1. Jainism in History

Despite all the manipulative and political human efforts to misinterpret, deviate or twist the truth in their own favour; the ultimate truth survives untouched and unaffected in the universe. It is here and now and accessible to those who seek for it.

Most of the people, be it Jain laymen or any other, are unaware of the fact that–“Jainism is one of the most seasoned living religion on the planet. Maybe it is the most old living religion that has filled in as a noteworthy humanizing power, bringing forth about two thousand years of composed writing, to marvels of craftsmanship and design, and to an arrangement of theory and morals that offered motivation to a huge political figure Mahatma Gandhi, who drove India, the world's second most crowded nation. A few religious thoughts and practices that today are famously considered 'regularly Indian' either began in or were spread by Jaina instructors.”^[1]

We all know the influence of Jain ethics on Gandhiji’s life and that her mother’s devotion towards the Jain saints, got him introduced to the concept of nonviolence. Which became an integral part of his persona and how eventually this concept influenced the other leaders of the world, through him. For example–‘Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Al Gore (former US Vice President and environmentalist) to name a few along with British musician John Lennon, the famous scientist Albert Einstein and the Nobel prize winning Irish playwright and a passionate socialist George Bernard Shaw.’^[2]

Being Indians we take our traditions, and history, granted and we need an outer persona to come, get influenced by it, peep into the same and throw a new light on it, to get it introduced to us in a newer, more impressive way. In the same context “Jainism has generally gotten scholastic consideration mainly from German Indological researchers (the names of Hermann Jacobi, Walther Schubring and Ludwig Alsdorf being the well-known).”^[3]

‘The sovereign Chandragupta Maurya, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, disavowed his position of royalty late in life to end up a Jaina monk and is said to have passed away in Shravana Belagola.’^[4] It is believed by the Jains that even emperor Ashoka went to seek the shelter from the Jain Acharyas, when he embarked on the journey to seek peace. But when they refused to take him in, giving the reason of immense violence he caused to people, he turned towards Buddhism and what he did for its propagation, is not hidden from the world.

‘The mid two Upanishads (the Brahadaranyaka and the Chandyoga) notice that the hypothesis of karma and resurrection, this perhaps most Indian of every religious thought, was first educated to the brahmin creed by a non-brahmin: an emperor, a kshatriya.’^[5] All the ford makers (tirthankras) of Jainism were kings and also kshatriyas. This indicates that even the Brahmins were guided by the then tirthankara or their followers, however with time they spread the Jain teachings in their own ways and by minute changes in the teachings, they became new, different religions.

Beyond being a religion and way of life (as believed by many of the Jains), Jainism stands strongly as a Yogic path. “It may only be a minor exaggeration to say that essentially, Jainism is a system of yogic thinking that has developed into a sophisticated religion.”^[6]

Please note the definition of religion as per the Collins English dictionary, “religion is belief in a god or gods and the activities that are connected with this belief, such as praying or worshipping in a building such as a church or temple.”^[7] Whereas the same dictionary explains yoga as–“a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline by which one seeks to achieve liberation of the self.”^[8] By their respective meanings we can easily understand the difference between a yogic path and a religion. While in the latter the emphasis is on self-introspection, the prior focuses on worshipping a superhuman or deity.

When one talks about change and its being the only constant of the cosmos one may ponder, ‘it means even the gods we worship, or the teachers we follow, are to be replaced by the newer ones?’ Jainism justifies it quite efficiently. “Twenty four tirthankaras in each half cycle reveal the truth again and again in every cyclic period of the cosmos.”^[9] Or one may say ‘reveal the truth’ according to the time period they belong to and as per the human ability of that particular era hence even the paths to approach the same truth vary from time to time.

The concept of time cycle in Jainism itself describes its historicity where “the whole span of time has been divided into two equal cycles, named–Utsarpini and Avasarpini. During Utsarpini, there is a gradual increase in moral and physical state of the universe and its residents, while during Avasarpini, it is just the opposite. Each of these two is subdivided into six eras, each extending from twenty two thousands of years to millions of years. These time cycles go on endlessly and humans like us rise to be tirthankaras (Jina) at regular intervals.”^[10] According to Jain philosophy we are in the fifth kala of the descending time cycle i.e. avasarpini at present, that is for twenty one thousand years;approximately twenty seven hundred years of which have already been passed. This fifth kala will be followed by the sixth era of the same duration and the traits like morality, physical appearance, intelligence etc. will keep decreasing until humans turn into beasts and then the seed of the Utsarpini kala will be sown through the doomsday.

We cannot see farther, we are unable to analyse the workings of the cosmos but we can surely relate the Jain theory of time, to the present time as the examples of avasarpini can be seen and observed in our surroundings.

When we say that each religious philosophy has emerged from a single philosophy and with time they changed as per the understanding and ability of its followers; Jain philosophy comes forth as the oldest one. Joseph Campbell commented, “Sankhya and Yoga represented a later intellectual finesse of principles retained in Jainism. They together are theory and practice of one doctrine.”^[11] “Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American Professor of Literature, who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion.”^[12]

“In the Buddhist text Majjima Nikaya, Buddha himself indicates about his austere life and its precepts which are in accordance with the Jain saint’s code of conduct. He says, “Thus far, Sariputta, did I go in my austerity? I stayed naked. I ate my food straight from my hands. I took no food that was cooked keeping me in mind. I refused any invitation for food.” Mrs. Rhys Davids has recognized that Buddha found his two teachers Alara and Uddaka at Vaisali and started his spiritual life under the guidance of Jain teachers.”^[13] “Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids (1857–1942) was a British writer and translator.”^[14]

Mr. Rhys Davids writes, “the Jains are the last direct agents on the mainland of India of those schools of thought which became out of the dynamic philosophical hypothesis and sincere energy of religious probe that won in the valley of the Ganges amid the fifth and sixth hundreds of years before the Christian period. For a long time Jainism was so dominated by that dynamite development, conceived in the meantime and at the same place, which we call Buddhism, that it remained practically unnoticed by the side of its incredible adversary.”^[15] One may wonder how religious philosophies can be rivals to each other, for they teach the lessons of equanimity, compassion and abstinence, however one may see it clearly that they are not the philosophies but the people, in whose hands they fall, are to be taken care of.

Each philosophy has its time for getting famous and for being followed. Also it depends who is getting influenced by it; for example–King Ashoka did wonderful work to spread Buddhism worldwide. “When Buddhism, whose broadly open gateways had assimilated the mass of the society, turned out to be defiled from its immaculate virtue and bit by bit withered away, the littler school of the Jains, less oppositely restricted to the triumphant universal ideology of the Brahmans, endure, and in some degree had its spot.”^[16] That is also a matter of contemplation that the more a particular religion is followed by the masses, the more possibility is there for it, to be manipulated in people’s own selfish interests. Somehow fame and fate of that particular religious philosophy get decided by that.

Sometimes we may decide to not to fall into any argument about the ancientness of the religions as this kind of argument leads us nowhere. The Hindus interpret that they are the oldest, the Buddhists claim about themselves and so do the Jains. Even different eminent scholars have different viewpoints on the same. As “it is a defensible point among researchers, yet there is a valid justification to mirror that six-hundred million Hindus today follow their conventionality–with its very own adoration for vegetarianism–not to Brahmanic, rather Shramanic custom, to be specific, to the antiquated Jain saints whose carved residues have turned up in the archaeological fields of the Indus Valley Civilizations.”^[17]

However it is better to assume that all religious philosophies emerged from one school of thought which was neither of them and still had the viewpoints of all and with time people understood them as per their intellect and named them differently.

“Mahavira (599-527 BC), the twenty fourth Tirthankara, was a senior contemporary of Buddha (567-487). While both of them did not supposedly know each other, there is adequate record to declare that Buddha at first researched under later pupils of Parshva, the twenty third Tirthankara, Mahavira's antecedent by two hundred fifty years (877-777 BC). Buddhist sacred writings allude to Mahavira as the Nigantha Nataputta, an austere lecturing the old dharma. Jain sacred writings don't clearly specify Buddha.”^[18] Indeed no seeker can proceed onto the path of truth without a teacher unto a certain level and so did Mahavira and Buddha; where Mahavira’s parents were the disciples of Parshvanatha, Buddha performed his introductory education under the disciples of Parshva. After that only they proceeded on this path alone.

In his book Life Force, Michael Tobias writes, “indeed, I perceive Jainism to be perhaps the most subtle and crucial art form—-a living art form—-ever perceived by any cumulative.”^[19] An art form that teaches one to live in absolute harmony with the cosmos, respecting each being as oneself.

Those who live normal lives, understand concepts in a normal way and those who live extraordinary lives, understand them in an extraordinary way. Michael Tobias writes: “one of Alexander the Great's biographers is claimed to have expressed; that the rash youthful Alexander deserted every single future success crosswise over Asia when, in 325 B.C., he experienced a few bare men sitting discreetly in the Indian town of Taxila that lay straightforwardly in the way of his military. The saints would clearly not talk with Alexander until the youthful ruler removed his protection, sat down in residue, and calmed his heart. It was consequently that Alexander was lowered, and went back home.”^[20]

He states further–“true or not but the story is likable, for it so plainly communicates the internal rationale spurring Digambara bareness, this all out non-connection, and unself cognizant nature of affection which is their ahimsa. To state: here I am, this is every last bit of me. I don't shroud anything, I have no disgrace, no second thoughts, nothing by me is disguised. You see the entire me.”^[21] Who is knowledgeable and hence closer to the real self, is fearless and in bliss at all times.

There is always a misconception that Lord Mahavira was the founder of Jainism and some say that Lord Adinatha was the one, however few assume that all the twenty four Ford makers founded Jainism in different ways, according to different times and its requirements. “Jainism has an establishing figure, however this figure is an 'author' in just a restricted sense; for, as per Jainism, he isn't so much the 'originator' of a convention as a re-pioneer and re-initiator of everlasting realities and an interminable way that have been refound and re-started over and over all through beginning less time.”^[22] Now this statement does make sense when one thinks about who is one to found a religion; indeed we all are the re-explorers of the truth which has been already constituted many a times.

“One could call Mahavira the organizer of the Jain populace as it exists today. In any case, Jain custom discloses to us that he is the 24th in a progression of Tirthańkaras, or 'fordmakers': souls who find the path over the river of resurrection to the further shore of freedom and construct a tirtha, or passage, that others may use to advance crosswise over also. This tirtha is the Jain community.”^[23] It is like when one starts to have interest in being a seeker of truth, one feels that he is the first ever seeker however we all know that this is not right; similarly in Jainism a fordmaker is never new but a reformer of the previously searched truth. Not even the first fordmaker! Though he may seem to be so but even he takes birth on the planet with all his previously gained knowledge in different lifetimes.

Ironically “this allegorical use of tirtha to allude to the Jain populace has turned out to be so obvious after some time that it has bit by bit overshadowed the first importance of the word–a portage or traverse a stream–to the point that today it basically signifies "religious community".”^[24] Not only a religious community but an orthodox one who does not want to share about itself with the masses. However this behaviour have costed them extensively as it is only the scholarly Jains who know about their religious philosophy, most of the laymen do not know about the strengths of Jainism and how to describe its main teachings to a common person.

However if we try to enquire about the conservativeness of the Jain people we get to know that “hundreds of years of religious narrow mindedness and abuse have made them careful about affirming their distinct identity; they wanted to stay quiet with the expectation that they would be left in harmony. Even in India their security as a religious community is not absolutely guaranteed. In a few episodes they had to defend themselves against the Hindu extremism.”^[25]

Not only in the mind of westerners, but also in other communities of India, the picture about Jainism depicts the naked saints, white clothed sadhvis and the laymen who refrain themselves from eating after sunset and are quite limited with even their choice of vegetables, to pursue nonviolence. However, “this picture is not an inaccurate one, it is one-sided.”^[26]

Parshvanatha propagated the caturyama dharma, where only four anuvrata were to be followed by his laymen disciples. “Parshvanatha is believed to have preached a path of self-restraint that contained loyalty to four elemental noble guidelines: nonviolence (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), non-stealing (asteya), non-accumulation of possessions (aparigraha).”^[27] However as the time passed, Mahavira felt it necessary to introduce one more anuvrata of celibacy (brahmacarya) and this way the number of minor vows became five.

One may say or analyse that why all of us are in a debate of proving their religion to be eternal or the first one; leave Jainism if one starts to think of religion, philosophy and also science as nothing but eternal, natural laws we may overcome the useless arguments and will start respecting each other’s viewpoint.

“From a Jain viewpoint, the key truth of Jainism can't have an author, entirely, on the grounds that it is the interminable and basic nature of presence. Tirthankaras can be compared to researchers who find something about the universe and after that pass on the information they have found to other people.”^[28] Here we can replace the word Jainism with other religious philosophies for nothing in the universe can be found or discovered anew. Hence every teacher and guru rediscover the once already discovered knowledge irrespective of which philosophy he/she belongs to.

In the above context, “for the Jains… Mahavira is simply one of a chain of instructors who all convey a similar truth in extensively comparative ways and his life story, instead of being discrete, must be treated as a feature of the bigger totality of the Universal History and as cross section, through proceeding with dynamic of resurrection, with the lives of different members inside it.”^[29] And with time even the truth discovered by Mahavira is required to be redefined in newer ways, according to the logical understanding and intellect of the people of that particular time, be it today or in future. Again each one of us will understand it in our own ways and will depict it in that way, this way we will continue to float into the sea of infinite point of views, uncertainty and relativity until we achieve the absolute knowledge.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Dr. Zydenbos Robert, Jainism Today And Its Future (JTIF). (PDF of the original book) Munich, Manya Verlag, 2006. Preface

[2]:

https://www.thebetterindia.com/35422/20-greatest-world-leaders-and-thinkers-who-wereinspired-by-mahatma-gandhi/ (retrieved on 10-09-2018 @ 12:45 PM)

[3]:

JTIF. pp. 30

[4]:

JTIF. pp. 32

[5]:

JTIF. pp. 35

[6]:

JTIF. pp. 40

[7]:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/religion (Retrieved on 12.09.2018 @ 10 AM)

[8]:

Ibid

[9]:

http://jainworld.com/education/seniors/senles22.htm (Retrieved on 12.09.2017 @ 12PM)

[10]:

Ibid

[11]:

Philosophies of India (PDF). Author: Zimmer Heinrich. Edited by: Joseph Campbell. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. London. Second Impression: 1953. pp. 60

[12]:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell (Retrieved on 07.10.2018 @ 10 AM)

[13]:

http://jainworld.com/education/seniors/senles22.htm (Retrieved on 12.09.2017 @ 12PM)

[14]:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Rhys_Davids# (Retrieved on 16.09.2018 @ 1 PM)

[15]:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclopædia_Britannica/Jains (Retrieved on 16.09.2018 @ 1 PM) Written by Thomas William Rhys Davids

[16]:

Ibid

[17]:

Tobias Michael. Life Force:The World of Jainism (LF). California, Jain Publishing Company. 1991. pp. 20

[18]:

LF. pp. 21

[19]:

LF. pp. 53

[20]:

LF. pp. 62

[21]:

LF. pp. 62

[22]:

Long D Jeffery. Jainism (An Introduction). I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd. London, Newyork. 1^st South Asia Edition 2010. pp. 2

[23]:

Jainism. pp. 2

[24]:

Jainism. pp. 2

[25]:

JTIF. Preface. pp. 6

[26]:

Jainism. pp. 3

[27]:

Jainism. pp. 30

[28]:

Jainism. pp. 30

[29]:

Dundas Paul. The Jains. Routledge, Abingdon. 2002. pp. 19