The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

R >> R.V. Russell >> The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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3. The Jain tenets. The Tirthakars.

Like the Buddhists, the Jains recognise no creator of the world,
and suppose it to have existed from eternity. Similarly, they had
originally no real god, but the Jina or victor, like the Buddha or
Enlightened One, was held to have been an ordinary mortal man, who
by his own power had attained to omniscience and freedom, and out of
pity for suffering mankind preached and declared the way of salvation
which he had found. [271] This doctrine, however, was too abstruse
for the people, and in both cases the prophet himself gradually
came to be deified. Further, in order perhaps to furnish objects of
worship less distinctively human and to whom a larger share of the
attributes of deity could be imputed, in both religions a succession
of mythical predecessors of the prophet was gradually brought into
existence. The Buddhists recognise twenty-five Buddhas or divine
prophets, who appeared at long epochs of time and taught the same
system one after another; and the Jains have twenty-four Tirthakars
or Tirthankars, who similarly taught their religion. Of these only
Vardhamana, its real founder, who was the twenty-fourth, and possibly
Parsva or Parasnath, the twenty-third and the founder's preceptor,
are or may be historical. The other twenty-two Tirthakars are purely
mythical. The first, Rishaba, was born more than 100 billion years ago,
as the son of a king of Ajodhya; he lived more than 8 million years,
and was 500 bow-lengths in height. He therefore is as superhuman
as any god, and his date takes us back almost to eternity. The
others succeeded each other at shorter intervals of time, and show
a progressive decline in stature and length of life. The images of
the Tirthakars are worshipped in the Jain temples like those of the
Buddhas in Buddhist temples. As with Buddhism also, the main feature
of Jain belief is the transmigration of souls, and each successive
incarnation depends on the sum of good and bad actions or _karman_
in the previous life. They hold also the primitive animistic doctrine
that souls exist not only in animals and plants but in stones, lumps
of earth, drops of water, fire and wind, and the human soul may pass
even into these if its sins condemn it to such a fate. [272]

4. The transmigration of souls.

The aim which Jainism, like Buddhism, sets before its disciples
is the escape from the endless round of successive existences,
known as Samsara, through the extinction of the _karman_ or sum of
actions. This is attained by complete subjection of the passions and
destruction of all desires and appetites of the body and mind, that
is, by the most rigid asceticism, as well as by observing all the
moral rules prescribed by the religion. It was the Jina or prophet
who showed this way of escape, and hence he is called Tirthakar or
'The Finder of the Ford,' through the ocean of existence. [273]
But Jainism differs from Buddhism in that it holds that the soul,
when finally emancipated, reaches a heaven and there continues for
ever a separate intellectual existence, and is not absorbed into
Nirvana or a state of blessed nothingness.

5. Strict rules against taking life.

The moral precepts of the Jains are of the same type as those of
Buddhism and Vaishnavite Hinduism, but of an excessive rigidity,
at any rate in the case of the Yatis or Jatis, the ascetics. They
promise not to hurt, not to speak untruths, to appropriate nothing to
themselves without permission, to preserve chastity and to practise
self-sacrifice. But these simple rules are extraordinarily expanded
on the part of the Jains. Thus, concerning the oath not to hurt,
on which the Jains lay most emphasis: it prohibits not only the
intentional killing or injuring of living beings, plants or the souls
existing in dead matter, but requires also the utmost carefulness in
the whole manner of life, and a watchfulness also over all movements
and functions of the body by which anything living might be hurt. It
demands, finally, strict watch over the heart and tongue, and the
avoidance of all thoughts and words which might lead to disputes
and quarrels, and thereby do harm. In like manner the rule of
sacrifice requires not only that the ascetic should have no houses or
possessions, but he must also acquire a complete unconcern towards
agreeable or disagreeable impressions, and destroy all feelings
of attachment to anything living or dead. [274] Similarly, death by
voluntary starvation is prescribed for those ascetics who have reached
the Kewalin or brightest stage of knowledge, as the means of entering
their heaven. Owing to the late date of the Jain scriptures, any or
all of its doctrines may have been adopted from Buddhism between
the commencement of the two religions and the time when they were
compiled. The Jains did not definitely abolish caste, and hence escaped
the persecution to which Buddhism was subjected during the period of
its decline from the fifth or sixth century A.D. On account of this
trouble many Buddhists became Jains, and hence a further fusion of
the doctrines of the rival sects may have ensued. The Digambara sect
of Jains agree with the Buddhists in holding that women cannot attain
Nirvana or heaven, while the Swetambara sect say that they can, and
also admit women as nuns into the ascetic order. The Jain scripture,
the Yogashastra, speaks of women as the lamps that burn on the road
that leads to the gates of hell.

6. Jain sects.

The Jains are divided into the above two principal sects, the
Digambara and the Swetambara. The Digambara are the more numerous
and the stricter sect. According to their tenets death by voluntary
starvation is necessary for ascetics who would attain heaven, though
of course the rule is not now observed. The name Digambara signifies
sky-clad, and Swetambara white-clad. Formerly the Digambara ascetics
went naked, and were the gymnosophists of the Greek writers, but now
they take off their clothes, if at all, only at meals. The theory
of the origin of the two sects is that Parasnath, the twenty-third
Tirthakar, wore clothes, while Mahavira the twenty-fourth did not,
and the two sects follow their respective examples. The Digambaras now
wear ochre-coloured cloth, and the Swetambaras white. The principal
difference at present is that the images in Digambara temples are naked
and bare, while those of the Swetambaras are clothed, presumably in
white, and also decorated with jewellery and ornaments. The Digambara
ascetics may not use vessels for cooking or holding their food, but
must take it in their hands from their disciples and eat it thus;
while the Swetambara ascetics may use vessels. The Digambara, however,
do not consider the straining-cloth, brush, and gauze before the
mouth essential to the character of an ascetic, while the Swetambara
insist on them. There is in the Central Provinces another small sect
called Channagri or Samaiya, and known elsewhere as Dhundia. These do
not put images in their temples at all, but only copies of the Jain
sacred books, and pay reverence to them. They will, however, worship
in regular Jain temples at places where there are none of their own.

7. Jain ascetics.

The initiation of a Yati or Jati, a Jain ascetic, is thus described:
It is frequent for Banias who have no children to vow that their
first-born shall be a Yati. Such a boy serves a novitiate with a _guru_
or preceptor, and performs for him domestic offices; and when he is
old enough and has made progress in his studies he is initiated. For
this purpose the novice is carried out of the tower with music and
rejoicing in procession, followed by a crowd of Sravakas or Jain
laymen, and taken underneath the banyan, or any other tree the juice of
which is milky. His hair is pulled out at the roots with five pulls;
camphor, musk, sandal, saffron and sugar are applied to the scalp;
and he is then placed before his _guru,_ stripped of his clothes and
with his hands joined. A text is whispered in his ear by the _guru_,
and he is invested with the clothes peculiar to Yatis; two cloths, a
blanket and a staff; a plate for his victuals and a cloth to tie them
up in; a piece of gauze to tie over his mouth to prevent the entry
of insects; a cloth through which to strain his drinking-water to
the same end; and a broom made of cotton threads or peacock feathers
to sweep the ground before him as he walks, so that his foot may not
crush any living thing. The duty of the Yati is to read and explain
the sacred books to the Sravakas morning and evening, such functions
being known as Sandhya. His food consists of all kinds of grain,
vegetables and fruit produced above the earth; but no roots such as
yams or onions. Milk and _ghi_ are permitted, but butter and honey
are prohibited. Some strict Yatis drink no water but what has been
first boiled, lest they should inadvertently destroy any insect,
it being less criminal to boil them than to destroy them in the
drinker's stomach. A Yati having renounced the world and all civil
duties can have no family, nor does he perform any office of mourning
or rejoicing. [275] A Yati was directed to travel about begging and
preaching for eight months in the year, and during the four rainy
months to reside in some village or town and observe a fast. The
rules of conduct to be observed by him were extremely strict, as has
already been seen. Those who observed them successfully were believed
to acquire miraculous powers. He who was a Siddh or victor, and had
overcome his Karma or the sum of his human actions and affections,
could read the thoughts of others and foretell the future. He who had
attained Kewalgyan, or the state of perfect knowledge which preceded
the emancipation of the soul and its absorption into paradise, was
a god on earth, and even the gods worshipped him. Wherever he went
all plants burst into flower and brought forth fruit, whether it was
their season or not. In his presence no animal bore enmity to another
or tried to kill it, but all animals lived peaceably together. This
was the state attained to by each Tirthakar during his last sojourn
on earth. The number of Jain ascetics seems now to be less than
formerly and they are not often met with, at least in the Central
Provinces. They do not usually perform the function of temple priest.

8. Jain subcastes of Banias.

Practically all the Jains in the Central Provinces are of the Bania
caste. There is a small subcaste of Jain Kalars, but these are
said to have gone back to Hinduism. [276] Of the Bania subcastes
who are Jains the principal are the Parwar, Golapurab, Oswal and
Saitwal. Saraogi, the name for a Jain layman, and Charnagar, a
sect of Jains, are also returned as subcastes of Jain Banias. Other
important subcastes of Banias, as the Agarwal and Maheshri, have a
Jain section. Nearly all Banias belong to the Digambara sect, but the
Oswal are Swetambaras. They are said to have been originally Rajputs
of Os or Osnagar in Rajputana, and while they were yet Rajputs a
Swetambara ascetic sucked the poison from the wound of an Oswal boy
whom a snake had bitten, and this induced the community to join the
Swetambara sect of the Jains. [277]

9. Rules and customs of the laity.

The Jain laity are known as Shrawak or Saraogi, learners. There
is comparatively little to distinguish them from their Hindu
brethren. Their principal tenet is to avoid the destruction of all
animal, including insect life, but the Hindu Banias are practically
all Vaishnavas, and observe almost the same tenderness for animal life
as the Jains. The Jains are distinguished by their separate temples
and method of worship, and they do not recognise the authority of
the Vedas nor revere the _lingam_ of Siva. Consequently they do not
use the Hindu sacred texts at their weddings, but repeat some verses
from their own scriptures. These weddings are said to be more in the
nature of a civil contract than of a religious ceremony. The bride and
bridegroom walk seven times round the sacred post and are then seated
on a platform and promise to observe certain rules of conduct towards
each other and avoid offences. It is said that formerly a Jain bride
was locked up in a temple for the first night and considered to be
the bride of the god. But as scandals arose from this custom, she is
now only locked up for a minute or two and then let out again. Jain
boys are invested with the sacred thread on the occasion of their
weddings or at twenty-one or twenty-two if they are still unmarried
at that age. The thread is renewed annually on the day before the
full moon of Bhadon (August), after a ten days' fast in honour of
Anant Nath Tirthakar. The thread is made by the Jain priests of
tree cotton and has three knots. At their funerals the Jains do not
shave the moustaches off as a rule, and they never shave the _choti_
or scalp-lock, which they wear like Hindus. They give a feast to the
caste-fellows and distribute money in charity, but do not perform the
Hindu _shraddh_ or offering of sacrificial cakes to the dead. The
Agarwal and Khandelwal Jains, however, invoke the spirits of their
ancestors at weddings. Traces of an old hostility between Jains and
Hindus survive in the Hindu saying that one should not take refuge in a
Jain temple, even to escape from a mad elephant; and in the rule that
a Jain beggar will not take alms from a Hindu unless he can perform
some service in return, though it may not equal the value of the alms.

10. Connection with Hinduism.

In other respects the Jains closely resemble the Hindus. Brahmans
are often employed at their weddings, they reverence the cow,
worship sometimes in Hindu temples, go on pilgrimages to the Hindu
sacred places, and follow the Hindu law of inheritance. The Agarwal
Bania Jains and Hindus will take food cooked with water together and
intermarry in Bundelkhand, although it is doubtful whether they do
this in the Central Provinces. In such a case each party pays a fine
to the Jain temple fund. In respect of caste distinctions the Jains
are now scarcely less strict than the Hindus. The different Jain
subcastes of Banias coming from Bundelkhand will take food together
as a rule, and those from Marwar will do the same. The Khandelwal
and Oswal Jain Banias will take food cooked with water together when
it has been cooked by an old woman past the age of child-bearing,
but not that cooked by a young woman. The spread of education has
awakened an increased interest among the Jains in their scriptures
and the tenets of their religion, and it is quite likely that the
tendency to conform to Hinduism in caste matters and ceremonies may
receive a check on this account. [278]

11. Temple and car festival.

The Jains display great zeal in the construction of temples in which
the images of the Tirthakars are enshrined. The temples are commonly of
the same fashion as those of the Hindus, with a short, roughly conical
spire tapering to a point at the apex, but they are frequently adorned
with rich carved stone and woodwork. There are fine collections of
temples at Muktagiri in Betul, Kundalpur in Damoh, and at Mount Abu,
Girnar, the hill of Parasnath in Chota Nagpur, and other places in
India. The best Jain temples are often found in very remote spots,
and it is suggested that they were built at times when the Jains
had to hide in such places to avoid Hindu persecution. And wherever
a community of Jain merchants of any size has been settled for a
generation or more several fine temples will probably be found. A
Jain Bania who has grown rich considers the building of one or more
temples to be the best method of expending his money and acquiring
religious merit, and some of them spend all their fortune in this
manner before their death. At the opening of a new temple the _rath_
or chariot festival should be held. Wooden cars are made, sometimes
as much as five stories high, and furnished with chambers for the
images of the Tirthakars. In these the idols of the hosts and all
the guests are placed. Each car should be drawn by two elephants, and
the procession of cars moves seven times round the temple or pavilion
erected for the ceremony. For building a temple and performing this
ceremony honorary and hereditary titles are conferred. Those who do
it once receive the designation of Singhai; for carrying it out twice
they become Sawai Singhai; and on a third occasion Seth. In such a
ceremony performed at Khurai in Saugor one of the participators was
already a Seth, and in recognition of his great liberality a new
title was devised and he became Srimant Seth. It is said, however,
that if the car breaks and the elephants refuse to move, the title
becomes derisive and is either 'Lule Singhai,' the lame one, or
'Arku Singhai,' the stumbler. If no elephants are available and the
car has to be dragged by men, the title given is Kadhore Singhai.

12. Images of the Tirthakars.

In the temples are placed the images of Tirthakars, either of brass,
marble, silver or gold. The images may be small or life-size or larger,
and the deities are represented in a sitting posture with their legs
crossed and their hands lying upturned in front, the right over the
left, in the final attitude of contemplation prior to escape from
the body and attainment of paradise. There may be several images
in one temple, but usually there is only one, though a number of
temples are built adjoining each other or round a courtyard. The
favourite Tirthakars found in temples are Rishab Deva, the first;
Anantnath, the fourteenth; Santnath, the sixteenth; Nemnath,
the twenty-second; Parasnath, the twenty-third; and Vardhamana or
Mahavira, the twenty-fourth. [279] As already stated only Mahavira
and perhaps Parasnath, his preceptor, were real historical personages,
and the remainder are mythical. It is noticeable that to each of the
Tirthakars is attached a symbol, usually in the shape of an animal,
and also a tree, apparently that tree under which the Tirthakar is
held to have been seated at the time that he obtained release from
the body. And these animals and trees are in most cases those which
are also revered and held sacred by the Hindus. Thus the sacred
animal of Rishab Deva is the bull, and his tree the banyan; that of
Anantnath is the falcon or bear, and his tree the holy Asoka; [280]
that of Santnath is the black-buck or Indian antelope, and his tree
the _tun_ or cedar; [281] the symbol of Nemnath is the conch shell
(sacred to Vishnu), but his tree, the _vetasa_, is not known; the
animal of Parasnath is the serpent or cobra and his tree the _dhataki_;
[282] and the animal of Mahavira is the lion or tiger and his tree
the teak tree. Among the symbols of the other Tirthakars are the
elephant, horse, rhinoceros, boar, ape, the Brahmani duck, the moon,
the pipal tree, the lotus and the _swastik_ figure; and among their
trees the mango, the _jamun_ [283] and the _champak_. [284] Most of
these animals and trees are sacred to the Hindus, and the elephant,
boar, ape, cobra and tiger were formerly worshipped themselves, and
are now attached to the principal Hindu gods. Similarly the asoka,
pipal, banyan and mango trees are sacred, and also the Brahmani duck
and the _swastik_ sign. It cannot be supposed that the Tirthakars
simply represent the deified anthropomorphic emanations from these
animals, because the object of Vardhamana's preaching was perhaps
like that of Buddha to do away with the promiscuous polytheism of
the Hindu religion. But nevertheless the association of the sacred
animals and trees with the Tirthakars furnished a strong connecting
link between them and the Hindu gods, and considerably lessens the
opposition between the two systems of worship. The god Indra is also
frequently found sculptured as an attendant guardian in the Jain
temples. The fourteenth Tirthakar, Anantnath, is especially revered
by the people because he is identified with Gautama Buddha.

13. Religious observances.

The priest of a Jain temple is not usually a Yati or ascetic, but
an ordinary member of the community. He receives no remuneration
and carries on his business at the same time. He must know the Jain
scriptures, and makes recitations from them when the worshippers
are assembled. The Jain will ordinarily visit a temple and see
the god every morning before taking his food, and his wife often
goes with him. If there is no temple in their own town or village
they will go to another, provided that it is within a practicable
distance. The offerings made at the temple consist of rice, almonds,
cocoanuts, betel-leaves, areca, dates, cardamoms, cloves and similar
articles. These are appropriated by the Hindu Mali or gardener, who
is the menial servant employed to keep the temple and enclosures
clean. The Jain will not take back or consume himself anything
which has been offered to the god. Offerings of money are also
made, and these go into the _bhandar_ or fund for maintenance of
the temple. The Jains observe fasts for the last week before the
new moon in the months of Phagun (February), Asarh (June) and Kartik
(October). They also fast on the second, fifth, eighth, eleventh and
fourteenth days in each fortnight of the four months of the rains
from Asarh to Kartik, this being in lieu of the more rigorous fast
of the ascetics during the rains. On these days they eat only once,
and do not eat any green vegetables. After the week's fast at the
end of Kartik, at the commencement of the month of Aghan, the Jains
begin to eat all green vegetables.

14. Tenderness for animal life.

The great regard for animal life is the most marked feature of the
Jain religion among the laity as well as the clergy. The former do
not go to such extremes as the latter, but make it a practice not
to eat food after sunset or before sunrise, owing to the danger of
swallowing insects. Now that their beliefs are becoming more rational,
however, and the irksome nature of this rule is felt, they sometimes
place a lamp with a sieve over it to produce rays of light, and
consider that this serves as a substitute for the sun. Formerly they
maintained animal hospitals in which all kinds of animals and reptiles,
including monkeys, poultry and other birds were kept and fed, and any
which had broken a limb or sustained other injuries were admitted and
treated. These were known as _pinjrapol_ or places of protection. [285]
A similar institution was named _jivuti_, and consisted of a small
domed building with a hole at the top large enough for a man to creep
in, and here weevils and other insects which the Jains might find
in their food were kept and provided with grain. [286] In Rajputana,
where rich Jains probably had much influence, considerable deference
was paid to their objections to the death of any living thing. Thus
a Mewar edict of A.D. 1693 directed that no one might carry animals
for slaughter past their temples or houses. Any man or animal led
past a Jain house for the purpose of being killed was thereby saved
and set at liberty. Traitors, robbers or escaped prisoners who fled
for sanctuary to the dwelling of a Jain Yati or ascetic could not be
seized there by the officers of the court. And during the four rainy
months, when insects were most common, the potter's wheel and Teli's
oil-press might not be worked on account of the number of insects
which would be destroyed by them. [287]

15. Social condition of the Jains.

As they are nearly all of the Bania caste the Jains are usually
prosperous, and considering its small size, the standard of wealth in
the community is probably very high for India, the total number of
Jains in the country being about half a million. Beggars are rare,
and, like the Parsis and Europeans, the Jains feeling themselves a
small isolated body in the midst of a large alien population, have
a special tenderness for their poorer members, and help them in more
than the ordinary degree. Most of the Jain Banias are grain-dealers
and moneylenders like other Banias. Cultivation is prohibited by their
religion, owing to the destruction of animal life which it involves,
but in Saugor, and also in the north of India, many of them have
now taken to it, and some plough with their own hands. Mr. Marten
notes [288] that the Jains are beginning to put their wealth to a
more practical purpose than the lavish erection and adornment of
temples. Schools and boarding-houses for boys and girls of their
religion are being opened, and they subscribe liberally for the
building of medical institutions. It may be hoped that this movement
will continue and gather strength, both for the advantage of the
Jains themselves and the country generally.

Kabirpanthi

[_Bibliography_: Right Reverend G. H. Westcott, _Kabir and the
Kabirpanth_, Cawnpore, 1907; _Asiatic Researches_, vol. xvi. pp. 53-75
(Wilson's _Hindu Sects_); Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_,
article Kabirpanthi; _Central Provinces Census Report_ (1891), Sir
B. Robertson.]

List of Paragraphs

1. _Life of Kabir_.
2. _Kabir's teachings_.
3. _His sayings_.
4. _The Kabirpanthi sect in the Central Provinces_.
5. _The religious service_.
6. _Initiation_.
7. _Funeral rites_.
8. _Idol worship_.
9. _Statistics of the sect_.