On the Indian Sect of the Jainas

The late Dr. Georg Bühler's essay Ueber die Indische Secte der Jaina, read at the anniversary meeting of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna on the 26th May 1887, has been for some time out of print in the separate form. Its value as a succinct account of the Śrâvaka sect, by a scholar conversant with them and their religious literature is well known to European scholars; but to nearly all educated natives of India works published in German and other continental languages are practically sealed books, and thus the fresh information which they are well able to contribute is not elicited. It is hoped that the translation of this small work may meet with their acceptance and that of Europeans in India and elsewhere to whom the original is either unknown or who do not find a foreign language so easy to read as their own.

The translation has been prepared under my supervision, and with a few short footnotes. Professor Bühler's long note on the authenticity of the Jaina tradition I have transferred to an appendix (p. 48) incorporating with it a summary of what he subsequently expanded in proof of his thesis.

To Colebrooke's account of the Tirthaṅkaras reverenced by the Jainas, but little has been added since its publication in the ninth volume of the Asiatic Researches; and as these are the centre of their worship, always represented in their temples, and surrounded by attendant figures,—I have ventured to add a somewhat fuller account of them and a summary of the general mythology of the sect, which may be useful to the archaeologist and the student of their iconography.

Edinburgh, April 1903. J. BURGESS.

CONTENTS.

THE INDIAN SECT OF THE JAINAS, by Dr. J. G. BÜHLER.

Appendix:—Epigraphic testimony to the continuity of the Jaina tradition

SKETCH OF JAINA MYTHOLOGY, by J. BURGESS.

THE INDIAN SECT OF THE JAINAS.

The Jaina sect is a religious society of modern India, at variance to Brahmanism, and possesses undoubted claims on the interest of all friends of Indian history. This claim is based partly on the peculiarities of their doctrines and customs, which present several resemblances to those of Buddhism, but, above all, on the fact that it was founded in the same period as the latter.

Larger and smaller communities of Jainas or Arhata,—that is followers of the prophet, who is generally called simply the Jina—'the conqueror of the world',—or the Arhat—'the holy one',—are to be found in almost every important Indian town, particularly among the merchant class. In some provinces of the West and North-west, in Gujarât, Râjputâna, and the Panjâb, as also in the Dravidian districts in the south,—especially in Kanara,—they are numerous; and, owing to the influence of their wealth, they take a prominent place. They do not, however, present a compact mass, but are divided into two rival branches—the Digambara and Śvetâmbara [Footnote: In notes on the Jainas, one often finds the view expressed, that the Digambaras belong only to the south, and the Śvetâmbaras to the north. This is by no means the case. The former in the Panjâb, in eastern Râjputâna and in the North West Provinces, are just as numerous, if not more so, than the latter, and also appear here and there in western Râjputâna and Gujarât: see Indian Antiquary, vol. VII, p. 28.]—each of which is split up into several subdivisions. The Digambara, that is, "those whose robe is the atmosphere," owe their name to the circumstance that they regard absolute nudity as the indispensable sign of holiness, [Footnote: The ascetics of lower rank, now called Paṇḍit, now-a-days wear the costume of the country. The Bhaṭṭâraka, the heads of the sect, usually wrap themselves in a large cloth (chadr). They lay it off during meals. A disciple then rings a bell as a sign that entrance is forbidden (Ind. Ant. loc. cit.). When the present custom first arose cannot be ascertained. From the description of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang (St. Julien, Vie. p. 224), who calls them Li-hi, it appears that they were still faithful to their principles in the beginning of the seventh century A.D. "The Li-hi (Nirgranthis) distinguish themselves by leaving their bodies naked and pulling out their hair. Their skin is all cracked, their feet are hard and chapped: like rotting trees that one sees near rivers."]—though the advance of civilization has compelled them to depart from the practice of their theory. The Śvetâmbara, that is, "they who are clothed in white"—do not claim this doctrine, but hold it as possible that the holy ones, who clothe themselves, may also attain the highest goal. They allow, however, that the founder of the Jaina religion and his first disciples disdained to wear clothes. They are divided, not only by this quarrel, but also by differences about dogmas and by a different literature. The separation must therefore be of old standing. Tradition, too, upholds this—though the dates given do not coincide. From inscriptions it is certain that the split occurred before the first century of our era. [Footnote: See below p. 44.] Their opposing opinions are manifested in the fact that they do not allow each other the right of intermarriage or of eating at the same table,—the two chief marks of social equality. In spite of the age of the schism, and the enmity that divides the two branches, they are at one as regards the arrangement of their communities, doctrine, discipline, and cult,—at least in the more important points; and, thus, one can always speak of the Jaina religion as a whole.