Basti at Sravana Belgola and others to be seen at Kallurgudda and Purale in Shimoga Taluk that Madhava definitely came under the influence of Simhanandi, who intiated him into jain doctrines and conferred on him a kingdom on condition that he always took care to uphold that Faith throughout its confines. (Ibid, also 64). The latter tow give a detailed account of this origin of the Ganga Kingdom, which deserves to be quoted at least in part, as it gives one an idea of the depth of Jain influence that ruled over the region where the Ganga kingdom was founded:
"On Madhava impressing him with his extraordinary energy... Simhanandi made a coronet of the petals of the Karnikara flowers bound it on Madhava's head, gave them (the two brothers) the dominion of all the earth, presented them with a flag made from his peacock fan and furnished them with attendants, elephants and horses. Along with these he gave them also the following advice: 'If you fail in what you have promised, if you do not approve the Jina sasana; if you seize the wives of others; if you indulge in wine and flesh; if you form relationship with the low; if you give not your wealth to the needy; if you flee from the field or battle-your race will go to ruin.
The question that has to be decided here is the identification of Perur mentioned in ganga records. Taken in conjusction with the history of the Rattas, the Kongadesarajakkal furnishes proof that it was on their fall that the Gangas rose to power and began ruling from Skandapura in Kongudesa (which is the ancient name for the territory comprising the modern disteicts of Coimbatore and Salem). The Chronicle would even inform us that the last Ratta ruler changed his religion from Jainism to Saivism and that was the cause of his downfall. Further, all the early activities of Konganivarman-as the first historical ruler of the Ganga house becomes known in all the records of this dynasty-are confined to this Kongudesa. (Kongadesarajakkal (Or Mss. Edn.) pp. 2-3). It is true that we lack definite epigraphic evidence in support of this, which we have mainly only from the Tamil chronicle above referred to. But it must be remembered that in the first place we have only a few records for the Ganga period here referred to; and even the few references that we have to the early grants of the Gangas seem to refer only to places in Coimbatore district. Such are places like "Kudluru" to the west of the Tatla and east of "Marukarevisaya", in which the names of Kudluru and Marukarevisaya are easily identifiable with the present Gudalur and Madukari in this area. (Kudaluru grant of Madhavavarman; MAR., 1930).
The conclusion naturally follows that Per here referred to as the spot on which Madhava was initiated into Jainism and conferred a kingdom on condition that he upheld it through all its confines must be the Perur within 3 miles from Coimbatore. We have numerous evidences to show that at the time referred to and for long afterwards this Perur was indeed an important place. The place referred to by this name cannot be the Perur in Cuddapah district, as Rice surmises, where no Jain remains are to be found. The tratdition is that Dadiga and Madhava were sent to the south of Mysore, as already indicated. Further, the very title assumed by the first ruler as Madhava Konganivarman seems to give an unmistakable proof of this conclusion, since as the Kongadesarajakkal aptly remarks:
As wealth, the Kongu country and great munificence were possessed by him he was styled srimalt Konganivarman Dharmamahadiraja. (Kongadesarajakkal (Taylor's trans.); MJLS., XIV)
While the mention of Simhanandi as a "person of the southern country' in the inscription at Parsvanatha Basti at Sravana Belgola already referred to, seems to set the seal upon this conclusion.
It is an agreed fact that the canarese country of which modern Mysore forms the crown and centre furnished a home for the religion of Mahavira in the days when it was not very much liked by his own countrymen of the north. The Brihatkatha of Harisena clearly refers to the migration of the Bhadrabahu mission from Mysore to Punnata in the years following the dealth of Chandragupta Maurya. (Rice; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 146; IA., XVII 366). Historians are not yet agreed as to what country is meant by the name, 'Punnata.' All available evidences seem to point to the region of S. Coorg and N. Coimbatore district as the region designated as 'Punnata' by Harisena, so that it would appear that a portion at least of the modern district of Coimbatore was the central hearth of Jainism even before the beginning of the Christian era.
A copper plate of the Ganga King Durvaniti seems to give a direct clue to this identification, when it refers to the King's conquest of Punnata in his 20th. regnal year. (MAR., 1916). On the other hand, the Komaralingam copper plates of the Punnata King Ravidatta indicate the occupation of the Kingdom by Durvaniti by positing a break in the regular line of Punnata rulers. (IA., XVIII, 362). The latter plates record the grant of the village of pungisoge by Ravidatta while on his victorious march an in his camp at Kirtipura-a place generally identified in the southern portion of modern Mysore. Whatever be the strength of this identification, if cannot be definitely said what region was comprised in this kingdom of Punnata.
In the first place, it must be remembered that Kirtipura was not its capital, as has often been maintained by writers, but only a camp in the victorious march of King Ravidatta. It is quite possible that he had undertaken a campaign in the attempt to strengthen his possessions, which had suffered during the occupation of Durvaniti. The mention of varuous grants made on the occasion from Kirtipura of places like Kolur, Kodamuku etc., "to persons to whom they belonged," as the grant clearly mentions, only confirm this conclusion. Further, the copper plate grant which gives evidence here is obtained from the village of Komaralingam in the Udumalpet Taluk in the modern district of Coimbatore; and Ptolemy designates a country called 'Ponnuta' as a "land of beryls," so much found in the Kangayam area of the same district. Besides, the donor of the grant, Ravidatta, expressly states that he is making it with the permission of the Cheramman:
"While his, Ravidatta's, victorious camp is at the town of Kirtipura, which is the best of towns, with the permission of Cheramma(n) ........the village known as Pungisoge in the east central desa in the Kudugur nadu which is in the Punnadu vishaya has been granted." (Komaralingam Copper plates, 11, 11 ff)
As has been already said, several villages like Kolur, Kodamuku, Tanagundur and Elagovanur are mentioned as coming under other grants made on the same occasion. Though these names must still remain unidentified, it is clear that all these places abutted on the Kongu frontier. The location of Pungisoge as mentioned in the above quoted passage, "in the eastcentral desa in the Kudugurnadu (Modern Coorg) only supports this conclusion. The name Elagovanur itself suggests the possibility of a location near to if no Coimbatore itself. That Ravidatta was a feudatory of the Cera sovereign of the time is put beyond doubt by the permission he is said to have obtained from the Cheramman for issuing the grants referred to.
From all these considerations it seems but natural to conclude that the Kingdom of Punnata must have been a small state carved out from parts of S. Mysore and N. Coimbatore during the period of the weak rule of the Gangas over Kongu, possibly immediately after the death of Vishnugopa. This period seems to have offered a golden opportunity for Chera revival. Through silence is no argument the omission of the Chera name in all the victories detailed in the inscriptions of the various Ganga rulers from Kongani I down to Durvaniti is very significant. A few inscriptions from Vellalur in Coimbatore district give the names of two Cera rulers, Kokkandan Viranarayana and Kokkandan Ravikodan who style themselves "sovereign jewels of the luni-solar race (ARE, 1910 pp. 147-'48). Unfortunately there is no indication about their date, except the fact that the letters of the records are of old archaic characters. On the other hand, the style assumed by the kings, "Jewels of the luni-solar race" clearly indicates the Cera-Pandya connection, since the moon (luna) is mentioned. The effective appearance of the Pandya in Kongu occurs only in the VII century AD, so that it may be safely surmised that these inscriptions of the Cera must belong roughly only to this period.
These points of information help us to posit
(a) that the Ceras had come on a decline after the era of the sangam age and it helped the rise of ganga power in Kongu and Karnataka;
(b) that the Ceras made attempts to revive in the VII century AD;
(c) that the Vellalur inscriptions record the establishment of Cera power once again in Kongu;
(d) that the line of rulers of the Komaralingam copper plates were Cera feudatories.
From these deductions the indentification of the Punnata country seems plausible. It must have been a kingdom subordinate to the Ceras comprising parts of Coorg and Coimbatore district. Ptolemy's description of Punnata as "a land of beryl" seems definitely to point to the region of Kangayam in modern Coimbatore Dist, as lying within the kingdom of Punnata (McCrindle: Anc. India). The Mercara copper plates refer to Punnata as a "ten-thousand country;" and, as Mr. Rice contents, it must be the same as the later-day "Padi-Nadu" (Ten country), mentioned in the Yelandur inscription of AD. 1654 (Mys. Inss., P. 283, 334). In locating this region the above mentioned record clearly mentions the place. 'Tarapura,' evidently modern Dharapuram in the district of Coimbatore, which is said to lie SE of the kingdom (Ibid, p.334). 'The fact that equidistant to both Kangayam and Dharapuram (lying within a distance of six miles) is Padiyur, which is still famous for the far-famed beryls of Ptolemy, must be taken as giving a very strong cnfirmation to the view here advanced. That Coorg and this region of Coimbatore district must have once formed a unit in early times is seen from what the celebrated historian of Mysore, Col. Wilks, records in his "History of Mysore":
"In the southern part of Mysore the Tamil languageis at this day named the Gangee from being best known to them as the language of the people of Kankayam. (Wilks, Mysore, p. 4, F, N.2) On the other hand, the same Wilks bears testimony to the fact that for some time the Cera king had complete mastery over this region, when he says:
"Cheran united Kangiam and Salem to the dominions of Kerela of Malabar."(Op., cit., p.5).
Even the name 'Punnata' and be explainted. It seems to be just a corruption of the name, 'Pounnadu' the land of gold. That there was much gold to be had from the region of Coorg and Kongu is unexceptionalble. While the Mysore gold minies bear evidence to this in some indirect way, the XVII century Tamil work, Maduraikalambakam speaks of the "gold that is found in Kondu" (Konguraippon), thus bearing a direct testimony to the Kongu wealth of gold. (The term Ponnadu seems to have been analogous to the name of the Cola country watered by the cauvery, Viz., the 'Punalnadu'.
Thus we are able to posit that the region of modern Coimbatore was a central hearth of Jainism in the south at least three conturies before the Christian era and that it continued to be so for a long time afterwards certainly through-our the period of the Ganga rule. An inscription of the XII century which referring to the Hoysala conquest of Kongu under Vishnuvardhana (1120 AD), Speaks of his general in that region, Gangarajah of great fame as" :a devout Jain. "(See Sastri; Colas, II, i). We need not try to trace the later history of Jainism in Kongu. Probably it came on a period of steady decline from that date onwards. But what has been so far said is enough to explain the numerous Jain vestiges in this region, to be seen to this day.
A STUDY OF JAIN ACTIVITY IN WESTERN ORISSA
A STUDY OF JAIN ACTIVITY IN WESTERN ORISSA
(From c.B.C. 200–600A.D.)
By: Tirtharaj Bhoi
The Indian religions provide an exciting field for study.Because of the Pluralistic
expression, it has some problems to be studied. If we peep into the background of the
religious studies in Western Orissa, it is very complex situation requiring deep
investigation. The main focal point of the Papers is to provide an in-depth information
and analytic historical account ofJainism.
Jainism has been revealed now and then in every one of these endless succeeding
periods of the world by innumerable Trithankaras. The first Tirthankara was Rsabhanatha
and the last two were Parsva and Mahavira. In the Jaina literature
Mahavira, the last Tirthankara of the Jainas, is described as a supreme personality, who was acknowledged as a “great Brahman”, “a great guardian”, ”a great preacher”, “a great pilot” and “a great recluse”.
Now-a-days, the perceptions of the social scientist, however, are trying to gain grip
on the understanding of the complex phenomena of religion. Religion is viewed primarily
as a part of the ideological system which itself emerged on the basis of the material
conditions that exist in a particular situation. The religions are also supposed to reform
themselves from time to time.
Early Development
In Ancient Orissa, Jainism played a very eminent role in religious and cultural life
of the people. Since the days of the Nandas to the invasion of Ashoka over Kalinga, the
political history of Orissa was called a dark period. But we have some reference that
much earlier to the Mauryan period there was a great Jaina monarch in Kalinga, called
Karakandu, who was ruling before Mahavira and after Parsvanatha.
The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela (Khandagiri, Udayagiri) says that
Mahavira visited Kalinga and from the Kumari-Parvata , he preached and promulgated
Jainism.
In the fourth and fifth century B.C. when the Nanda dynasty was in power in Magadha,
Orissa was stronghold of Jainism. It has been mentioned in the inscription of Kharavela
that the army, in the twelfth year of his reign had invaded Magadha and brought back the
sacred Kalinga-Jinawhich had been taken from Kalinga by Nandaraja Mahapadma Nanda
as a symbol of victory over Kalinga, three hundred years back. Jainism must
have suffered a temporary set back during the rule of Ashoka in 3rd century B.C.
After Ashoka’s invasion of Kalinga in 261 B.C., Buddhism was ushered in and it
gained much popularity in Orissa due to the missionary activities. However, it cannot be
said that Ashoka’s missionary activities adversely affected the ruin of the Jainism in
Kalinga. Jainism continued to flourish as a major religion of Kalinga even after the
Mauryas invasion. After the Mauryas, when Chedi ruler Kharavela was the king of Kalinga,
Jainism was wellknown and popular.
Development in Western Orissa
There are insufficient archaeological findings of Jaina antiquity in South Kosala,
particularly in Western Orissa. However, we have some important literary sources to
prove that Jainism was there in concerned period, which was under review.
According to Bhagavati Sutra and Harivamsha Purana , Mahavir started his earliest
preaching of Dharma at Nalanda, Rajgriha, Paniya Bhumi, Siddharthagrama. According
to some scholars, (D.C.Sircar) Punita Bhumi is a synonym of Paniya Bhumi as per
Ardha Magadhi language. It is the same as Paniya Bhumi or Nagoloka, the present
Nagpur, and it is further identified as Bhogapura , the modern Bastar, region of
Chhattisgarh and Koraput, Kalahandi district of Orissa.
The Vagabati Sutra informs that Mahavir stayed at Paniya Bhumi for last six years
with Acharya Gosala From there, they proceeded towards Kurmagrama and
Sidharthagrama, which were identified with Erandapali and Sirkurman in Srikakullam
district of Andhra Pradesh. The ancient tract through which Mahavir traveled from Paniya
Bhumi to Kurmagrama and Sidharthagrama is the same road on which Samudragupta
marched to Kalinga.
.
Western Orissa was incorporated in the Chedi Empire under the Kharavela, a
great follower of Jainas. Here we can mention that Jainism was one of the major religious
systems of South Kosala during the Chedi rule.
We have number of archaeological evidences including cult image of Jaina
Tirthankara belonging to the 5th, 6th and 7th century A.D. The image of Parsvanatha
found at Pendra in Bilaspur district is important. The deity is represented engrossing
in meditation. A seven headed snake from a canopy over the head of the deity. The Jaina temple at Bhanda is supposed to be the most ancient Jaina monument of Daksina Kosala. Image of different Trithankaras found there and local people worship them in the name of Parganoadev.
There are several other icons of Jaina Tirthankars discovered at Adhabhar, Malhar,
the bronze image at Sirpur, two images preserved in the Konthi temple at
Ratanpur, a Jaina goddess image at Sarangarh, image of Rsabhanath found at Ratanpur
and Malhar which are preserved in the Raipur Museum.
We also find Jaina temples at Kurra and Sirpur in Raipur district. Another ten
inches of Mahavir sculpture has been found at Maraguda valley and is preserved in
modern Jaina temple of Khariar Road in Nawapara district. It is ten inches in height
chiseled on four sides with its cognisance lion at the bottom and the Srivatsa symbol is
found on the chest.
Apart from the above sites, we found a Jain temple at Subei in Koraput district.
Subei - as a popular religious site The researcher, himself visited the excavated place at Subei, which is located near-by Nandapur and 35 Kms. from Koraput district headquarter. In ancient period, the areas of the district formed part of the Dandaka forest. The tract was also remaining with the Attavika region. The next phase of political domination in the area is marked by the
occupation of the Satavahana, the Matharas, and the Ikshvakus.
The Jaina monuments of the village are noticed at the foot of the Panagiri hill. The
images are thickly covered with moss and lichen and attended very rarely by the local
people. Government or NGOs has made no attempt for proper maintenance of these
monuments. Of the ten shrines, only two are somewhat standing for at present.
All the figures of the Trithankara, one has been depicted in sitting position on the
pedestals. The Tirthankaras flanked by chauri bearers are provided with Kevala tree, tri-
linear umbrella, Prabhamandala and flying Apsaras. The hairs on the head of the figures
are arranged in matted locks. One prominent figure of Rsabhanatha affixed to the outer
wall, near the entrance to the premises, is carved in seated Yogasana pose along with
other twenty-three Tirthankaras on the sides.
On the basis of the architectural features, V. Dehejia has traced this temple back
to the formative phase that is before 700 A.D. but from one of the basis of the iconographic features, the temple can be assigned to the ninth century A.D.
Excavated site found in South Kosala
Raipur (Chhattisgarh)
Kurra
Sirpur
Ratanpur
Malhar
Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)
Pendra
Nawapara (Orissa)
Maraguda Valley
Koraput (Orissa)
Subai
Influence in Society
Jainism has played a very significant role in the development of language,
philosophy, architectural, sculpture and the way of the life of the people. From third
century B.C. to fourth century A.D., according to N. Pattnaik, the political organization
and social structure might have been at the best at the level of chiefdom or, state of
proto-state formation.
The earliest introduction and spread of Aryan religious practice in Western Orissa
came with the initial incursion of the Jaina religion. It is anti-vedic and did not recognize
Vedic metaphysics. The first acquaintance the tribal Kosali’s had at Aryan was with
Jainism. Here we can find the Jaina practices and tribal deities’ influence on Western
Orissan social life.
The ancient trade route linking the port of Paloura on the eastern coast of Bay of
Bengal with the trade center of Deccan passed through this areas. The rulers gave
patronage to Jainism to construct temples under the influence of monks who were travelling
in these areas to spread their religion. The creed has had its impact on the life of Oriya
and Kosali’s peoples. Worship of the Vata tree (Ficus), Kalpavata social custom is
drawn from Jainism. Many Jaina scholars were employed as astronomers and
administrators of the court of various South Indian royal families as observed by D.C.
Sircar.
These Jaina astronomers seem to have introduced the Saka Era in this region.
The Jainism also influences the medieval Oriya literature. The story of the Jagannath
in the Oriya Mahabharata of Sarala Das appears to be a Jaina parable in a different
form. The Vishnu-garbha Purana of Chaitanya Das is replete with version of Jaina
philosophical discussion and practices.
Gopinath Mahanty (Gyanapitha awardee) referring to an account in the Sarala
Mahabharata(Oriya) assumes that Janughanta was probably a very powerful king of
Kalinga, who lived on begging alms, remained necked (Digambara) and followed the
principle of Non-violence. These practices are quite in common with Jaina religious faith.
The followers of this king are known as Janughantia in rural Orissa. They have mathas
in Baramba, Narasingpur, Kendrapara areas of Cuttack and Puri district.
Hence we can conclude that it is difficult to accept that the Aryan people came in
large numbers and subjugated the local tribes and superimposed their own culture and
language on the Orissan people. The Orissan situation is principal case of regional
variation.
Naga Culture in Association with Jainism
The worship of the Naga culture is found in the different parts of Orissa, especially
of the tribal and low caste Hindus of the hilly tracts of Western Orissa. Naga is familiar
and common that there is a peculiar place of Naga in their religious life, like the early
Egyptians worshipping the snake with totemistic rituals.
The people worship Snake after being initiated to a religious order (Nagabachcha) like the
Upanayana of Brahman.
These Naga cultural traditions still worship in Western Orissa. But we have evidence
that it was started since pre-Gupta period in Western Orissa. It is important to observe
that there is no restriction of caste, creed or sect for selection of individuals for its
ceremony. Generally, the leader of the (Nagabachcha) is called Jhankar, Ojha or Pujhari.
The Jaina Parsvanatha is represented either with a seven-hooded serpent expanding
over his head or as sitting on the expanded hoods of a serpent with many heads.
According to Jain legend, when Parsvanatha was engaged in devotion, his enemy
Kamatha or, Katha caused a great rain and thunder-stone to disturb him in his meditations.
The serpent king Dharanendra or Dharana with his wife Padmavati came to protect the
lord and shadowed his head with his seven hoods as an umbrella. Such sculptures are
found in the cave temples of Badami and Ellora and it has been noticed in Alakapuri-
Gumpha of the Khandagiri and Udayagiri.
From the above literary and archaeological information, it can be assume that there
may be more Jaina monuments and serpent image available in Western Orissa, and it
seems that there is a lack of excavation in Western Orissa, while most of the informations
and excavations regarding Jaina temple available in other part of Orissa in the period
under review.
The present study which is trying to dictate the in-depth information regarding
socio- religious cultural activities through proofs from the ancient monuments, where
there is information regarding Western Orissa from the primary sources.
References
1. Uttaradhyan Sutra, chapter XXIII Verses, P.45.
2. Ibid, pp. 46-47.
3. Khandagiri and Udayagiri hill situated near Bhubaneswar in Khurdha district.
4. Kumari Parvata identified as Khandagiri and Udayagiri.
5 Kalinga-jina refer to image of Rsabhanatha, the first Trithankara, N.K. Sahu, History of Orissa,
1980, Vol. I.
6. J.B.O.R.S. Vol. XIII. p. 221
7. R.D. Benerji, History of Orissa 1930, Vol. I, P. 61.
8. Ibid.
9. E.I. Vol. Ill, pp. 127–30 ff And S.N. Rajaguru, Inscription of 0rissa, Vol. II, pp. 24–88 ff.
10. E.I. Vol. Ill, pp. 212–221 ff And S.N. Rajaguru, Inscription of 0rissa, Vol. II, pp. 81–85 ff
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OHRJ, Vol. XLVII, No. 1
11. J.A. H.R.S. Vol. I, P. 228.
12. Hemulal Yadu, Daksna Kosal ki Kala (Hindi), 1990, P. 119.
13. Mani Kanti Sagar, Khandhron Ka Baibhav (Hindi), pp. 153–162.
14. Hemulal Yadu, Op. Cit. P. 28.
15. Bilaspur District Gazetter 1910, P. 255.
16. Indian Archaeology: A Review 1960–62, P. 61.
17. Mani Kanti Sagar, Op. Cit., pp. 153-154.
18. Hemulal Yadu, Op. Cit. P. 119–121.
19. Raipur District Gazetter 1973, P. 304.
20. Cunningham A.S.I Annual Report Vol. VII, p. 170.
21. J.P. Singhdeo, Cultural Profile of South Kosala,, 1984, P. 298.
22. Accordin to Jaina text Aryanga and Acaranga sutta also mentioned , Bengal District Gazetter
Singhbhum, 1910, P. 25.
23. V.Dehejia , Early Stone Temple of Orissa, 1979, pp. 103-104.
24. Even today large numbers or, tribes in this region are dependent upon the produce of slash and burn
type of agriculture. N. Pattaniak, Tribal Life in Orissa, 1982, pp. 93,103.
25. D.C. Sircar, Inscripton of Orissa, P. 263.
26. E.R.E. (ED.) James Hastings, Vol. XI, 1910, P. 400.
27. J.G. Buhler, On the Indian Sect of Jaina, translated by J. Burgeus, London , 1903, P. 63.
28. M. Bloomfield, the life and Stories of Parsvanatha, Baltimore , 1919, P. 118.
29. J.G. Buhler, On the Indian Sect of Jaina, translated by J. Burgeus, Op. Cit., P. 64.
30. N.K. Sahu, Utakal University, History of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, 1958, P. 39
.
Department of History
Central University of Hyderabad
Hyderabad-500046.
E-mail -Prasadrai bhoi (@ yahoo. co. i n
OGP–MP–PTS (T&C) 1–200–23-9-2004
(From c.B.C. 200–600A.D.)
By: Tirtharaj Bhoi
The Indian religions provide an exciting field for study.Because of the Pluralistic
expression, it has some problems to be studied. If we peep into the background of the
religious studies in Western Orissa, it is very complex situation requiring deep
investigation. The main focal point of the Papers is to provide an in-depth information
and analytic historical account ofJainism.
Jainism has been revealed now and then in every one of these endless succeeding
periods of the world by innumerable Trithankaras. The first Tirthankara was Rsabhanatha
and the last two were Parsva and Mahavira. In the Jaina literature
Mahavira, the last Tirthankara of the Jainas, is described as a supreme personality, who was acknowledged as a “great Brahman”, “a great guardian”, ”a great preacher”, “a great pilot” and “a great recluse”.
Now-a-days, the perceptions of the social scientist, however, are trying to gain grip
on the understanding of the complex phenomena of religion. Religion is viewed primarily
as a part of the ideological system which itself emerged on the basis of the material
conditions that exist in a particular situation. The religions are also supposed to reform
themselves from time to time.
Early Development
In Ancient Orissa, Jainism played a very eminent role in religious and cultural life
of the people. Since the days of the Nandas to the invasion of Ashoka over Kalinga, the
political history of Orissa was called a dark period. But we have some reference that
much earlier to the Mauryan period there was a great Jaina monarch in Kalinga, called
Karakandu, who was ruling before Mahavira and after Parsvanatha.
The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela (Khandagiri, Udayagiri) says that
Mahavira visited Kalinga and from the Kumari-Parvata , he preached and promulgated
Jainism.
In the fourth and fifth century B.C. when the Nanda dynasty was in power in Magadha,
Orissa was stronghold of Jainism. It has been mentioned in the inscription of Kharavela
that the army, in the twelfth year of his reign had invaded Magadha and brought back the
sacred Kalinga-Jinawhich had been taken from Kalinga by Nandaraja Mahapadma Nanda
as a symbol of victory over Kalinga, three hundred years back. Jainism must
have suffered a temporary set back during the rule of Ashoka in 3rd century B.C.
After Ashoka’s invasion of Kalinga in 261 B.C., Buddhism was ushered in and it
gained much popularity in Orissa due to the missionary activities. However, it cannot be
said that Ashoka’s missionary activities adversely affected the ruin of the Jainism in
Kalinga. Jainism continued to flourish as a major religion of Kalinga even after the
Mauryas invasion. After the Mauryas, when Chedi ruler Kharavela was the king of Kalinga,
Jainism was wellknown and popular.
Development in Western Orissa
There are insufficient archaeological findings of Jaina antiquity in South Kosala,
particularly in Western Orissa. However, we have some important literary sources to
prove that Jainism was there in concerned period, which was under review.
According to Bhagavati Sutra and Harivamsha Purana , Mahavir started his earliest
preaching of Dharma at Nalanda, Rajgriha, Paniya Bhumi, Siddharthagrama. According
to some scholars, (D.C.Sircar) Punita Bhumi is a synonym of Paniya Bhumi as per
Ardha Magadhi language. It is the same as Paniya Bhumi or Nagoloka, the present
Nagpur, and it is further identified as Bhogapura , the modern Bastar, region of
Chhattisgarh and Koraput, Kalahandi district of Orissa.
The Vagabati Sutra informs that Mahavir stayed at Paniya Bhumi for last six years
with Acharya Gosala From there, they proceeded towards Kurmagrama and
Sidharthagrama, which were identified with Erandapali and Sirkurman in Srikakullam
district of Andhra Pradesh. The ancient tract through which Mahavir traveled from Paniya
Bhumi to Kurmagrama and Sidharthagrama is the same road on which Samudragupta
marched to Kalinga.
.
Western Orissa was incorporated in the Chedi Empire under the Kharavela, a
great follower of Jainas. Here we can mention that Jainism was one of the major religious
systems of South Kosala during the Chedi rule.
We have number of archaeological evidences including cult image of Jaina
Tirthankara belonging to the 5th, 6th and 7th century A.D. The image of Parsvanatha
found at Pendra in Bilaspur district is important. The deity is represented engrossing
in meditation. A seven headed snake from a canopy over the head of the deity. The Jaina temple at Bhanda is supposed to be the most ancient Jaina monument of Daksina Kosala. Image of different Trithankaras found there and local people worship them in the name of Parganoadev.
There are several other icons of Jaina Tirthankars discovered at Adhabhar, Malhar,
the bronze image at Sirpur, two images preserved in the Konthi temple at
Ratanpur, a Jaina goddess image at Sarangarh, image of Rsabhanath found at Ratanpur
and Malhar which are preserved in the Raipur Museum.
We also find Jaina temples at Kurra and Sirpur in Raipur district. Another ten
inches of Mahavir sculpture has been found at Maraguda valley and is preserved in
modern Jaina temple of Khariar Road in Nawapara district. It is ten inches in height
chiseled on four sides with its cognisance lion at the bottom and the Srivatsa symbol is
found on the chest.
Apart from the above sites, we found a Jain temple at Subei in Koraput district.
Subei - as a popular religious site The researcher, himself visited the excavated place at Subei, which is located near-by Nandapur and 35 Kms. from Koraput district headquarter. In ancient period, the areas of the district formed part of the Dandaka forest. The tract was also remaining with the Attavika region. The next phase of political domination in the area is marked by the
occupation of the Satavahana, the Matharas, and the Ikshvakus.
The Jaina monuments of the village are noticed at the foot of the Panagiri hill. The
images are thickly covered with moss and lichen and attended very rarely by the local
people. Government or NGOs has made no attempt for proper maintenance of these
monuments. Of the ten shrines, only two are somewhat standing for at present.
All the figures of the Trithankara, one has been depicted in sitting position on the
pedestals. The Tirthankaras flanked by chauri bearers are provided with Kevala tree, tri-
linear umbrella, Prabhamandala and flying Apsaras. The hairs on the head of the figures
are arranged in matted locks. One prominent figure of Rsabhanatha affixed to the outer
wall, near the entrance to the premises, is carved in seated Yogasana pose along with
other twenty-three Tirthankaras on the sides.
On the basis of the architectural features, V. Dehejia has traced this temple back
to the formative phase that is before 700 A.D. but from one of the basis of the iconographic features, the temple can be assigned to the ninth century A.D.
Excavated site found in South Kosala
Raipur (Chhattisgarh)
Kurra
Sirpur
Ratanpur
Malhar
Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)
Pendra
Nawapara (Orissa)
Maraguda Valley
Koraput (Orissa)
Subai
Influence in Society
Jainism has played a very significant role in the development of language,
philosophy, architectural, sculpture and the way of the life of the people. From third
century B.C. to fourth century A.D., according to N. Pattnaik, the political organization
and social structure might have been at the best at the level of chiefdom or, state of
proto-state formation.
The earliest introduction and spread of Aryan religious practice in Western Orissa
came with the initial incursion of the Jaina religion. It is anti-vedic and did not recognize
Vedic metaphysics. The first acquaintance the tribal Kosali’s had at Aryan was with
Jainism. Here we can find the Jaina practices and tribal deities’ influence on Western
Orissan social life.
The ancient trade route linking the port of Paloura on the eastern coast of Bay of
Bengal with the trade center of Deccan passed through this areas. The rulers gave
patronage to Jainism to construct temples under the influence of monks who were travelling
in these areas to spread their religion. The creed has had its impact on the life of Oriya
and Kosali’s peoples. Worship of the Vata tree (Ficus), Kalpavata social custom is
drawn from Jainism. Many Jaina scholars were employed as astronomers and
administrators of the court of various South Indian royal families as observed by D.C.
Sircar.
These Jaina astronomers seem to have introduced the Saka Era in this region.
The Jainism also influences the medieval Oriya literature. The story of the Jagannath
in the Oriya Mahabharata of Sarala Das appears to be a Jaina parable in a different
form. The Vishnu-garbha Purana of Chaitanya Das is replete with version of Jaina
philosophical discussion and practices.
Gopinath Mahanty (Gyanapitha awardee) referring to an account in the Sarala
Mahabharata(Oriya) assumes that Janughanta was probably a very powerful king of
Kalinga, who lived on begging alms, remained necked (Digambara) and followed the
principle of Non-violence. These practices are quite in common with Jaina religious faith.
The followers of this king are known as Janughantia in rural Orissa. They have mathas
in Baramba, Narasingpur, Kendrapara areas of Cuttack and Puri district.
Hence we can conclude that it is difficult to accept that the Aryan people came in
large numbers and subjugated the local tribes and superimposed their own culture and
language on the Orissan people. The Orissan situation is principal case of regional
variation.
Naga Culture in Association with Jainism
The worship of the Naga culture is found in the different parts of Orissa, especially
of the tribal and low caste Hindus of the hilly tracts of Western Orissa. Naga is familiar
and common that there is a peculiar place of Naga in their religious life, like the early
Egyptians worshipping the snake with totemistic rituals.
The people worship Snake after being initiated to a religious order (Nagabachcha) like the
Upanayana of Brahman.
These Naga cultural traditions still worship in Western Orissa. But we have evidence
that it was started since pre-Gupta period in Western Orissa. It is important to observe
that there is no restriction of caste, creed or sect for selection of individuals for its
ceremony. Generally, the leader of the (Nagabachcha) is called Jhankar, Ojha or Pujhari.
The Jaina Parsvanatha is represented either with a seven-hooded serpent expanding
over his head or as sitting on the expanded hoods of a serpent with many heads.
According to Jain legend, when Parsvanatha was engaged in devotion, his enemy
Kamatha or, Katha caused a great rain and thunder-stone to disturb him in his meditations.
The serpent king Dharanendra or Dharana with his wife Padmavati came to protect the
lord and shadowed his head with his seven hoods as an umbrella. Such sculptures are
found in the cave temples of Badami and Ellora and it has been noticed in Alakapuri-
Gumpha of the Khandagiri and Udayagiri.
From the above literary and archaeological information, it can be assume that there
may be more Jaina monuments and serpent image available in Western Orissa, and it
seems that there is a lack of excavation in Western Orissa, while most of the informations
and excavations regarding Jaina temple available in other part of Orissa in the period
under review.
The present study which is trying to dictate the in-depth information regarding
socio- religious cultural activities through proofs from the ancient monuments, where
there is information regarding Western Orissa from the primary sources.
References
1. Uttaradhyan Sutra, chapter XXIII Verses, P.45.
2. Ibid, pp. 46-47.
3. Khandagiri and Udayagiri hill situated near Bhubaneswar in Khurdha district.
4. Kumari Parvata identified as Khandagiri and Udayagiri.
5 Kalinga-jina refer to image of Rsabhanatha, the first Trithankara, N.K. Sahu, History of Orissa,
1980, Vol. I.
6. J.B.O.R.S. Vol. XIII. p. 221
7. R.D. Benerji, History of Orissa 1930, Vol. I, P. 61.
8. Ibid.
9. E.I. Vol. Ill, pp. 127–30 ff And S.N. Rajaguru, Inscription of 0rissa, Vol. II, pp. 24–88 ff.
10. E.I. Vol. Ill, pp. 212–221 ff And S.N. Rajaguru, Inscription of 0rissa, Vol. II, pp. 81–85 ff
Page 6
136
OHRJ, Vol. XLVII, No. 1
11. J.A. H.R.S. Vol. I, P. 228.
12. Hemulal Yadu, Daksna Kosal ki Kala (Hindi), 1990, P. 119.
13. Mani Kanti Sagar, Khandhron Ka Baibhav (Hindi), pp. 153–162.
14. Hemulal Yadu, Op. Cit. P. 28.
15. Bilaspur District Gazetter 1910, P. 255.
16. Indian Archaeology: A Review 1960–62, P. 61.
17. Mani Kanti Sagar, Op. Cit., pp. 153-154.
18. Hemulal Yadu, Op. Cit. P. 119–121.
19. Raipur District Gazetter 1973, P. 304.
20. Cunningham A.S.I Annual Report Vol. VII, p. 170.
21. J.P. Singhdeo, Cultural Profile of South Kosala,, 1984, P. 298.
22. Accordin to Jaina text Aryanga and Acaranga sutta also mentioned , Bengal District Gazetter
Singhbhum, 1910, P. 25.
23. V.Dehejia , Early Stone Temple of Orissa, 1979, pp. 103-104.
24. Even today large numbers or, tribes in this region are dependent upon the produce of slash and burn
type of agriculture. N. Pattaniak, Tribal Life in Orissa, 1982, pp. 93,103.
25. D.C. Sircar, Inscripton of Orissa, P. 263.
26. E.R.E. (ED.) James Hastings, Vol. XI, 1910, P. 400.
27. J.G. Buhler, On the Indian Sect of Jaina, translated by J. Burgeus, London , 1903, P. 63.
28. M. Bloomfield, the life and Stories of Parsvanatha, Baltimore , 1919, P. 118.
29. J.G. Buhler, On the Indian Sect of Jaina, translated by J. Burgeus, Op. Cit., P. 64.
30. N.K. Sahu, Utakal University, History of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, 1958, P. 39
.
Department of History
Central University of Hyderabad
Hyderabad-500046.
E-mail -Prasadrai bhoi (@ yahoo. co. i n
OGP–MP–PTS (T&C) 1–200–23-9-2004
Apr 24, 2008
Ancient Jaina Mathematics: an Introductionby D.P. Agrawal
The origins of Buddhism and Jainism can be placed around the middle of the first millennium BC. Both Jainism and Buddhism were basically rebellions against the rituals and sacrifices of the earlier Brahmanical religions. Somehow the Buddhists seem to have specialised in medicine and the Jainas in maths. Kuriyama says that surgery and physical Ayurveda became two separate traditions, surgery being more important amongst the Buddhists, who… are less hung up about ritual purity and contact with taboo bodily products such as blood. While in Jainism, the founder of the sect Mahavira himself has been claimed as a mathematician. During the period of the Brahmanas, the maths served the main purpose of rituals. The credit for giving maths the form of an abstract discipline goes to the Jainas.
Jaina mathematics is one of the least understood chapters of Indian science, mainly because of the scarcity of the extant original works. For example, the Jainas recognized five different kinds of infinity. They were the first to conceive of transfinite numbers, a concept, which was brought to Europe by Cantor in the late 19th century. The two thousand year old Jaina literature may hold valuable clues to the very nature of mathematics. This is one area where further research could prove very fruitful.
Joseph's book, The Crest of the Peacock, makes a delightful reading and is a powerful book against the Eurocentric History of Science and Technology. And precisely for this reason it has been criticised by western scholars. The following introduction to Jaina maths is mainly based on Joseph's work and A Concise History of Science in India edited by Bose et al.
Unfortunately sources of information on Jaina mathematics are scarce. A number of Jaina texts of mathematical importance have yet to be studied. Surya prajnapti, Jambu Dwipa Prajnapti, Sthananga sutra, Uttaradhyayana sutra, Bhagwati sutra and Anuyoga Dwara sutra are the oldest canonical literature. The first two works are datable to the third or fourth century BC; the others are at least two centuries later.
Basically their religious literature is classified into four groups, called "anuyoga"(the exposition of the principles of Janisim). Ganitanuyoga (the exposition of the principles of mathematics) was one of them. In the period between the end of the Brahamanas and beginning of the Siddhantic astronomy (c. 4th Century AD), the Jaina mathematics played a significant role.
Available Sources The only treatise on arithmetic by a Jaina scholar, which is available at present, is the Ganita-sara-samgraha of Mahavira (c. AD 850). The author of the Ganita-sara-samgraha held that the great Mahavira, the founder of Jaina religion, was himself a mathematician.
In the history of the Jaina religion Bhadrabahu (c. Died 298 BC), a very prominent personage, is reputed as the last of the Srutakevalin, because of his phenomenal memory, which enabled him reproduce the entire Jaina canonical literature. Bhadrabahu is also known to be the author of the two astronomical works: (1) a commentary on the Suryaprajnapti and (2) an original work called the Bhadrabahavi-samhita. None of these works is available at present. Buhler found a work by the name of the Bhadrabahavi-samhita, but modern scholars have suspected its authenticity on the ground that:
(1) It is of the same character as the other Samhitas; (2) It has not been mentioned by Varahamihira (AD 505) who has referred to many anterior writers; (3) It gives the date of its last redaction as AD 511.
Umasvati was a reputed Jaina metaphysician, but not a mathematician, though he did refer to mathematical formulae. Siddhasena was another mathematician who has been referred to by Varahamihira also. However, from the specific treatises on mathematics we can get a lot of information about the Jainas' knowledge of mathematics from various Ardhamagadhi religious and secular books. Some valuable information as regards the knowledge amongst the early Jainas is expected to be found in the Ksetrasamasa (collection of the places) and Karanabhavana. Jinabhadra Gani (AD 550) wrote two works of the same class: a bigger one, called Brhata ksetrasamasa and a smaller one called Laghu ksetrasamasa.
Topics of MathematicsAccording to the Sthananga-Sutra (c. First Century BC) the main themes for discussion in mathematics are ten in number: parikarama (fundamental operation), vyavahara (subjects of treatment), rajju (geometry), rasi (heap, mensuration of solid bodies), kalasavarna (fractions), yavat-tavat (simple equation), varga (quadratic equations), ghana (cubic equations), varga-varga (biquadratic equations) and vikalpa (permutations and combinations).
Abhayadeva surely thinks that varga, ghana and varga-varga refer respectively to the rules for finding the square, cube and fourth power of a number. But in Hindu mathematics from the earliest times squaring and cubing are considered as fundamental operations and as such they are covered by the terms parikarma. Abhayadeva Suri held that yavat-tavat refers to multiplication or to the summation of the series (samkalita). The early Jainas attached great importance to the subject of permutations and combinations (vikalpa).
The term yavat-tavat entered into the Hindu mathematics more than five centuries before the Greek Diophantus as the symbol for the unknown. The Greek Diophantus suggested that it is connected with the definition of the unknown quantity as "containing an indeterminate or undefined multitudes of units." The ancient work Curni defines the term parikarma as referring to those fundamental operations (sixteen in number) of mathematics as will befit a student to enter into the rest and the real portion of the science.
Certain Mensuration FormulaeIn the Tattvarthadhigama-sutra-bhasya of Umasvati, there is also an incidental reference to two methods of multiplication and division. The multiplication by factor has been mentioned from Brahmagupta and the division by factor is found in the Trisatika of Sridhara. Umasvati is famous as one of the greatest metaphysicians of India and he is held in high esteem equally by the two main sections of the Jainas. He lived about 150 BC.
Schools of MathematicsThe culture of mathematics and astronomy survived in the School of Mathematics at Kusumapura (in Bihar), up to the end of the fifth century of the Christian era, while the school had begun near about the beginning of the Christian era. The famous Jaina saint Bhadrabahu (author of two astronomical works, a commentary on the Suryaprajnapti and the Bhadrabahavi-samhita) lived at Kusumapura. Two other important and well-known centres of mathematical studies in ancient India were Ujjain and Mysore. The Ujjain school included the greatest of Indian astronomers Brahmagupta and the mathematician Bhaskaracarya, while the southern school of Mysore had its representative in Mahaviracarya.
Suryaprajnapti (400BC) and other early Jaina Sutras give the length of the diameter and circumference of certain circular bodies. The formula for the arc of a segment less than a semicircle reappears in the Ganita-sara-samgraha of Mahavira and the Mahasiddhanta of Aryabhata II (AD 950). The Greek Heron of Alexandria takes the circumference of the segment less than a semicircle. In the Uttaradhyayana-sutra, the circumference is stated roughly to be a little over three times its diameter.
Permutations and CombinationsThe early Jainas seem to have a great liking for the subject of combinations and permutations. A permutation is a particular way of ordering some or all of a given number of items. Therefore the number of ways of arranging them gives the number of permutations, which can be formed from a group of unlike items. A combination is a selection from some or all of a number of items, unlike permutations, the other is not taken into account. Therefore the number of ways of selecting them gives the number of combinations, which can be formed into a group of unlike items. Permutations and combinations were favourite topics of study among the Jainas. In the Bhagawati sutra are set forth simple problems such as finding the number of combinations that can be obtained from a given number of fundamental philosophical categories taken one at a time, two at a time, three at a time or more at a time. The Jaina commentator Silanka has quoted three rules regarding permutations and combinations, two of them are in Sanskrit verse and the other is most interestingly in Ardhamagadhi verse.
Law of IndicesThe law of indices cannot be formulated precisely. But there are some indications that the Jainas were aware of the existence of these laws.
Theory of NumbersLike the Vedic mathematicians, the Jainas had an interest in the enumeration of very large numbers, which was intimately tied up with their philosophy of time and space. All numbers were classified into three groups enumerable, innumerable and infinite, each of which was in turn sub-divided into three orders. The Jainas also classify numbers into odd and even categories. The Jainas could conceive of such huge units of time as 756X 1011 X 8,400,00028 days, which was termed Sirsaprahelika.
Certain Technical TermsIn the Jaina literature the modern geometrical term semi-diameter was found in the writings of Umasvati who calls it vyasardha or viskambhardha. The terms jiva for the chord of a segment of a circle and dhanuprstha for its arc occur in several early canonical works. The numeral symbols were written in two forms: ankalipi and ganitalipi.
GeometryThe term rajju was used in two different senses by the Jaina theorists. In cosmology it was frequently used as a measure of length of about 3.4 X 1021. But in a general sense the Jainas used this term for geometry or mensuration, in which they followed the Vedic sulbasutras. A variety of geometric terms were known to them: sama-cakravala, vratta (circle), jiva ( arc), parimandala (ellipse), ghana vratta (sphere) etc. They had derived the value of pi as root of 10.
As mentioned before, the Jainas recognized five different kinds of infinity: infinity in one direction; infinity in two directions; infinity in area; infinity everywhere; and infinity perpetually. This is quite a revolutionary concept, as the Jainas were the first to discard the idea that all infinities were same or equal, an idea prevalent in Europe till the late 19th Century.
The highest enumerable number (ie, N) of the Jainas corresponds to another concept developed by Cantor, aleph-null, also called the first transfinite number. In their theory of sets, the Jainas further distinguished two basic types of transfinite number. On both physical and ontological grounds, a distinction was made between asmkhyata and ananata, between rigidly bounded and loosely bounded infinities.
This brief glimpse into the Jaina maths clearly shows that mostly this is an uncharted area where a lot of research needs to be done. Two thousand year old Jaina mathematics may hold clues to the very nature of the foundations of mathematics: there lies its importance, and the challenge.
Main Sources:Joseph, George Gheverghese. 1994. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics. London: Penguin Books.
Sen, S.N. 1971. Mathematics. In A Concise History of Science in India (Eds.) D. M. Bose, S. N. Sen and B.V. Subbarayappa. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy. Pp. 136-212.
Reference:Kuriyama, Shigeshi. 1999. The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. New York: Zone Books.
NOTE ON THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES IN JAINISM
NOTE ON THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES IN JAINISM
(C. 200 B.C.-200 A.D.)
By: Priyatosh Banerjee, Archaeological Section, Indian Museum, Calcutta.
It is difficult to say when first the Jainas took to the practice of worshipping images.[1] Stevenson states that an image of Mah¡v¢ra[2] was installed in Upake¿apattana during the leadership of the Jaina leader Prabhava (4th century B.C.). That image-worship was in prevalence among the Jainas about the same time is supported by archaeological evidence. The H¡th¢gumph¡ inscription of Jaina king Kh¡ravela records that he took back from P¡¶liputra the Jina idol which was carried off by one of the Nandar¡jas from Kali´ga.[3] This shows that the Nandas who ruled in 4th century B.C. were followers of Jainaism[4], Kali´ga was an ancient centre of Jaina faith, and T¢rtha´kara images were made for worship as early as the days of the Nandas. It may be noted here that among the Patna Museum exhibits there are two nude mutilated statues[5] found in Lohanipur, Patna Town. One of them possesses polish characteristic of Maurya age and can be attri-buted to 3rd century B.C. and the other can be attributed on stylistic grounds to 2nd century B.C. It is quite possible that they represent T¢rtha´kara images of 3rd century B.C. and 2nd century B.C. respectively. The author of Artha¿¡stra seems to refer to the Jaina gods in Jayanta, Vaijayanta and Sarv¡rthasiddhi[6]:
Most of the important caves, viz. Ananta, R¡¸¡ and Ga¸e¿a Gumph¡s in Orissa were excavated in 2nd century B. C. The Ananta Gumph¡ contains symbols like Tri¿£la and Svastika on its back wall. Moreover, the courtyard of the cave possesses images of many Jaina deities and saints[7]. The R¡¸¢gumph¡ is elaborately decorated with scenes of human activities some of which may represent Jaina religious festivals[8]. These facts wouId show that image worship was popular among the Jainas several centuries earlier than Christan era.
Mathur¡ was a very important seat of the Jainas during the period under review. The archaeological excavations[9] there have laid bare the remains of a Jaina stupa, temples and sculptures ranging from 2nd century B.C. to 3rd century AD. mostly. The Mathur¡ sculptures have placed at our disposal immense and varied materials with regard to the study of jaina deities. They represent most of the T¢rtha´karas inluding Rishabha, the earliest one which shows that the belief of the Jainas in all the 24 T¢rtha´karas was an established fact during the period under review.
The Tirthafikara images arc purely Indian conceptions and do not betray any foreign influence. One of the striking features of the Jaina figures is their nudity which distinguished them from Buddha and Buddhist images. Nudity however is true only of the Digambara images, whereas the ávet¡mbaras clothe their figures. The Jinas bear symbols not only on the palms and soles but also in the centre of their breasts. The hair is usually arranged in short curls in the shape of spirals turned towards the right as is also the case with the most Buddha images. But in the earlier specimens we find sometimes a different treatment. The hair assumes the appearance of a perwig or it hangs down on the shoulders in strange locks. In contradistinction with Buddha the earlier T¢rtha´kars have neither Ush¸¢shes nor Ur¸¡ but those of the latter part of the middle ages have a distinct excrecence on the top of the head[10]".
A very interesting type of the Tirtharikara images of our period in Mathura is that of the Jina quadruple which is known in Jaina inscriptions and literature as Sarvato-bhadrik¡ pratim¡. 'They consist of a block square in section' with a T¢rtha´kara carved on each of the four faces.[11] There is no injunction however as to the particular T¢rtha´karas to be figured there, but generally the most important ones are chosen. A quadruple image of an 'unnamed Jina perfectly nude' is represented on an inscribed sculptured panel found in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡[12]. The epigraph records that it was the gift of Kum¡ramit¡, the first wife of áresh¶hin called Ven¢. The gift was made at the request of the venerable Vasul¡, a female pupil of venerable Sanghamik¡ who is inturn a female pupil of venerable monk Jayabh£ti. The inscription has been assigned to the Kush¡¸a Period on palaeographical grounds.[13] From the same site, that is Ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡, we have another very interesting representation of an inscribed Sarvatobhadrik¡ Pratim¡ of our period. The Jina shown there is p¡r¿van¡tha with trace of his snake canopy. The inscription states that this fourfold image was dedicated by one Sthir¡ for the welfare and the happiness of all creatures. This inscription also belongs to the Kush¡¸a period[14].
We may refer now to a few early specimens of other types of sculptured represention of Jaina T¢rtha´karas in Mathur¡. An elaborate sculpture containing the figure of seated Jaina was found in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in February 1890. Unfortunately the head of the figure is missing. The Jina is shown with numerous attendant deities. On the pedestal are two lions and two bulls. From the presence of the bull it is evident that the Jina depicted here is Ëdin¡tha or Rishabhadatta. The inscription (defwcd) at the base seems to be in early scripts[15].
Another specimen of Ëdin¡tha figure (belonging to Kushana period) is to be seen on the Mathura Museum panel No. B4. The figure was set up in a Jaina monastery as the inscription states by alady in the year 84 of the reign of Sh¡hi V¡sudeva[16], the Kush¡¸a king. The relief in front of the pedestal contains a Dharma Chakra on a Pillar being worshipped by human devotees including the male and female as well.
A mutilated figure of Aran¡tha[17] is found represented on a sculptured panel which was got in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in the year 1890-91. It belongs to the Kush¡¸a period. The Jina is shown standing by the side of a wheel placed on Tr¢¿£la with a piece of cloth in his left hand. Namin¡tha and Nemin¡tha, the 21st and 22nd Jaina T¢rtha´karas seem to have been representated along with P¡r¿van¡tha and Mah¡v¢ra on a broken sculptured panel which might have formed part of the decoration of a Tora¸a Pillar[18] of a Jaina monastery in Mathur¡ during our period. There is a fine specimen of Neminatha figurer[19] in Mathura Museum which Vogel has described in his catalogue of the Mathura Museum antiquities. Nemin¡tha is seated 'cross-legged in the attitude of meditation' on the throne. The throne rests on two pillars and a pair of lions. Behind the pillars are two figures with hands joined in adoration. From the throne an ornamental cloth hangs down between the two lions. Below it there seems to be a wheel. There is conch-shell (symbol of Nemin¡tha) on the plain rim of the pedestal.
The Jaina legends introduce very often the story of Krish¸a V¡sudeva and his family. In the Antaga·a Das¡o[20] we are told that some members of Krish´a's family joined the Jaina church at the instance of Arish¶anemi, and Krish¸a also, as the legend goes, was proclaimed by him, that is Arish¶anemi, to be the 12th among the T¢rtha´karas who would arise in the Dushama Sushama age. There is a sculptured panel[21] of Mathur¡ which represents an ascetic receiving homage from the female devotees. The inscription records that the panel was a gift of the wife of a person called Dhanahastin. It bears the year 95 of Kush¡¸a King V¡sudeva's reign probably. The word Ka¸ha árama¸a[22] occurs in bold types between the head of the ascetic and that of the lady devotee to the proper right. This Ka¸ha may be the Krish¸a V¡sudeva of the Jaina legend. Whether the Jaina viewpoint, regarding Krish¸a V¡sudeva and his family is accepted or not, this much is true that Jainism and Vaishnavism came to a close contact with each other during the time of Arish¶anemi who was a cousin of Krish¸a and Baladeva. Because of the family relationship between Arish¶anemi and Krish¸a V¡sudeva, Jainism was co-existent with Vaishnavism since Arish¶anemi's time in places like
Dv¡rak¡, central India, and Yamun¡ valley, the sphere of Y¡dava influence. Arish¶anemi's emblem is a conch which may be reminiscent of his relationship with the Vaishnavite family of Krish¸a and Balar¡ma.
P¡r¿van¡tha occurs very frequently in Mathur¡ art of our period. We have already referred to his representation as sarvato-bhadrik¡ Pratim¡. We shall consider now one or two other specimens of his figure preserved in the Mathur¡ Museum. The mathur¡ Mesuem panel B. 70 represnts a stele[23] (1' 101/2' in height) with nude Jina figures standing, one each on the four sides. Three fourth figures have been provided with haloes, the fourth one is represented with a sevenhead N¡ga hood. This fourth figure represented with no doubt p¡r¿van¡tha. The Mathur¡ Museum panel B 71 also contains a represntation jof p¡rsvan¡tha with similar N¡ga hood.[24] Both these figures belong perhaps to our period.
Vardham¡na Mah¡vir¡ is the most popular of all the T¢rtha´kars. There are innumerable sculptured representations of his figure in Mathurg and other centres of Jaina faith. We shall, however, for our present purpose refer only to two Vardham¡na images found in ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡ which belongs perhaps to early centuries of the Christion era. In one panel[25] he is shown seated under his sacred tree with several attendant figures, one of whom is a N¡ga with a canopy of cobra hoods. There is a defaced inscription on the pedestals of his image which begins with 'Namo'[26] in early scripts. The other image in question is seated under a small canopy with two attendants, one on either side.[27] Both the Vardham¡na a figures are seated in dhy¡n¡sana posture, and have, besides the attendants, two lions on the pedestal and angels or Gandharvas, hovering in the air and offering garlands.
The Jainas were primarily founder worshippers, but their mythology includes besides the 24 T¢rtha´karas a number of other deities. One of the most important deity of this class is Naigamesha. Naigamesha is represented on the obverse of a fragment of a Jaina sculpture discovered at Mathur¡.[28] The inscription incised on the panel is written in scripts of the beginning of the Christian era. The deity (Naigamesha) is a goat-headed one seated on a low seat in an easy attitude. He is shown with his face turned to the proper right, as if addressing to another personage, whose image has been lost.[29] To his right there are three female figures standing and an infant is shown close to the knee. The deity is called in the inscription 'Bhagavat Nemeso.'
Nemeso of the present inscription is a variant of the name of the deity Hari¸egamesi in the Kalpas£tra, Naigameshin in the Nemin¡tha Charita and Nejamesha or Naigameya in other works.[30] In Jaina religious art he is depicted as a figure either with the head of a ram or antelope or a goat. In the Mathur¡ sculpture which is the subject of discussion here he is found bearing a goat's head. Cunningham discovered four mutilated figures of Naigamesha which he failed to identify and described them simply as deities with Ox's head.[31]
According to Buhler the sculpture depecting Naigamesha with female figures and a small child refers most probably to the legend which narrates the exchange of the embryo of Devanand¡ and Tri¿al¡.[32] The legend in the Kalpas£tra in short is this. Mah¡v¢ra took the form of an embryo in the Br¡hma´¢ Devanand¡'s body. Thinking that an Arhat ought not to be born in a low Brahmanical family, Indra 'directed Hari¸e gameshi, the divine commander of infantry to transfer Mah¡v¢ra from the body of Devanand¡ to Tri¿al¡, a lady of the Ju¡tri of Kshatriyas, who was also with a child. Hari¸egameshi carried out successfully Indra's order.
In Jaina mythology Naigameshin is regarded also as a deity of procreation. The Antaga¸a-Das¡o refers to the story as to how, lady Sulas¡ propitiated Naigameshin and had a conception through his compassion.[33] The ancient Jainas represented Naigameshin in both male and female forms as presiding over child birth. The sculptures of the Curzon Museum, Muttra, Nos. 2547 and E. I. represent the deity in his male aspect, and sculpture No. I. E2. (of the same museum) in her female aspect as the goat-headed mother goddess.[34]
The Jaina pantheon includes the deities like Sarasvat¢ and Ga¸e¿a etc. which figure prominently in Hindu pantheon also. We have from the Jaina mound of Ka´k¡l¢ two headless female statues. One of them has not been identified,[35] the other is the figure of Sarasvat¢.[36] The goddess is seated on a rectangular pedestal 'with her knees up.' She has a manuscript in her left hand and the right hand which was raised up is lost. There is a small attendant on her either side. The inscription on the pedestal consists of seven lines in Indoscythic scripts.[37]
Besides the figures of T¢rtha´karas and other deities of the Jaina pantheon the Mathur¡ sculptures of Ka´k¡l¢ mound bear isolated symbols and designs auspicious to the Jainas, such as Svastika, Vajra, shell, bulls, elephants, goose and antelope, 38
etc. Svastika to the Jainas is the emblem of Sup¡rsvan¡, the 7th Jina, and Vajra is that of Dharman¡tha, the 15th Jina, the shell is the cognizance of Nemin¡tha, the 22nd Jina, elephant of Ajitanath¡, the 2nd Jina, goose of Sumatin¡tha the 5th Jina, antelope of ¿¡ntin¡tha, the 16th Jina and bull of Rishabh¡natha, the 1st Jina. All these would show that the art of Ka´k¡l¢ mound was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Jainism.
[1] The ideal of a Jaina ascetic is the attainment of Nirv¡¸a-freedom from the bondage of Karma through self efforts. An ascetic in his striving for Nirv¡¸a endeavours 'to suppress the natural desire of a man to worship the higher powers'. But it is not possible for any ordinary lay hearer to cling to the ideal of ascetics which requires a stern and austere training. So the religious feelings of the jaina laity, it is natural, centered round the founders and expounders of the religion, (that is the T¢rtha´karas). This gave rise to the worship of the Jinas and in its train came also the worship of some deities of popular imagination, in Jainaism. We know that the affections of the Buddhist laity also were directed to similar results (that is the worship of Buddha and a number of other deities).
[2] Stevenson, The heart of janism, p. 69.
[3] J. B. O. R. S. Vol. iii, part IV, P. 458.
[4] There are literary evidences to show that the Nanda rulers were favourably disposed towards Jainism. Hemachandra, Parisishtaparva, Cantoes VII-VIII, C.J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, p. 129.
[5] . J. B. O. R. S., 1937: pp. 130-32.
[6] Arth¡¿¡stra, mysore Oriental series, p. 61.
[7] C.J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, p. 152.
[8] Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri, p. 254.
[9] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p.11, Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura, pp. 2-3.
[10] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p. 42,
[11] Ibid., p. 42-43.
[12] Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura, p. 46, Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 382, No. II.
[13] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 46 .
[14] Ep. Ind., Vol. II, p. 210, Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other antiornities of Mathura. p. 46, PI. Xc., fig. 2.
[15] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 55, Pl. XCVIII.
[16] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p. 67.
[17] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., PI. VI.
[18] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., Pl. XVII.
[19] Vogel, Catalogue of the ArchacoIogical Museum at Mathura, B. 77, P. 81.
[20] Antaga·a Das¡o (Oriental Translation Fund), pp. 61-62.
[21] Smith, Jaina Stupa, etc. Pl. XVII, p. 24.
[22] Ibid., p . 24.
[23] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, B.70.
[24] . Ibid., B. 71.
[25] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 49, Pl. XCI, right hand figure.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid., p. 49. Pl. XCI, left hand figure.
[28] Smith, Jaina Stupa, etc, p. 25. Pl. XVIII.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Smith, Ibid., p. 25, PI. XVIII, Chapter VI.
[31] A.S.R., Vol. X X, p. 36, Pl. IV. Figs. 2-5
[32] EP. Ind. Vol. III, p. 314.
[33] Antaga·a Das¡o (Oriental Translation Fund), PP. 36-37.
[34] V.S. Agarawala, Handbook to the Sculptures of the Curzon Museum, Muttra.
[35] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc, p. 56, PI. xcix, left hand-figure.
[36] Ibid., right hand figure.
[37] Ibid., p. 57, Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 391, No. xxi.
38 Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., pls. Xxxvii, Lxxi, LXV-LXXVI.
(C. 200 B.C.-200 A.D.)
By: Priyatosh Banerjee, Archaeological Section, Indian Museum, Calcutta.
It is difficult to say when first the Jainas took to the practice of worshipping images.[1] Stevenson states that an image of Mah¡v¢ra[2] was installed in Upake¿apattana during the leadership of the Jaina leader Prabhava (4th century B.C.). That image-worship was in prevalence among the Jainas about the same time is supported by archaeological evidence. The H¡th¢gumph¡ inscription of Jaina king Kh¡ravela records that he took back from P¡¶liputra the Jina idol which was carried off by one of the Nandar¡jas from Kali´ga.[3] This shows that the Nandas who ruled in 4th century B.C. were followers of Jainaism[4], Kali´ga was an ancient centre of Jaina faith, and T¢rtha´kara images were made for worship as early as the days of the Nandas. It may be noted here that among the Patna Museum exhibits there are two nude mutilated statues[5] found in Lohanipur, Patna Town. One of them possesses polish characteristic of Maurya age and can be attri-buted to 3rd century B.C. and the other can be attributed on stylistic grounds to 2nd century B.C. It is quite possible that they represent T¢rtha´kara images of 3rd century B.C. and 2nd century B.C. respectively. The author of Artha¿¡stra seems to refer to the Jaina gods in Jayanta, Vaijayanta and Sarv¡rthasiddhi[6]:
Most of the important caves, viz. Ananta, R¡¸¡ and Ga¸e¿a Gumph¡s in Orissa were excavated in 2nd century B. C. The Ananta Gumph¡ contains symbols like Tri¿£la and Svastika on its back wall. Moreover, the courtyard of the cave possesses images of many Jaina deities and saints[7]. The R¡¸¢gumph¡ is elaborately decorated with scenes of human activities some of which may represent Jaina religious festivals[8]. These facts wouId show that image worship was popular among the Jainas several centuries earlier than Christan era.
Mathur¡ was a very important seat of the Jainas during the period under review. The archaeological excavations[9] there have laid bare the remains of a Jaina stupa, temples and sculptures ranging from 2nd century B.C. to 3rd century AD. mostly. The Mathur¡ sculptures have placed at our disposal immense and varied materials with regard to the study of jaina deities. They represent most of the T¢rtha´karas inluding Rishabha, the earliest one which shows that the belief of the Jainas in all the 24 T¢rtha´karas was an established fact during the period under review.
The Tirthafikara images arc purely Indian conceptions and do not betray any foreign influence. One of the striking features of the Jaina figures is their nudity which distinguished them from Buddha and Buddhist images. Nudity however is true only of the Digambara images, whereas the ávet¡mbaras clothe their figures. The Jinas bear symbols not only on the palms and soles but also in the centre of their breasts. The hair is usually arranged in short curls in the shape of spirals turned towards the right as is also the case with the most Buddha images. But in the earlier specimens we find sometimes a different treatment. The hair assumes the appearance of a perwig or it hangs down on the shoulders in strange locks. In contradistinction with Buddha the earlier T¢rtha´kars have neither Ush¸¢shes nor Ur¸¡ but those of the latter part of the middle ages have a distinct excrecence on the top of the head[10]".
A very interesting type of the Tirtharikara images of our period in Mathura is that of the Jina quadruple which is known in Jaina inscriptions and literature as Sarvato-bhadrik¡ pratim¡. 'They consist of a block square in section' with a T¢rtha´kara carved on each of the four faces.[11] There is no injunction however as to the particular T¢rtha´karas to be figured there, but generally the most important ones are chosen. A quadruple image of an 'unnamed Jina perfectly nude' is represented on an inscribed sculptured panel found in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡[12]. The epigraph records that it was the gift of Kum¡ramit¡, the first wife of áresh¶hin called Ven¢. The gift was made at the request of the venerable Vasul¡, a female pupil of venerable Sanghamik¡ who is inturn a female pupil of venerable monk Jayabh£ti. The inscription has been assigned to the Kush¡¸a Period on palaeographical grounds.[13] From the same site, that is Ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡, we have another very interesting representation of an inscribed Sarvatobhadrik¡ Pratim¡ of our period. The Jina shown there is p¡r¿van¡tha with trace of his snake canopy. The inscription states that this fourfold image was dedicated by one Sthir¡ for the welfare and the happiness of all creatures. This inscription also belongs to the Kush¡¸a period[14].
We may refer now to a few early specimens of other types of sculptured represention of Jaina T¢rtha´karas in Mathur¡. An elaborate sculpture containing the figure of seated Jaina was found in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in February 1890. Unfortunately the head of the figure is missing. The Jina is shown with numerous attendant deities. On the pedestal are two lions and two bulls. From the presence of the bull it is evident that the Jina depicted here is Ëdin¡tha or Rishabhadatta. The inscription (defwcd) at the base seems to be in early scripts[15].
Another specimen of Ëdin¡tha figure (belonging to Kushana period) is to be seen on the Mathura Museum panel No. B4. The figure was set up in a Jaina monastery as the inscription states by alady in the year 84 of the reign of Sh¡hi V¡sudeva[16], the Kush¡¸a king. The relief in front of the pedestal contains a Dharma Chakra on a Pillar being worshipped by human devotees including the male and female as well.
A mutilated figure of Aran¡tha[17] is found represented on a sculptured panel which was got in Ka´k¡l¢ mound in the year 1890-91. It belongs to the Kush¡¸a period. The Jina is shown standing by the side of a wheel placed on Tr¢¿£la with a piece of cloth in his left hand. Namin¡tha and Nemin¡tha, the 21st and 22nd Jaina T¢rtha´karas seem to have been representated along with P¡r¿van¡tha and Mah¡v¢ra on a broken sculptured panel which might have formed part of the decoration of a Tora¸a Pillar[18] of a Jaina monastery in Mathur¡ during our period. There is a fine specimen of Neminatha figurer[19] in Mathura Museum which Vogel has described in his catalogue of the Mathura Museum antiquities. Nemin¡tha is seated 'cross-legged in the attitude of meditation' on the throne. The throne rests on two pillars and a pair of lions. Behind the pillars are two figures with hands joined in adoration. From the throne an ornamental cloth hangs down between the two lions. Below it there seems to be a wheel. There is conch-shell (symbol of Nemin¡tha) on the plain rim of the pedestal.
The Jaina legends introduce very often the story of Krish¸a V¡sudeva and his family. In the Antaga·a Das¡o[20] we are told that some members of Krish´a's family joined the Jaina church at the instance of Arish¶anemi, and Krish¸a also, as the legend goes, was proclaimed by him, that is Arish¶anemi, to be the 12th among the T¢rtha´karas who would arise in the Dushama Sushama age. There is a sculptured panel[21] of Mathur¡ which represents an ascetic receiving homage from the female devotees. The inscription records that the panel was a gift of the wife of a person called Dhanahastin. It bears the year 95 of Kush¡¸a King V¡sudeva's reign probably. The word Ka¸ha árama¸a[22] occurs in bold types between the head of the ascetic and that of the lady devotee to the proper right. This Ka¸ha may be the Krish¸a V¡sudeva of the Jaina legend. Whether the Jaina viewpoint, regarding Krish¸a V¡sudeva and his family is accepted or not, this much is true that Jainism and Vaishnavism came to a close contact with each other during the time of Arish¶anemi who was a cousin of Krish¸a and Baladeva. Because of the family relationship between Arish¶anemi and Krish¸a V¡sudeva, Jainism was co-existent with Vaishnavism since Arish¶anemi's time in places like
Dv¡rak¡, central India, and Yamun¡ valley, the sphere of Y¡dava influence. Arish¶anemi's emblem is a conch which may be reminiscent of his relationship with the Vaishnavite family of Krish¸a and Balar¡ma.
P¡r¿van¡tha occurs very frequently in Mathur¡ art of our period. We have already referred to his representation as sarvato-bhadrik¡ Pratim¡. We shall consider now one or two other specimens of his figure preserved in the Mathur¡ Museum. The mathur¡ Mesuem panel B. 70 represnts a stele[23] (1' 101/2' in height) with nude Jina figures standing, one each on the four sides. Three fourth figures have been provided with haloes, the fourth one is represented with a sevenhead N¡ga hood. This fourth figure represented with no doubt p¡r¿van¡tha. The Mathur¡ Museum panel B 71 also contains a represntation jof p¡rsvan¡tha with similar N¡ga hood.[24] Both these figures belong perhaps to our period.
Vardham¡na Mah¡vir¡ is the most popular of all the T¢rtha´kars. There are innumerable sculptured representations of his figure in Mathurg and other centres of Jaina faith. We shall, however, for our present purpose refer only to two Vardham¡na images found in ka´k¡l¢ mound in Mathur¡ which belongs perhaps to early centuries of the Christion era. In one panel[25] he is shown seated under his sacred tree with several attendant figures, one of whom is a N¡ga with a canopy of cobra hoods. There is a defaced inscription on the pedestals of his image which begins with 'Namo'[26] in early scripts. The other image in question is seated under a small canopy with two attendants, one on either side.[27] Both the Vardham¡na a figures are seated in dhy¡n¡sana posture, and have, besides the attendants, two lions on the pedestal and angels or Gandharvas, hovering in the air and offering garlands.
The Jainas were primarily founder worshippers, but their mythology includes besides the 24 T¢rtha´karas a number of other deities. One of the most important deity of this class is Naigamesha. Naigamesha is represented on the obverse of a fragment of a Jaina sculpture discovered at Mathur¡.[28] The inscription incised on the panel is written in scripts of the beginning of the Christian era. The deity (Naigamesha) is a goat-headed one seated on a low seat in an easy attitude. He is shown with his face turned to the proper right, as if addressing to another personage, whose image has been lost.[29] To his right there are three female figures standing and an infant is shown close to the knee. The deity is called in the inscription 'Bhagavat Nemeso.'
Nemeso of the present inscription is a variant of the name of the deity Hari¸egamesi in the Kalpas£tra, Naigameshin in the Nemin¡tha Charita and Nejamesha or Naigameya in other works.[30] In Jaina religious art he is depicted as a figure either with the head of a ram or antelope or a goat. In the Mathur¡ sculpture which is the subject of discussion here he is found bearing a goat's head. Cunningham discovered four mutilated figures of Naigamesha which he failed to identify and described them simply as deities with Ox's head.[31]
According to Buhler the sculpture depecting Naigamesha with female figures and a small child refers most probably to the legend which narrates the exchange of the embryo of Devanand¡ and Tri¿al¡.[32] The legend in the Kalpas£tra in short is this. Mah¡v¢ra took the form of an embryo in the Br¡hma´¢ Devanand¡'s body. Thinking that an Arhat ought not to be born in a low Brahmanical family, Indra 'directed Hari¸e gameshi, the divine commander of infantry to transfer Mah¡v¢ra from the body of Devanand¡ to Tri¿al¡, a lady of the Ju¡tri of Kshatriyas, who was also with a child. Hari¸egameshi carried out successfully Indra's order.
In Jaina mythology Naigameshin is regarded also as a deity of procreation. The Antaga¸a-Das¡o refers to the story as to how, lady Sulas¡ propitiated Naigameshin and had a conception through his compassion.[33] The ancient Jainas represented Naigameshin in both male and female forms as presiding over child birth. The sculptures of the Curzon Museum, Muttra, Nos. 2547 and E. I. represent the deity in his male aspect, and sculpture No. I. E2. (of the same museum) in her female aspect as the goat-headed mother goddess.[34]
The Jaina pantheon includes the deities like Sarasvat¢ and Ga¸e¿a etc. which figure prominently in Hindu pantheon also. We have from the Jaina mound of Ka´k¡l¢ two headless female statues. One of them has not been identified,[35] the other is the figure of Sarasvat¢.[36] The goddess is seated on a rectangular pedestal 'with her knees up.' She has a manuscript in her left hand and the right hand which was raised up is lost. There is a small attendant on her either side. The inscription on the pedestal consists of seven lines in Indoscythic scripts.[37]
Besides the figures of T¢rtha´karas and other deities of the Jaina pantheon the Mathur¡ sculptures of Ka´k¡l¢ mound bear isolated symbols and designs auspicious to the Jainas, such as Svastika, Vajra, shell, bulls, elephants, goose and antelope, 38
etc. Svastika to the Jainas is the emblem of Sup¡rsvan¡, the 7th Jina, and Vajra is that of Dharman¡tha, the 15th Jina, the shell is the cognizance of Nemin¡tha, the 22nd Jina, elephant of Ajitanath¡, the 2nd Jina, goose of Sumatin¡tha the 5th Jina, antelope of ¿¡ntin¡tha, the 16th Jina and bull of Rishabh¡natha, the 1st Jina. All these would show that the art of Ka´k¡l¢ mound was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Jainism.
[1] The ideal of a Jaina ascetic is the attainment of Nirv¡¸a-freedom from the bondage of Karma through self efforts. An ascetic in his striving for Nirv¡¸a endeavours 'to suppress the natural desire of a man to worship the higher powers'. But it is not possible for any ordinary lay hearer to cling to the ideal of ascetics which requires a stern and austere training. So the religious feelings of the jaina laity, it is natural, centered round the founders and expounders of the religion, (that is the T¢rtha´karas). This gave rise to the worship of the Jinas and in its train came also the worship of some deities of popular imagination, in Jainaism. We know that the affections of the Buddhist laity also were directed to similar results (that is the worship of Buddha and a number of other deities).
[2] Stevenson, The heart of janism, p. 69.
[3] J. B. O. R. S. Vol. iii, part IV, P. 458.
[4] There are literary evidences to show that the Nanda rulers were favourably disposed towards Jainism. Hemachandra, Parisishtaparva, Cantoes VII-VIII, C.J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, p. 129.
[5] . J. B. O. R. S., 1937: pp. 130-32.
[6] Arth¡¿¡stra, mysore Oriental series, p. 61.
[7] C.J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, p. 152.
[8] Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri, p. 254.
[9] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p.11, Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura, pp. 2-3.
[10] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p. 42,
[11] Ibid., p. 42-43.
[12] Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura, p. 46, Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 382, No. II.
[13] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 46 .
[14] Ep. Ind., Vol. II, p. 210, Smith, The Jaina Stupa and other antiornities of Mathura. p. 46, PI. Xc., fig. 2.
[15] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 55, Pl. XCVIII.
[16] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, p. 67.
[17] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., PI. VI.
[18] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., Pl. XVII.
[19] Vogel, Catalogue of the ArchacoIogical Museum at Mathura, B. 77, P. 81.
[20] Antaga·a Das¡o (Oriental Translation Fund), pp. 61-62.
[21] Smith, Jaina Stupa, etc. Pl. XVII, p. 24.
[22] Ibid., p . 24.
[23] Vogel, Catalogue of the Archaeological Museum at Mathura, B.70.
[24] . Ibid., B. 71.
[25] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., p. 49, Pl. XCI, right hand figure.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid., p. 49. Pl. XCI, left hand figure.
[28] Smith, Jaina Stupa, etc, p. 25. Pl. XVIII.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Smith, Ibid., p. 25, PI. XVIII, Chapter VI.
[31] A.S.R., Vol. X X, p. 36, Pl. IV. Figs. 2-5
[32] EP. Ind. Vol. III, p. 314.
[33] Antaga·a Das¡o (Oriental Translation Fund), PP. 36-37.
[34] V.S. Agarawala, Handbook to the Sculptures of the Curzon Museum, Muttra.
[35] Smith, Jaina Stupa etc, p. 56, PI. xcix, left hand-figure.
[36] Ibid., right hand figure.
[37] Ibid., p. 57, Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 391, No. xxi.
38 Smith, Jaina Stupa etc., pls. Xxxvii, Lxxi, LXV-LXXVI.
Jains in Solapur District
The Jains in Sholapur are numerically not important, but their socio-economic importance is quite out of proportion to their number. They constituted only 1.12 per cent of the total population in 1901 and in 1971 the constitute 0.81 per cent, i.e., about 21,008 of the total population of 22,53,840. Most of them are businessmen, traders, industrialists but some have attained literary fame and are also to be found among the liberal professions.
Jains take the name from being followers of the twenty-four Jainas (conquerors), the last two of whom were Parsvanatha and Mahavira who was also called Vardhamana. Mahavira's father and mother died when he was 28 and two years later he devoted himself to austerities which he continued for twelve and a half years, nearly eleven of which were spent in the different series of fasts. As a Digambara he went robeless and had no vessel but his hand. At last the bonds of karma were snapped like an old rope and he gained kevala, i.e., absolute knowledge or spiritual perfection and thus became an Arhat, i.e., worthy or Jina, i.e., conqueror. He went from place to place and taught his doctrine. Several eminent Brahmans became converts to Jainism. The greatest among them was Indrabhuti or Gautama who preached Mahavira's doctrine in the cities of Kaushambi and Rajagriha. Mahavira attained Nirvana at the age of 72 at Pawa in Bihar in B. C. 527. According to the well-attested traditional chronology the two royal clans Mallaki and Licchavi celebrated the occasion by a lamp festival which is annually observed as Divali even to this day.
Like Buddhists, Jainas reject the authority of the Vedas which they pronounce apochryphal and corrupt; they have their own scriptures called Parvas and Angas. As among Buddhists, confession is practised among Jainas. Great importance is attached to pilgrimage and the chaturmasa, that is, four months from Ashadha or July-August to Kariika or October-November in the year are given to intermittent fasting, the reading of sacred books, and meditation. They attach no religious importance to caste. Jainas like Buddhists are of two classes, yatis or ascetics and shravakas or hearers. The Jaina samgha (congregation or community) has a four-fold division; monks, nuns, lay-men and lay-women. Jainas, like Buddhists, admit no creator. According to them the world is eternal and they deny that any being could have been there as its creator. The Jina became perfect but he was not perfect at first. He is not his creator nor has he anything to do with worldly affairs. He is the God in the sense that he is spiritually perfect and as such he is an Ideal for the worldly people who are aspiring for spiritual perfection. Jainas worship twenty-four Tirthankaras or lords, of whom Vrishabha was the first. Parshvanatha the twenty-third and Mahavira the twenty-fourth. Their images have certain signs on the pedestal and have attendant deities on both sides.
On the whole Jainism is less opposed to Brahmanism than Buddhism is and admits, here and there, some of the Brahmanic deities, though it holds them inferior to their chovisi or twenty-four Tirthankaras.
Jainas name their children after their Tirthankaras or worthies of the present, past and future ages, after the parents of the arhats, after the pious and great men, and sometimes after Brahmanic gods and local deities. Like Hindus, Jain parents sometimes give their children mean names to avert early death, as Kallappa from Kallu (K) stone Kadappa from kad (K) forest, Dhondu from Dhonda (M) and Dagadu from dagad (M) stone.
Classes: Sholapur Jains are divided into Upadhyas or priests, Panchamas who are generally traders, Chaturthas who are generally husbandmen, Kasaras, or copper dealers, and Setavalas or cloth-sellers. With the spread of modern education these hereditary professions are getting changed. These classes eat together but do not inter-marry. Lately, however, some inter-marriages are taking place. Formerly the sect, it is reported, included barbers, washermen and many other castes that have now ceased to be Jainas. Properly speaking in certain areas, there is no separate priestly caste among the Jainas; the Upadhyas or priests are usually chosen from among the learned Panchamas or Chaturthas subject to the recognition of their principal swamis or head priests called Pattacharya Swamis.
In the early morning before he gets up, a pious Jain rests his right shoulder on the ground. He then sits facing the east and repeats verses in praise of Jinadev the victorious and thereafter sets out for the temple to see the images of Tirthankara, say Parshvanatha, avoiding as far as possible on his way the sight of man or beast. On returning home from the temple he bathes in warm water which he first purifies by reciting verses over it. When bath is finished he puts on a freshly-washed cotton cloth, sits on a low wooden stool, and for about an hour says his morning prayer or samayika. He lays sandal, flowers and sweetmeat before the house-gods and then goes to the temple to worship the Jina, where the head ascetic or Swami reads the Jaina Purana, tells his beads, receives the holy water gandhodaka or tirth in which the image has been bathed. On certain occasions he performs a fire worship and feeds the fire with cooked rice and clarified butter in the names of the popular deities or Vishvedevas.
They visit the Jaina temple, listen to a Purana. These details depict conditions more in the rural than in the urban areas. The temple is really the religious as well as the social tie for the community as a whole.
Religion: The religion of Sholapur Jainas may be treated under five heads: temple worship of the twenty-four Jainas and their attendant goddesses; holy places and holy days; the worship of house-gods; the worship of field guardians; and irregular worship of evil diseasecausing spirits. The chief Jaina doctrine is that to take life is sin. Like Buddhists they believe that certain conduct has raised men above the gods. Twenty-four Jainas have gained perfection. To each of these a sign and attendant god and goddess have been allotted and these form the regular objects of Jaina temple worship. Jainas belong to two main sects the Shvetambaras or white-robed and Digambaras or sky-clad, that is, naked saint worshippers. These designations indicate that the ideal saints of the former wear white garments but those of the latter go about nude. The bulk of Sholapur Jainas are of the Digambar section. Temple worship is the chief part of a Jaina's religious duties. Their temples are called bastis or dwellings but can easily be made out from ordinary dwelling by their high plinths. The temple consists of an outer hall and a shrine. The walls of the outer hall are filled with niches of the different popular deities and attendant goddesses. In the shrine is an image generally of the twenty-third Tirthankara Parshvanatha, which in Sholapur temples is generally naked (so far as Digambar a temples are concerned). The images in most cases are of black polished stone, two feet to three feet high, either standing with the hands stretched down the sides or in the seated cross-legged position. The other images generally worshipped in this part are those of Adinatha, Neminatha and Chandranatha. Temple worship is of four kinds: daily worship, eight-day or ashtamihiki worship, wish filling or kalpa worship, and five-blessing or panchakalyani worship. In the daily temple worship the image of the saint is bathed by the temple ministrant in milk and on special days in the five nectars or panchamrita; water, tree sap or vriksha rasa that is sugar, plantains, clarified butter, milk and curds. The priest repeats sacred verses, sandal-paste is laid on the image, and it is decked with flowers.
Jainas perform the ashtanhiki or eight-days worship three times in a year from the bright eighth to the full-moon of Ashadha or July-August, in Kartika or October-November and in Phalguna or February-March. Only the rich perform the wish-Ming or kalpa worship as the worshipper has to give the priest whatever he asks. The pancha-kalyani worship centres round the five auspicious occasions, namely, conception, birth, renunciation, enlightenment and liberation, in the career of a Tirthankara. In certain details it resembles the Brahmanical sacrifice; of course, there is no place for any sort of animal destruction. According to the Jaina doctrine, bathing in holy places does not cleanse one from sin. Sholapur Jainas make pilgrimages to Jaina holy places, Ujjyantagiri or Girnar in South Kathiawar sacred to Nemishvara or Neminatha, Pavapura near Rajagriha or Rajgir about fifty miles south of Patna sacred to Vardhamana Swami, Sammedagiri properly Sammet Shikhar or Parasnath hill in Hazaribagh in West Bengal sacred to Parshvanatha where are feet symbols or padukas of the twenty four Jaina arhats or worthies, and in the south, the monolithic image of Gomateshvara in Shravan Belgola in Mysore, and Mudabidri in South Kanara. They make pilgrimages to Banaras which they say is the birth-place of Parshvanatha. The leading religious seats of Jainas are Delhi, Dinkanchi in Madras, Penangundi in the south. Any poor Jaina may visit these places and is fed for any number of days but on pain of loss of caste he must beg from no one who is not a Jaina.
Fasts: Jaina ascetics keep ten fasts in every lunar month, the fourth, the eighth, the eleventh, the fourteenth, the full-moon and no-moon days. During the chaturmasa, pious house-holders observe full or partial fasts on the 8th and 14th day of a fortnight. They keep most of the Brahmanic holidays and in addition the week beginning from the lunar eighth of Ashadha or June-July, of Kartika or October-November, and of Phalguna or February-March; they hold a special feast on Shruta Panchami in May-June. Of the twenty-four minor gods and goddesses who attend on the twenty-four saints, the chief are Kshetrapala and Kalika or Jwalamalini and Padmavati who have other counter-parts in Bhairava and Lakshmi.
Goddesses and saints : Jainas pay special respect to Shrutadevi who is represented by a sacred book resting on a brazen chair called shruta skandha or learning's prop and in whose honour in all Jaina temples a festival is held on the bright fifth of Jyeshtha or May-June; the Brahmanic counterpart of this deity is Sarasvati. To these guardian goddesses and saints two beings are added, Bhugabali or Gommata of Shravan Belgola in Mysore distinguished by the creepers twining round his arms and Nandishvara a small temple like a brass frame. Besides these, they worship a brass wheel of law or dharmachakra which is symbolic of religion, they also worship an image representing five classes of great deities or Parameshthi, a verbal salutation to the whole of whom forms a pious Jaina's daily prayer. Jainas think that their book and temple gods, the arhats or worthies, the siddhas or perfect beings, the acharyas or preceptors, the upadhyas or priests, and the sadhus or saints are too austere and ascetic to take an interest in every-day life or to be worshipped as house-guardians. Perhaps for this reason their house-deities are generally of a popular nature.
House-deities: As among Hindus, the house-deities are kept in a separate room generally next to the cooking room in a devhara or shrine of carved wood. The images are generally of metal three to four inches high. Among them is usually the mask or bust of some deceased female member of the family who has afflicted the family with sickness and to please her had her image placed and worshipped among the house-gods. Besides the usual Brahmanic or Lingayata house-deities, several families have a house-image of Parshvanatha but the worship of Parshvanatha as a house-image is not usual. As among other Hindus, the daily worship of the house-gods is simple, chiefly consisting in a hurried decking with flowers. On holidays the images are bathed in milk and flowers, sandal-paste, rice, burnt frankincense and camphor, and cooked food are laid before them. Women are not allowed to touch the house-gods. During the absence of the men of the house the temple priest is asked to conduct the daily worship. Latterly, the custom of worshipping non-Jaina house-deities appears to be diminishing. Another class of Jaina deities are the Kshetrapalas or field guardians, essentially the deities of agroculturists, the chief of whom are Bhairava and Brahma.
Beliefs: Jains have no professional exorcists or charmers chiefly because their place is filled by priests. When sickness is believed to be caused by spirit-possession the priest is consulted. Me worships the goddess Padmayati or Lakshmi and gives the sick holy water or tirth in which the goddess' feet have been washed. If the holy water fails to cure, the priest consults his book of omens or sakunavali, adds together certain figures in the book and divides the total by a certain figure in the tables of the book and by referring to the book finds what dead relation of the sick person the quotient stands for. If it is a woman she has become a Jakhin and should be worshipped along with the family-gods, the priest then mutters a verse over a pinch of frankincense ashes or angara burnt before the gods and hands it to the sick to be rubbed on his brow. If the ash-rubbing and Jakhin-worship fail to cure the sick, the priest prepares a paper or bhurj or birch leaf called a yantra or device marked with mystic figures or letters and ties it in a silk cloth or puts it in a silk cloth or puts it in a small casket, or tait. mutters verses over it, burns frankincense, and ties it round the possessed person's arm or neck. If the amulet is of no avail the priest advises an anushthana or god-pleasing. The head of the house asks the priest to read a sacred book before the temple image of one of the saints or to repeat a text or mantra or sacred hymn or stotra some thousand times in honour of one of the saints. The priest is paid for his trouble, and when the sick is cured the god-pleasing ends with a feast to priests and friends. If even the god-pleasing fails, the sick, if he is an orthodox Jaina, resigns himself to his fate or seeks the aid of a physician. Exorcists are shunned by Jain men because part of the exorcists' cure is almost always the offering of a goat or of a cock. When all remedies are of no avail Jains sometimes take the sick to a holy place called Tavnidhi fifteen miles south-west of Chikodi, and the sick or some relation on his behalf worships the spirit-scaring Brahmanidhi until the patient is cured. Jains profess to have sacred pools, animals or trees that have a spirit-scaring power. When an epidemic rages, a special worship of Jainadeva is performed. With a better acquaintance of the basic principles of Jainism consequent upon the spread of education and reading of sacred works by the Shravakas themselves, and through the preachings of saints like Shantisagara, these practices have become out-of-date and looked upon as almost irreligious excepting perhaps in out-of-the-way villages.
Sanskars: Of the sixteen sacraments or sanskars which are nearly the same as the sixteen Brahman sacraments, Sholapur Jainas perform those of thread-girding, marriage, puberty and death. Except that the texts are not Vedic, the rites do not differ much from those performed by Brahmans. Their birth ceremonies are the same as those of Brahmans like whom on the fifth day they worship the goddess Satvai. Boys are girt with the sacred thread between eight and sixteen. A boy must not be girt until he is eight. If, for any reason, it suits the parents to hold the thread-girding before the boy is eight, they add to his age the nine months he passed in the womb. A Jaina astrologer names a lucky day for the thread-girding, a booth is raised before the house, and an earth altar or bahule a foot and a half square is built in the booth and plantain trees are set at corners. Pots are brought from the potters and piled in each corner of the altar and a yellow cotton thread is passed round their necks. Over the altar is a canopy and in front is a small entrance hung with ever-green. A day or two before the thread-girding, the invitation procession consisting of men and women of the boy's house with music and friends starts from the house. They first go to the Jaina temple and the father or some other relation with the family priest lays a cocoanut before the god, bows before him and asks him to perform the ceremony. Jains have no devak or family guardian worship. The boy and his parents go through the preliminary ceremonies as at a Brahman thread-girding. The boy's head is shaved and he is bathed and rubbed with turmeric. The astrologer marks the lucky moment by means of his water-clock or ghatika and as it draws near music plays and guns are fired. The priest recites the auspicious verses and throws red rice over the boy. The boy is seated on his father's or if the father is dead, on some other kins-man's knees on a low stool. The knot of his hair is tied and he is girt with a sacred thread or janve and a string of kusha grass is tied round his waist. The priest kindles the sacred fire, betel is served to the guests and money gifts are distributed among priests and beggars. The boy has to go and beg at five Jaina houses. He stands at the door of each house and asks the mistress of the house to give him alms saying " Oh lady, be pleased to give alms.". The alms usually consists of a waistcloth, rice or cash. Great merit is believed to be gained by giving alms to a newly-girded boy and many women visit the boy's house for three or four days to present bim with silver or clothes. After begging at five houses the boy returns home and a feast to friends and kins-folk ends the first day. The sodmunj or grass-cord loosening is performed usually after a week and sometimes between a week from the thread-girding and the marriage day. The loosening is generally performed near a pimpal (Ficus religiosa) tree. The boy is bathed, the rite of holiday calling or punyahavachan is gone through as on the first day, music plays and flowers, sandal-paste, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to the pimpal tree. The boy bows before the tree and the priest unties the cord from round his waist. The boy is then dressed in a full suit of clothes, declares that he means to go to Banaras and spend the rest of his life in study and worship and sets out on his journey. Before he has gone many yards, his maternal uncle meets him, promises him his daughter's hand in marriage and asks him to return home and live among them as a house-holder or grihasth. The boy is escorted home with music and band of friends and a small feast to friends and kins-folk ends the ceremony. Latterly, the practice of collective vrata bandha ceremony is becoming popular and they are celebrated at places like Bahunali etc. and on occasions of pancha-kalyani puja etc.
Marriage: Formerly, boys used to be married between fifteen and twenty-five and girls before they came of age. The law has now prescribed fourteen and eighteen as the minimum age for the marriage of a girl and a boy respectively. In towns and in educated families even this age has increased, particularly in the case of girls. The boy's father proposes the match to the girl's father and when they agree an astrologer is consulted. He compares the birth papers of the boy and the girl and approves the match if he thinks the result will be lucky and if the family-stocks and branches or Shakhas of the boy and the girl are different. Then on a lucky day the boy's father visits the girl's house with a few friends, including five kins-women, and are received by the girl's father and mother. The girl is seated on a low stool in front of the house-gods and the boy's father presents her with a sadi and bodice and a pair of silver chains or sankhlis and anklets or valas. Her brow is marked with vermilion and decked with a net-work of flowers. The women of the boy's house dress the girl in the clothes and ornaments brought by the boy's father and the boy's father puts a little sugar in her mouth. Packets of sugar and betel are handed to the guests and the asking or magni ends with a feast to the guests. Formerly, marriage took place two or three years after betrothal. A lucky day for the marriage is fixed by astrologer. The ceremony lasts five days according to orthodox custom. On the first day two married girls in the bride's house bathe early in the morning, wear a ceremonial dress and with music and band of friends go to a pond or a river with copper pots on their heads, lay sandal-paste, flowers, rice, vermilion, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats on the bank in the name of the water goddess, fill the pots with water and mark them with vermilion, set a cocoanut and betel leaves in the mouth of each, cover them with bodice, cloths and deck them with gold necklaces. They then set the water-pots on their heads, return home and lay them on the earthen altars. Flowers, vermilion, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to the pots and five dishes filled with earth are set before them, sprinkled with water from the water-pots, and mixed seed grain is sown in the earth. Friends and kins-folk are asked to dine at the house and the sprout-offering or ankurarpana is over. The bridegroom is bathed at his house and lights a sacred fire or homa, puts on a rich dress and goes on horseback with music and friends carrying clothes, ornaments, sugar, and betel packets to the bride's house. The bride's party meet him on the way and the bridegroom is taken to the bride's house and seated outside the house on a seat of audumbar or umbar (ficus glomerata) wood. The bride's parents come out with a vessel full of water, the father washes his future son-in-law's feet and the mother pours water over them. The bridegroom is then taken to a raised seat in the house, seated on it and presented with clothes, a gold ring and necklace. The bridegroom's parents present the ornaments and clothes they have brought for the bride, packets of betel and sugar are handed to friends and kins-people and the first day ends with a feast to the bridegroom's party. The bridegroom returns home with his party, is rubbed with turmeric and clarified butter, and bathed by five married women seated in a square with an earthen pot at each corner and a yellow thread passed five times round their necks. The bride is bathed in a similar square at her house. On the third day the bride and bridegroom bathe, dress in newly-washed clothes and starting from their homes meet at the Jaina temple. The priest attends them and the two bow before the idol. The priest makes them repeat the five-salutation hymn which every Jaina ought to know and warns them to keep the Jaina vow or Jain vrata of non-killing or ahimsa and of leading a pure moral life. They are treated to sweetmeats each by their own people and the family-gods and the cork marriage coronet or bashing are worshipped at both houses. On the fourth day the actual marriage ceremony begins. Friends and relations are asked to both houses. The bridegroom is rubbed with fragrant oil and again kindles the sacred fire, dresses in rich clothes and goes to the bride's house on horseback with music and friends. On the way he is met by the bride's party and taken to a raised umbar wood (Ficus glomerata) seat. While he is seated on the seat a couple from the bride's house, generally the bride's parents, come and wash his feet. The bridegroom thrice sips water, puts on the new sacred thread offered him by the bride's priest and swallows curds mixed with sugar which the couple have poured over his hands. The father-in-law leads the bridegroom by the hand to a readymade seat in the house. Before the seat a curtain is held and two heaps of rice, one on each side of the curtain marked with the lucky cross or swastika and crowned with the sacred kusha grass. A short time before the auspicious lucky moment the bride is led by her friends and made to stand on the rice heap behind the curtain, the bridegroom standing on the rice heap on the other side. The guests stand around and the priests recite the nine-planet lucky verses or navgraha mangalashtaka. The astrologer marks the lucky moment by clapping his hands, the musicians redouble their noise, the priests draw aside the curtain, and the bride and the bridegroom look at each other and are husband and wife. The bridegroom marks the bride's brow with vermilion and she throws a flower garland round his neck. They fold their hands together and the bride's father pours water over their hands. They then throw rice over each other's head and the priests and guests throw rice at the couple. The priests tie the marriage wristlets on their hands. The bridegroom then sits on a low stool facing east and the bride on another stool to his left. (In some places the bride sits to the right and the bridegroom to the left.) The priest kindles the sacred or homa fire and the bridegroom feeds the fire with offerings of parched rice held in a dish before him by the bride. Then the priest lays seven small heaps of rice, each with a small stone or a betelnut on each heap with his right toe, moves five times round the heaps, the priest shows the couple the Polar star or Dhruva and payment of a money gift to the priest completes the day's ceremonies. The hems of the couple's garments are knotted together and they walk into the house and bow before the water-pots which have been arranged on the first day and are fed with a dish of milk and clarified butter. Next day the bride's parents give a feast to the bridegroom's party and to their own kins-people. In the morning the couple are seated in the booth and young girls on both sides join them. The bridegroom takes some wet turmeric powder and rubs it five times on the bride's face, who gathers it and rubs it on the bridegroom's face. Next morning the sacred fire is again kindled and the serpent is worshipped. The couple then dine at bride's and are thereafter seated on horseback, the bride before the bridegroom and taken to the Jaina temple where they walk round the god, bow before him and ask his blessing. They then walk to the bridegroom's. Before they reach, every part of the house is lighted and a long white sheet is spread on the ground from the booth door to the god-room. When the couple attempt to cross the threshold the bridegroom's sister blocks the door and does not allow them to enter. The bridgroom asks her why she blocks the door. She says, " Will you give your daughter in marriage to my son? ". He answers, '' Ask my wife.". The sister asks the wife and she says, " I will give one of my three pearls in marriage to your son.". Then the sister leaves the door, the couple walk into the house, bow before the house-gods, and a feast ends the ceremony.
It must be stated that the details about marriage ceremony described above depict a picture more of the past than of the present. They are now getting considerably modified and abridged and some of them are tending to disappear, particularly in cities.
Widow marriage: Though forbidden by their sacred books, all Jainas except Upadhyas (priests) and some families of prestige allow widow marriage. They say the practice came into use about 200 years ago. If a woman does not get on well with her husband, she may live separate from him but cannot marry during her husband's lifetime.
Last rites: When a Jaina is on the point of death, a priest is called in to recite verses to cleanse the sick person's ears, to quiet his soul, and if possible to drive away his disease. When recovery is hopeless, a ceremony called sallekhana vidhi or voluntary submission to death is performed to sever the sick person from worldly pleasures and to make him fit for the life he is about to enter. Sometimes the sick man is made to pass through the ceremony called sannyas grahana (ascetic vow-taking) with the same rites as among Brahmans. When these rites are over and death is near, the dying man is made to lie on a line of three to four wooden stools and the names of gods and sacred hymns are loudly repeated. After death the body is taken outside the house, bathed in warm water (this bathing is not current everywhere), dressed in a waist and shoulder cloth and seated cross-legged on a low stool leaning against the wall. A bier is made and the dead is laid on it and the whole body including the face is covered with a white sheet. Jewels or gold pieces are put into the dead mouth and fastened over the eyes. Four kins-men lift the bier and followed by a party of friends walk after the chief mourner who carries a fire-pot slung from his hand. To perform Jaina funeral rites, from the first to the thirteenth day six men are required, the mourner who carries fire, four corpse-bearers and a body-dresser. Music is played at some funerals, but on the way no coins or grain are thrown to spirits and no words uttered. The mourner is not allowed to look behind. About half-way the bier is laid on the ground and the cloth is removed from the dead face apparently to make sure that there are no signs of life. They go on to the burning ground and set down the bier. One of the party cleans the spot where the pyre is to be prepared and they build the pyre. When it is ready the bearers lay the body on the pile and the chief mourner lights it. When the body is half consumed or about to be set on fire the chief mourner bathes, carries an earthen pot filled with water on his shoulder and walks three times round the pile. Another man walks with him and at each turn makes a hole in the pot with a stone called ashma or the life-stone. When three rounds and three holes are made, the chief mourner throws the pot over his back and beats his mouth with the open palm of his right hand. The ashma or life-stone is kept ten days and each day a rice ball is offered to it. The funeral party stops at the burning ground till the skull bursts. If they choose, some of the party may go home but the six mourners must remain there till the body is consumed when each offers a flour-ball and a handful of water to the life-stone and returns home. A lamp is set on the spot where the dead breathed his last, and kept there burning for at least twenty-four hours. On the second day the six chief mourners go to the burning ground and in the house put out the fire with offerings of milk, sugar and water. On the third day they gather the deceased's bones and bury them somewhere among the neighbouring hills. Except offering a rice ball to the life-stone from the first to the tenth day nothing special is performed from the fourth to the ninth day. The family are held impure for ten days. On the tenth the house is cow-dunged and all members of the family bathe and each offers a handful of water called tilodaka (sesame water) to the dead. The house is purified by sprinkling holy water and the sacred or homa fire is lit by the priest. On the twelfth the clothes of the deceased are given to the poor and rice balls in the name of the deceased and his ancestors are made and sandal-paste, fowers, vermilion, frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to them. The temple gods are worshipped and a feast to the corpse-bearers and dresser ends the twelfth day ceremony. On the thirteenth day the shraddha (mind-rite) is performed and a few friends and relations are asked to dine. A fortnightly and monthly ceremony is performed every month for one year and a feast is held every year for twelve years in some of the families. According to the old rule the widow's head should be shaved on the tenth but the practice is becoming rare. She however gives up her lucky thread and toe ornaments and does not wear a black bodice or lugade. When a sanyasi (ascetic) dies his body is carried in a canopied chair instead of an ordinary bier. The body is laid on the pyre and bathed in the five nectars or panchamritas milk, curds, clarified butter, plantain and sugar. Camphor is lighted on the head and the pile is lit. At a sanyasi's funeral only five men are required. A fire-carrier is not wanted as fire can be taken from any neighbouring house to light the pile. The family of the dead arc impure for only three days and no balls are offered to the dead. When an infant dies before teething it is buried, and boys who die before their thread-girding are not honoured with the rice-ball offering. No special rites are performed in the case of a married woman, a widow, or a woman who dies in child-bed. No evil attaches to a death which happens during an eclipse of the sun of the moon. In the case of a person who dies at an unlucky moment, Jains perform the same rites as other Hindus.
Bhattaraka : Jains are bound together by a strong caste-feeling; and settle social disputes at caste-meetings. Appeals against the decisions of the caste-council lie to their Bhattaraka or swami or religious heads who with the two titles Jinasena Swami and Lakshmisena Swami and with jurisdiction over the Jainas of almost the whole Bombay-Karnatak, live at Sholapur.
Non-Sholapur Jainas include a considerable number of Jaina Marwadis and Jaina Gujarat Vanis who have come from Marwad and Gujarat for trade and have settled in the district. They do not marry with the Jainas of Sholapur, and unlike the Jainas of Sholapur they have no objection to take water and food from non-Jainas. Their favourite place of pilgrimage is Mount Abu. They are money-lenders and dealers in piece-goods and jewellery. They live in well-built houses, send their children to schools, and are a prosperous class. Many of them have now settled in this part, especially in prosperous business centres where they have built temples for themselves.
Jains take the name from being followers of the twenty-four Jainas (conquerors), the last two of whom were Parsvanatha and Mahavira who was also called Vardhamana. Mahavira's father and mother died when he was 28 and two years later he devoted himself to austerities which he continued for twelve and a half years, nearly eleven of which were spent in the different series of fasts. As a Digambara he went robeless and had no vessel but his hand. At last the bonds of karma were snapped like an old rope and he gained kevala, i.e., absolute knowledge or spiritual perfection and thus became an Arhat, i.e., worthy or Jina, i.e., conqueror. He went from place to place and taught his doctrine. Several eminent Brahmans became converts to Jainism. The greatest among them was Indrabhuti or Gautama who preached Mahavira's doctrine in the cities of Kaushambi and Rajagriha. Mahavira attained Nirvana at the age of 72 at Pawa in Bihar in B. C. 527. According to the well-attested traditional chronology the two royal clans Mallaki and Licchavi celebrated the occasion by a lamp festival which is annually observed as Divali even to this day.
Like Buddhists, Jainas reject the authority of the Vedas which they pronounce apochryphal and corrupt; they have their own scriptures called Parvas and Angas. As among Buddhists, confession is practised among Jainas. Great importance is attached to pilgrimage and the chaturmasa, that is, four months from Ashadha or July-August to Kariika or October-November in the year are given to intermittent fasting, the reading of sacred books, and meditation. They attach no religious importance to caste. Jainas like Buddhists are of two classes, yatis or ascetics and shravakas or hearers. The Jaina samgha (congregation or community) has a four-fold division; monks, nuns, lay-men and lay-women. Jainas, like Buddhists, admit no creator. According to them the world is eternal and they deny that any being could have been there as its creator. The Jina became perfect but he was not perfect at first. He is not his creator nor has he anything to do with worldly affairs. He is the God in the sense that he is spiritually perfect and as such he is an Ideal for the worldly people who are aspiring for spiritual perfection. Jainas worship twenty-four Tirthankaras or lords, of whom Vrishabha was the first. Parshvanatha the twenty-third and Mahavira the twenty-fourth. Their images have certain signs on the pedestal and have attendant deities on both sides.
On the whole Jainism is less opposed to Brahmanism than Buddhism is and admits, here and there, some of the Brahmanic deities, though it holds them inferior to their chovisi or twenty-four Tirthankaras.
Jainas name their children after their Tirthankaras or worthies of the present, past and future ages, after the parents of the arhats, after the pious and great men, and sometimes after Brahmanic gods and local deities. Like Hindus, Jain parents sometimes give their children mean names to avert early death, as Kallappa from Kallu (K) stone Kadappa from kad (K) forest, Dhondu from Dhonda (M) and Dagadu from dagad (M) stone.
Classes: Sholapur Jains are divided into Upadhyas or priests, Panchamas who are generally traders, Chaturthas who are generally husbandmen, Kasaras, or copper dealers, and Setavalas or cloth-sellers. With the spread of modern education these hereditary professions are getting changed. These classes eat together but do not inter-marry. Lately, however, some inter-marriages are taking place. Formerly the sect, it is reported, included barbers, washermen and many other castes that have now ceased to be Jainas. Properly speaking in certain areas, there is no separate priestly caste among the Jainas; the Upadhyas or priests are usually chosen from among the learned Panchamas or Chaturthas subject to the recognition of their principal swamis or head priests called Pattacharya Swamis.
In the early morning before he gets up, a pious Jain rests his right shoulder on the ground. He then sits facing the east and repeats verses in praise of Jinadev the victorious and thereafter sets out for the temple to see the images of Tirthankara, say Parshvanatha, avoiding as far as possible on his way the sight of man or beast. On returning home from the temple he bathes in warm water which he first purifies by reciting verses over it. When bath is finished he puts on a freshly-washed cotton cloth, sits on a low wooden stool, and for about an hour says his morning prayer or samayika. He lays sandal, flowers and sweetmeat before the house-gods and then goes to the temple to worship the Jina, where the head ascetic or Swami reads the Jaina Purana, tells his beads, receives the holy water gandhodaka or tirth in which the image has been bathed. On certain occasions he performs a fire worship and feeds the fire with cooked rice and clarified butter in the names of the popular deities or Vishvedevas.
They visit the Jaina temple, listen to a Purana. These details depict conditions more in the rural than in the urban areas. The temple is really the religious as well as the social tie for the community as a whole.
Religion: The religion of Sholapur Jainas may be treated under five heads: temple worship of the twenty-four Jainas and their attendant goddesses; holy places and holy days; the worship of house-gods; the worship of field guardians; and irregular worship of evil diseasecausing spirits. The chief Jaina doctrine is that to take life is sin. Like Buddhists they believe that certain conduct has raised men above the gods. Twenty-four Jainas have gained perfection. To each of these a sign and attendant god and goddess have been allotted and these form the regular objects of Jaina temple worship. Jainas belong to two main sects the Shvetambaras or white-robed and Digambaras or sky-clad, that is, naked saint worshippers. These designations indicate that the ideal saints of the former wear white garments but those of the latter go about nude. The bulk of Sholapur Jainas are of the Digambar section. Temple worship is the chief part of a Jaina's religious duties. Their temples are called bastis or dwellings but can easily be made out from ordinary dwelling by their high plinths. The temple consists of an outer hall and a shrine. The walls of the outer hall are filled with niches of the different popular deities and attendant goddesses. In the shrine is an image generally of the twenty-third Tirthankara Parshvanatha, which in Sholapur temples is generally naked (so far as Digambar a temples are concerned). The images in most cases are of black polished stone, two feet to three feet high, either standing with the hands stretched down the sides or in the seated cross-legged position. The other images generally worshipped in this part are those of Adinatha, Neminatha and Chandranatha. Temple worship is of four kinds: daily worship, eight-day or ashtamihiki worship, wish filling or kalpa worship, and five-blessing or panchakalyani worship. In the daily temple worship the image of the saint is bathed by the temple ministrant in milk and on special days in the five nectars or panchamrita; water, tree sap or vriksha rasa that is sugar, plantains, clarified butter, milk and curds. The priest repeats sacred verses, sandal-paste is laid on the image, and it is decked with flowers.
Jainas perform the ashtanhiki or eight-days worship three times in a year from the bright eighth to the full-moon of Ashadha or July-August, in Kartika or October-November and in Phalguna or February-March. Only the rich perform the wish-Ming or kalpa worship as the worshipper has to give the priest whatever he asks. The pancha-kalyani worship centres round the five auspicious occasions, namely, conception, birth, renunciation, enlightenment and liberation, in the career of a Tirthankara. In certain details it resembles the Brahmanical sacrifice; of course, there is no place for any sort of animal destruction. According to the Jaina doctrine, bathing in holy places does not cleanse one from sin. Sholapur Jainas make pilgrimages to Jaina holy places, Ujjyantagiri or Girnar in South Kathiawar sacred to Nemishvara or Neminatha, Pavapura near Rajagriha or Rajgir about fifty miles south of Patna sacred to Vardhamana Swami, Sammedagiri properly Sammet Shikhar or Parasnath hill in Hazaribagh in West Bengal sacred to Parshvanatha where are feet symbols or padukas of the twenty four Jaina arhats or worthies, and in the south, the monolithic image of Gomateshvara in Shravan Belgola in Mysore, and Mudabidri in South Kanara. They make pilgrimages to Banaras which they say is the birth-place of Parshvanatha. The leading religious seats of Jainas are Delhi, Dinkanchi in Madras, Penangundi in the south. Any poor Jaina may visit these places and is fed for any number of days but on pain of loss of caste he must beg from no one who is not a Jaina.
Fasts: Jaina ascetics keep ten fasts in every lunar month, the fourth, the eighth, the eleventh, the fourteenth, the full-moon and no-moon days. During the chaturmasa, pious house-holders observe full or partial fasts on the 8th and 14th day of a fortnight. They keep most of the Brahmanic holidays and in addition the week beginning from the lunar eighth of Ashadha or June-July, of Kartika or October-November, and of Phalguna or February-March; they hold a special feast on Shruta Panchami in May-June. Of the twenty-four minor gods and goddesses who attend on the twenty-four saints, the chief are Kshetrapala and Kalika or Jwalamalini and Padmavati who have other counter-parts in Bhairava and Lakshmi.
Goddesses and saints : Jainas pay special respect to Shrutadevi who is represented by a sacred book resting on a brazen chair called shruta skandha or learning's prop and in whose honour in all Jaina temples a festival is held on the bright fifth of Jyeshtha or May-June; the Brahmanic counterpart of this deity is Sarasvati. To these guardian goddesses and saints two beings are added, Bhugabali or Gommata of Shravan Belgola in Mysore distinguished by the creepers twining round his arms and Nandishvara a small temple like a brass frame. Besides these, they worship a brass wheel of law or dharmachakra which is symbolic of religion, they also worship an image representing five classes of great deities or Parameshthi, a verbal salutation to the whole of whom forms a pious Jaina's daily prayer. Jainas think that their book and temple gods, the arhats or worthies, the siddhas or perfect beings, the acharyas or preceptors, the upadhyas or priests, and the sadhus or saints are too austere and ascetic to take an interest in every-day life or to be worshipped as house-guardians. Perhaps for this reason their house-deities are generally of a popular nature.
House-deities: As among Hindus, the house-deities are kept in a separate room generally next to the cooking room in a devhara or shrine of carved wood. The images are generally of metal three to four inches high. Among them is usually the mask or bust of some deceased female member of the family who has afflicted the family with sickness and to please her had her image placed and worshipped among the house-gods. Besides the usual Brahmanic or Lingayata house-deities, several families have a house-image of Parshvanatha but the worship of Parshvanatha as a house-image is not usual. As among other Hindus, the daily worship of the house-gods is simple, chiefly consisting in a hurried decking with flowers. On holidays the images are bathed in milk and flowers, sandal-paste, rice, burnt frankincense and camphor, and cooked food are laid before them. Women are not allowed to touch the house-gods. During the absence of the men of the house the temple priest is asked to conduct the daily worship. Latterly, the custom of worshipping non-Jaina house-deities appears to be diminishing. Another class of Jaina deities are the Kshetrapalas or field guardians, essentially the deities of agroculturists, the chief of whom are Bhairava and Brahma.
Beliefs: Jains have no professional exorcists or charmers chiefly because their place is filled by priests. When sickness is believed to be caused by spirit-possession the priest is consulted. Me worships the goddess Padmayati or Lakshmi and gives the sick holy water or tirth in which the goddess' feet have been washed. If the holy water fails to cure, the priest consults his book of omens or sakunavali, adds together certain figures in the book and divides the total by a certain figure in the tables of the book and by referring to the book finds what dead relation of the sick person the quotient stands for. If it is a woman she has become a Jakhin and should be worshipped along with the family-gods, the priest then mutters a verse over a pinch of frankincense ashes or angara burnt before the gods and hands it to the sick to be rubbed on his brow. If the ash-rubbing and Jakhin-worship fail to cure the sick, the priest prepares a paper or bhurj or birch leaf called a yantra or device marked with mystic figures or letters and ties it in a silk cloth or puts it in a silk cloth or puts it in a small casket, or tait. mutters verses over it, burns frankincense, and ties it round the possessed person's arm or neck. If the amulet is of no avail the priest advises an anushthana or god-pleasing. The head of the house asks the priest to read a sacred book before the temple image of one of the saints or to repeat a text or mantra or sacred hymn or stotra some thousand times in honour of one of the saints. The priest is paid for his trouble, and when the sick is cured the god-pleasing ends with a feast to priests and friends. If even the god-pleasing fails, the sick, if he is an orthodox Jaina, resigns himself to his fate or seeks the aid of a physician. Exorcists are shunned by Jain men because part of the exorcists' cure is almost always the offering of a goat or of a cock. When all remedies are of no avail Jains sometimes take the sick to a holy place called Tavnidhi fifteen miles south-west of Chikodi, and the sick or some relation on his behalf worships the spirit-scaring Brahmanidhi until the patient is cured. Jains profess to have sacred pools, animals or trees that have a spirit-scaring power. When an epidemic rages, a special worship of Jainadeva is performed. With a better acquaintance of the basic principles of Jainism consequent upon the spread of education and reading of sacred works by the Shravakas themselves, and through the preachings of saints like Shantisagara, these practices have become out-of-date and looked upon as almost irreligious excepting perhaps in out-of-the-way villages.
Sanskars: Of the sixteen sacraments or sanskars which are nearly the same as the sixteen Brahman sacraments, Sholapur Jainas perform those of thread-girding, marriage, puberty and death. Except that the texts are not Vedic, the rites do not differ much from those performed by Brahmans. Their birth ceremonies are the same as those of Brahmans like whom on the fifth day they worship the goddess Satvai. Boys are girt with the sacred thread between eight and sixteen. A boy must not be girt until he is eight. If, for any reason, it suits the parents to hold the thread-girding before the boy is eight, they add to his age the nine months he passed in the womb. A Jaina astrologer names a lucky day for the thread-girding, a booth is raised before the house, and an earth altar or bahule a foot and a half square is built in the booth and plantain trees are set at corners. Pots are brought from the potters and piled in each corner of the altar and a yellow cotton thread is passed round their necks. Over the altar is a canopy and in front is a small entrance hung with ever-green. A day or two before the thread-girding, the invitation procession consisting of men and women of the boy's house with music and friends starts from the house. They first go to the Jaina temple and the father or some other relation with the family priest lays a cocoanut before the god, bows before him and asks him to perform the ceremony. Jains have no devak or family guardian worship. The boy and his parents go through the preliminary ceremonies as at a Brahman thread-girding. The boy's head is shaved and he is bathed and rubbed with turmeric. The astrologer marks the lucky moment by means of his water-clock or ghatika and as it draws near music plays and guns are fired. The priest recites the auspicious verses and throws red rice over the boy. The boy is seated on his father's or if the father is dead, on some other kins-man's knees on a low stool. The knot of his hair is tied and he is girt with a sacred thread or janve and a string of kusha grass is tied round his waist. The priest kindles the sacred fire, betel is served to the guests and money gifts are distributed among priests and beggars. The boy has to go and beg at five Jaina houses. He stands at the door of each house and asks the mistress of the house to give him alms saying " Oh lady, be pleased to give alms.". The alms usually consists of a waistcloth, rice or cash. Great merit is believed to be gained by giving alms to a newly-girded boy and many women visit the boy's house for three or four days to present bim with silver or clothes. After begging at five houses the boy returns home and a feast to friends and kins-folk ends the first day. The sodmunj or grass-cord loosening is performed usually after a week and sometimes between a week from the thread-girding and the marriage day. The loosening is generally performed near a pimpal (Ficus religiosa) tree. The boy is bathed, the rite of holiday calling or punyahavachan is gone through as on the first day, music plays and flowers, sandal-paste, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to the pimpal tree. The boy bows before the tree and the priest unties the cord from round his waist. The boy is then dressed in a full suit of clothes, declares that he means to go to Banaras and spend the rest of his life in study and worship and sets out on his journey. Before he has gone many yards, his maternal uncle meets him, promises him his daughter's hand in marriage and asks him to return home and live among them as a house-holder or grihasth. The boy is escorted home with music and band of friends and a small feast to friends and kins-folk ends the ceremony. Latterly, the practice of collective vrata bandha ceremony is becoming popular and they are celebrated at places like Bahunali etc. and on occasions of pancha-kalyani puja etc.
Marriage: Formerly, boys used to be married between fifteen and twenty-five and girls before they came of age. The law has now prescribed fourteen and eighteen as the minimum age for the marriage of a girl and a boy respectively. In towns and in educated families even this age has increased, particularly in the case of girls. The boy's father proposes the match to the girl's father and when they agree an astrologer is consulted. He compares the birth papers of the boy and the girl and approves the match if he thinks the result will be lucky and if the family-stocks and branches or Shakhas of the boy and the girl are different. Then on a lucky day the boy's father visits the girl's house with a few friends, including five kins-women, and are received by the girl's father and mother. The girl is seated on a low stool in front of the house-gods and the boy's father presents her with a sadi and bodice and a pair of silver chains or sankhlis and anklets or valas. Her brow is marked with vermilion and decked with a net-work of flowers. The women of the boy's house dress the girl in the clothes and ornaments brought by the boy's father and the boy's father puts a little sugar in her mouth. Packets of sugar and betel are handed to the guests and the asking or magni ends with a feast to the guests. Formerly, marriage took place two or three years after betrothal. A lucky day for the marriage is fixed by astrologer. The ceremony lasts five days according to orthodox custom. On the first day two married girls in the bride's house bathe early in the morning, wear a ceremonial dress and with music and band of friends go to a pond or a river with copper pots on their heads, lay sandal-paste, flowers, rice, vermilion, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats on the bank in the name of the water goddess, fill the pots with water and mark them with vermilion, set a cocoanut and betel leaves in the mouth of each, cover them with bodice, cloths and deck them with gold necklaces. They then set the water-pots on their heads, return home and lay them on the earthen altars. Flowers, vermilion, burnt frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to the pots and five dishes filled with earth are set before them, sprinkled with water from the water-pots, and mixed seed grain is sown in the earth. Friends and kins-folk are asked to dine at the house and the sprout-offering or ankurarpana is over. The bridegroom is bathed at his house and lights a sacred fire or homa, puts on a rich dress and goes on horseback with music and friends carrying clothes, ornaments, sugar, and betel packets to the bride's house. The bride's party meet him on the way and the bridegroom is taken to the bride's house and seated outside the house on a seat of audumbar or umbar (ficus glomerata) wood. The bride's parents come out with a vessel full of water, the father washes his future son-in-law's feet and the mother pours water over them. The bridegroom is then taken to a raised seat in the house, seated on it and presented with clothes, a gold ring and necklace. The bridegroom's parents present the ornaments and clothes they have brought for the bride, packets of betel and sugar are handed to friends and kins-people and the first day ends with a feast to the bridegroom's party. The bridegroom returns home with his party, is rubbed with turmeric and clarified butter, and bathed by five married women seated in a square with an earthen pot at each corner and a yellow thread passed five times round their necks. The bride is bathed in a similar square at her house. On the third day the bride and bridegroom bathe, dress in newly-washed clothes and starting from their homes meet at the Jaina temple. The priest attends them and the two bow before the idol. The priest makes them repeat the five-salutation hymn which every Jaina ought to know and warns them to keep the Jaina vow or Jain vrata of non-killing or ahimsa and of leading a pure moral life. They are treated to sweetmeats each by their own people and the family-gods and the cork marriage coronet or bashing are worshipped at both houses. On the fourth day the actual marriage ceremony begins. Friends and relations are asked to both houses. The bridegroom is rubbed with fragrant oil and again kindles the sacred fire, dresses in rich clothes and goes to the bride's house on horseback with music and friends. On the way he is met by the bride's party and taken to a raised umbar wood (Ficus glomerata) seat. While he is seated on the seat a couple from the bride's house, generally the bride's parents, come and wash his feet. The bridegroom thrice sips water, puts on the new sacred thread offered him by the bride's priest and swallows curds mixed with sugar which the couple have poured over his hands. The father-in-law leads the bridegroom by the hand to a readymade seat in the house. Before the seat a curtain is held and two heaps of rice, one on each side of the curtain marked with the lucky cross or swastika and crowned with the sacred kusha grass. A short time before the auspicious lucky moment the bride is led by her friends and made to stand on the rice heap behind the curtain, the bridegroom standing on the rice heap on the other side. The guests stand around and the priests recite the nine-planet lucky verses or navgraha mangalashtaka. The astrologer marks the lucky moment by clapping his hands, the musicians redouble their noise, the priests draw aside the curtain, and the bride and the bridegroom look at each other and are husband and wife. The bridegroom marks the bride's brow with vermilion and she throws a flower garland round his neck. They fold their hands together and the bride's father pours water over their hands. They then throw rice over each other's head and the priests and guests throw rice at the couple. The priests tie the marriage wristlets on their hands. The bridegroom then sits on a low stool facing east and the bride on another stool to his left. (In some places the bride sits to the right and the bridegroom to the left.) The priest kindles the sacred or homa fire and the bridegroom feeds the fire with offerings of parched rice held in a dish before him by the bride. Then the priest lays seven small heaps of rice, each with a small stone or a betelnut on each heap with his right toe, moves five times round the heaps, the priest shows the couple the Polar star or Dhruva and payment of a money gift to the priest completes the day's ceremonies. The hems of the couple's garments are knotted together and they walk into the house and bow before the water-pots which have been arranged on the first day and are fed with a dish of milk and clarified butter. Next day the bride's parents give a feast to the bridegroom's party and to their own kins-people. In the morning the couple are seated in the booth and young girls on both sides join them. The bridegroom takes some wet turmeric powder and rubs it five times on the bride's face, who gathers it and rubs it on the bridegroom's face. Next morning the sacred fire is again kindled and the serpent is worshipped. The couple then dine at bride's and are thereafter seated on horseback, the bride before the bridegroom and taken to the Jaina temple where they walk round the god, bow before him and ask his blessing. They then walk to the bridegroom's. Before they reach, every part of the house is lighted and a long white sheet is spread on the ground from the booth door to the god-room. When the couple attempt to cross the threshold the bridegroom's sister blocks the door and does not allow them to enter. The bridgroom asks her why she blocks the door. She says, " Will you give your daughter in marriage to my son? ". He answers, '' Ask my wife.". The sister asks the wife and she says, " I will give one of my three pearls in marriage to your son.". Then the sister leaves the door, the couple walk into the house, bow before the house-gods, and a feast ends the ceremony.
It must be stated that the details about marriage ceremony described above depict a picture more of the past than of the present. They are now getting considerably modified and abridged and some of them are tending to disappear, particularly in cities.
Widow marriage: Though forbidden by their sacred books, all Jainas except Upadhyas (priests) and some families of prestige allow widow marriage. They say the practice came into use about 200 years ago. If a woman does not get on well with her husband, she may live separate from him but cannot marry during her husband's lifetime.
Last rites: When a Jaina is on the point of death, a priest is called in to recite verses to cleanse the sick person's ears, to quiet his soul, and if possible to drive away his disease. When recovery is hopeless, a ceremony called sallekhana vidhi or voluntary submission to death is performed to sever the sick person from worldly pleasures and to make him fit for the life he is about to enter. Sometimes the sick man is made to pass through the ceremony called sannyas grahana (ascetic vow-taking) with the same rites as among Brahmans. When these rites are over and death is near, the dying man is made to lie on a line of three to four wooden stools and the names of gods and sacred hymns are loudly repeated. After death the body is taken outside the house, bathed in warm water (this bathing is not current everywhere), dressed in a waist and shoulder cloth and seated cross-legged on a low stool leaning against the wall. A bier is made and the dead is laid on it and the whole body including the face is covered with a white sheet. Jewels or gold pieces are put into the dead mouth and fastened over the eyes. Four kins-men lift the bier and followed by a party of friends walk after the chief mourner who carries a fire-pot slung from his hand. To perform Jaina funeral rites, from the first to the thirteenth day six men are required, the mourner who carries fire, four corpse-bearers and a body-dresser. Music is played at some funerals, but on the way no coins or grain are thrown to spirits and no words uttered. The mourner is not allowed to look behind. About half-way the bier is laid on the ground and the cloth is removed from the dead face apparently to make sure that there are no signs of life. They go on to the burning ground and set down the bier. One of the party cleans the spot where the pyre is to be prepared and they build the pyre. When it is ready the bearers lay the body on the pile and the chief mourner lights it. When the body is half consumed or about to be set on fire the chief mourner bathes, carries an earthen pot filled with water on his shoulder and walks three times round the pile. Another man walks with him and at each turn makes a hole in the pot with a stone called ashma or the life-stone. When three rounds and three holes are made, the chief mourner throws the pot over his back and beats his mouth with the open palm of his right hand. The ashma or life-stone is kept ten days and each day a rice ball is offered to it. The funeral party stops at the burning ground till the skull bursts. If they choose, some of the party may go home but the six mourners must remain there till the body is consumed when each offers a flour-ball and a handful of water to the life-stone and returns home. A lamp is set on the spot where the dead breathed his last, and kept there burning for at least twenty-four hours. On the second day the six chief mourners go to the burning ground and in the house put out the fire with offerings of milk, sugar and water. On the third day they gather the deceased's bones and bury them somewhere among the neighbouring hills. Except offering a rice ball to the life-stone from the first to the tenth day nothing special is performed from the fourth to the ninth day. The family are held impure for ten days. On the tenth the house is cow-dunged and all members of the family bathe and each offers a handful of water called tilodaka (sesame water) to the dead. The house is purified by sprinkling holy water and the sacred or homa fire is lit by the priest. On the twelfth the clothes of the deceased are given to the poor and rice balls in the name of the deceased and his ancestors are made and sandal-paste, fowers, vermilion, frankincense and sweetmeats are offered to them. The temple gods are worshipped and a feast to the corpse-bearers and dresser ends the twelfth day ceremony. On the thirteenth day the shraddha (mind-rite) is performed and a few friends and relations are asked to dine. A fortnightly and monthly ceremony is performed every month for one year and a feast is held every year for twelve years in some of the families. According to the old rule the widow's head should be shaved on the tenth but the practice is becoming rare. She however gives up her lucky thread and toe ornaments and does not wear a black bodice or lugade. When a sanyasi (ascetic) dies his body is carried in a canopied chair instead of an ordinary bier. The body is laid on the pyre and bathed in the five nectars or panchamritas milk, curds, clarified butter, plantain and sugar. Camphor is lighted on the head and the pile is lit. At a sanyasi's funeral only five men are required. A fire-carrier is not wanted as fire can be taken from any neighbouring house to light the pile. The family of the dead arc impure for only three days and no balls are offered to the dead. When an infant dies before teething it is buried, and boys who die before their thread-girding are not honoured with the rice-ball offering. No special rites are performed in the case of a married woman, a widow, or a woman who dies in child-bed. No evil attaches to a death which happens during an eclipse of the sun of the moon. In the case of a person who dies at an unlucky moment, Jains perform the same rites as other Hindus.
Bhattaraka : Jains are bound together by a strong caste-feeling; and settle social disputes at caste-meetings. Appeals against the decisions of the caste-council lie to their Bhattaraka or swami or religious heads who with the two titles Jinasena Swami and Lakshmisena Swami and with jurisdiction over the Jainas of almost the whole Bombay-Karnatak, live at Sholapur.
Non-Sholapur Jainas include a considerable number of Jaina Marwadis and Jaina Gujarat Vanis who have come from Marwad and Gujarat for trade and have settled in the district. They do not marry with the Jainas of Sholapur, and unlike the Jainas of Sholapur they have no objection to take water and food from non-Jainas. Their favourite place of pilgrimage is Mount Abu. They are money-lenders and dealers in piece-goods and jewellery. They live in well-built houses, send their children to schools, and are a prosperous class. Many of them have now settled in this part, especially in prosperous business centres where they have built temples for themselves.
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