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.
The characteristic feature of this religion is its claim to universality,
which it holds in common with Buddhism, and in opposition to Brahmanism.
It also declares its object to be to lead all men to salvation, and to
open its arms—not only to the noble Aryan, but also to the low-born
Śûdra and even to the alien, deeply despised in India, the Mlechcha.
[Footnote: In the stereotyped introductions to the sermons of Jina it is
always pointed out that they are addressed to the Aryan and non-Aryan.
Thus in the _Aupapâtika Sûtra_ § 56. (Leumann) it runs as follows:
_tesiṁ savvesiṁ âṛiyamanâriyanaṁ agilâe dhammatṁ
âikkhai_ "to all these, Aryans and non-Aryans, he taught the law
untiringly". In accordance with this principle, conversions of people of
low caste, such as gardeners, dyers, etc., are not uncommon even at the
present day. Muhammadans too, regarded as Mlechcha, are still received
among the Jaina communities. Some cases of the kind were communicated to
me in Aḥmadâbâd in the year 1876, as great triumphs of the Jainas.
Tales of the conversion of the emperor Akbar, through the patriarch
Hîravijaya (_Ind. Antiq._ Vol. XI, p. 256), and of the spread of the
Digambara sect in an island Jainabhadri, in the Indian Ocean (_Ind.
Ant._ Vol. VII, p. 28) and in Arabia, shew that the Jainas are familiar
with the idea of the conversion of non-Indians. Hiuen Tsiang's note on the
appearance of the Nirgrantha or Digambara in Kiapishi (Beal,
_Si-yu-ki_, Vol. I, p. 55), points apparently to the fact that they
had, in the North West at least, spread their missionary activity beyond
the borders of India.] As their doctrine, like Buddha's, is originally a
philosophical ethical system intended for ascetics, the disciples, like
the Buddhists, are, divided into ecclesiastics and laity. At the head
stands an order of ascetics, originally Nirgrantha "they, who are freed
from all bands," now usually called Yatis—"Ascetics", or Sâdhus—"Holy",
which, among the Śvetâmbara also admits women, [Footnote: Even the
canonical works of the Śvetâmbara, as for example, the _Âchârâṅga
(Sacred Books of the East_, Vol. XXII, p. 88-186) contain directions
for nuns. It seems, however, that they have never played such an important
part as in Buddhism. At the present time, the few female orders among the
Śvetâmbara consist entirely of virgin widows, whose husbands have died
in childhood, before the beginning of their life together. It is not
necessary to look upon the admission of nuns among the Śvetâmbara as an
imitation of Buddhist teaching, as women were received into some of the
old Brahmanical orders; see my note to _Manu_, VIII, 363, (_Sac.
Bks. of the East_, Vol. XXV, p. 317). Among the Digambaras, exclusion
of women was demanded from causes not far to seek. They give as their
reason for it, the doctrine that women are not capable of attaining
_Nirvâṇa_; see Peterson, _Second Report_, in _Jour. Bom.
Br. R. As. Soc._ Vol. XVII, p. 84.] and under them the general
community of the Upâsaka "the Worshippers", or the Śrâvaka, "the
hearers".
The ascetics alone are able to penetrate into the truths which Jina
teaches, to follow his rules and to attain to the highest reward which he
promises. The laity, however, who do not dedicate themselves to the search
after truth, and cannot renounce the life of the world, still find a
refuge in Jainism. It is allowed to them as hearers to share its
principles, and to undertake duties, which are a faint copy of the demands
made on the ascetics. Their reward is naturally less. He who remains in
the world cannot reach the highest goal, but he can still tread the way
which leads to it. Like all religions of the Hindûs founded on
philosophical speculation, Jainism sees this highest goal in
_Nirvâna_ or _Moksha_, the setting free of the individual from
the _Saṁsâra_,—the revolution of birth and death. The means of
reaching it are to it, as to Buddhism, the three Jewels—the right Faith,
the right Knowledge, and the right Walk. By the right Faith it understands
the full surrender of himself to the teacher, the Jina, the firm
conviction that he alone has found the way of salvation, and only with him
is protection and refuge to be found. Ask who Jina is, and the Jaina will
give exactly the same answer as the Buddhist with respect to Buddha. He is
originally an erring man, bound with the bonds of the world, who,—not by
the help of a teacher, nor by the revelation of the Vedas—which, he
declares, are corrupt—but by his own power, has attained to omniscience
and freedom, and out of pity for suffering mankind preaches and declares
the way of salvation, which he has found. Because he has conquered the
world and the enemies in the human heart, he is called Jina "the Victor",
Mahâvîra, "the great hero"; because he possesses the highest knowledge, he
is called Sarvajña or Kevalin, the "omniscient", Buddha, the
"enlightened"; because he has freed himself from the world he receives the
names of Mukta "the delivered one", Siddha and Tathâgata, "the perfected",
Arhat "the holy one"; and as the proclaimer of the doctrine, he is the
Tîrthakara "the finder of the ford", through the ocean of the
_Saṁsâra_. In these epithets, applied to the founder of their
doctrine, the Jainas agree almost entirely with the Buddhists, as the
likeness of his character to that of Buddha would lead us to expect. They
prefer, however, to use the names Jina and Arhat, while the Buddhists
prefer to speak of Buddha as Tathâgata or Sugata. The title Tîrthakara is
peculiar to the Jainas. Among the Buddhists it is a designation for false
teachers. [Footnote: The titles Siddha, Buddha and Mukta are certainly
borrowed by both sects from the terminology of the Brâhmaṇs, which they
used, even in olden times, to describe those saved during their lifetimes
and used in the Śaivite doctrine to describe a consecrated one who is
on the way to redemption. An Arhat, among the Brâhmaṇs, is a man
distinguished for his knowledge and pious life (comp. for example
Âpastamba, _Dharmasûtra._ I, 13, 13; II, 10, I.) and this idea is so
near that of the Buddhists and the Jainas that it may well be looked upon
as the foundation of the latter. The meaning of Tîrthakara "prophet,
founder of religion", is derived from the Brâhmanic use of _tîrtha_
in the sense of "doctrine". Comp. also H. Jacobi's Article on the Title of
Buddha and Jina, _Sac. Books of the East_. Vol. XXII, pp. xix, xx.]
The Jaina says further, however, that there was more than one Jina. Four
and twenty have, at long intervals, appeared and have again and again
restored to their original purity the doctrines darkened by evil
influences. They all spring from noble, warlike tribes. Only in such, not
among the low Brâhmaṇs, can a Jina see the light of the world. The
first Jina Ṛi̐shabha,—more than 100 billion oceans of years
ago,—periods of unimaginable length, [Footnote: A Sâgara or Sâgaropamâ of
years is == 100,000,000,000,000 Palya or Palyopama. A Palya is a period in
which a well, of one or, according to some, a hundred _yojana_, i.e.
of one or a hundred geographical square miles, stuffed full of fine hairs,
can be emptied, if one hair is pulled out every hundred years: Wilson,
_Select. Works_, Vol. I, p. 309; Colebrooke, _Essays_, Vol. II,
p. 194. ed. Cowell.]—was born as the son of a king of Ayodhyâ and lived
eight million four hundred thousand years. The intervals between his
successors and the durations of their lives became shorter and shorter.
Between the twenty third, Pârśva and the twenty fourth Vardhamâna,
were only 250 years, and the age of the latter is given as only
seventy-two years. He appeared, according to some, in the last half of
the sixth century, according to others in the first half of the fifth
century B.C. He is of course the true, historical prophet of the Jainas
and it is in his doctrine, that the Jainas should believe. The dating
back of the origin of the Jaina religion again, agrees with the
pretensions of the Buddhists, who recognise twenty-five Buddhas who
taught the same system one after the other. Even with Brahmanism, it seems
to be in some distant manner connected, for the latter teaches in its
cosmogony, the successive appearance of Demiurges, and wise men—the
fourteen Manus, who, at various periods helped to complete the work of
creation and proclaimed the Brahmanical law. These Brahmanical ideas may
possibly have given rise to the doctrines of the twenty-five Buddhas and
twenty-four Jinas, [Footnote: For the list of these Jinas, see below.]
which, certainly, are later additions in both systems.
The undoubted and absolutely correct comprehension of the nine truths
which the Jina gives expression to, or of the philosophical system which
the Jina taught, represents the second Jewel—the true Knowledge. Its
principal features are shortly as follows. [Footnote: More complete
representations are to be found in Colebrooke's _Misc. Essays_. Vol.
I, pp. 404, 413, with Cowell's Appendix p. 444-452; Vol. II, pp. 194, 196,
198-201; H. H. Wilson's _Select Works_, Vol. I, pp. 297-302, 305-317;
J. Stevenson, _Kalpasûtra_, pp. xix-xxv; A. Barth, _Religions de
l'Inde_, pp. 84-91.]
The world (by which we are to understand, not only the visible, but also
imaginary continents depicted with the most extravagant fancy, heavens and
hells of the Brahmanical Cosmology, extended by new discoveries) is
uncreated. It exists, without ruler, only by the power of its elements,
and is everlasting. The elements of the world are six substances—souls,
_Dharma_ or moral merit, _Adharma_ or sin, space, time,
particles of matter. From the union of the latter spring four
elements—earth, fire, water, wind—and further, bodies and all other
appearances of the world of sense and of the supernatural worlds. The
forms of the appearances are mostly unchangeable. Only the bodies of men
and their age increase or decrease in consequence of the greater or less
influence of sin or merit, during immeasurably long periods,—the
_Avasarpiṇi_ and the _Utsarpiṇi_. Souls are, each by
itself, independent, real existences whose foundation is pure
intelligence, and who possess an impulse to action. In the world they are
always chained to bodies. The reason of this confinement is that they give
themselves up to the stress of activity, to passions, to influences of the
senses and objects of the mind, or attach themselves to a false belief.
The deeds which they perform in the bodies are _Karman_, merit and
sin. This drives them—when one body has passed away, according to the
conditions of its existence—into another, whose quality depends on the
character of the _Karman_, and will be determined especially by the
last thoughts springing from it before death. Virtue leads to the heavens
of the gods or to birth among men in pure and noble races. Sin consigns
the souls to the lower regions, in the bodies of animals, in plants, even
into masses of lifeless matter. For—according to the Jaina
doctrine—souls exist not only in organic structures, but also in
apparently dead masses, in stones, in lumps of earth, in drops of water,
in fire and in wind. Through union with bodies the nature of the soul is
affected. In the mass of matter the light of its intelligence is
completely concealed; it loses consciousness, is immovable, and large or
small, according to the dimensions of its abode. In organic structures it
is always conscious; it depends however, on the nature of the same,
whether it is movable or immovable and possessed of five, four, three,
two, or one organ of sense.
The bondage of souls, if they inhabit a human body, can be abolished by
the suppression of the causes which lead to their confinement and by the
destruction of the _Karman_. The suppression of the causes is
accomplished by overcoming the inclination to be active and the passions,
by the control of the senses, and by steadfastly holding to the right
faith. In this way will be hindered the addition of new _Karman_, new
merit or new guilt. The destruction of _Karman_ remaining from
previous existences can be brought about either spontaneously by the
exhaustion of the supply or by asceticism. In the latter case the final
state is the attainment to a knowledge which penetrates the universe, to
_Kevala, Jñâna_ and _Nirvâṇa_ or _Moksha_: full
deliverance from all bonds. These goals may be reached even while the soul
is still in its body. If however the body is destroyed then the soul
wanders into the "No-World" _(alôka)_ as the Jain says, i.e. into the
heaven of Jina 'the delivered', lying outside the world. [Footnote: On the
Jaina Paradise see below. Dr. Bühler seems here to have confounded
the _Alôka_ or Non-world, 'the space where only things without life
are found', with the heaven of the Siddhas; but these are living beings
who have crossed the boundary] There it continues eternally in its pure
intellectual nature. Its condition is that of perfect rest which nothing
disturbs. These fundamental ideas are carried out in the particulars with
a subtilness and fantasy unexampled, even in subtile and fantastic India,
in a scholarly style, and defended by the _syâdvâda_—the doctrine of
"It may be so",—a mode of reasoning which makes it possible to assert and
deny the existence of one and the same thing. If this be compared with the
other Indian systems, it stands nearer the Brâhmaṇ than the Buddhist,
with which it has the acceptance in common of only four, not five
elements. Jainism touches all the Brâhmaṇ religions and Buddhism in its
cosmology and ideas of periods, and it agrees entirely with regard to the
doctrines of _Karman_, of the bondage, and the deliverance of souls.
Atheism, the view that the world was not created, is common to it with
Buddhism and the Sâṅkhya philosophy. Its psychology approaches that of
the latter in that both believe in the existence of innumerable
independent souls. But the doctrine of the activity of souls and their
distribution into masses of matter is in accordance with the Vedânta,
according to which the principle of the soul penetrates every thing
existing. In the further development of the soul doctrine, the conceptions
'individual soul' and 'living being' to which the Jaina and the Brâhmaṇ
give the same name,—_jîva_, seem to become confounded. The Jaina
idea of space and time as real substances is also found in the
Vaiśeshika system. In placing _Dharma_ and _Adharma_ among
substances Jainism stands alone.
The third jewel, the right Walk which the Jaina ethics contains, has its
kernel in the five great oaths which the Jaina ascetic takes on his
entrance into the order. He promises, just as the Brâhmaṇ penitent, and
almost in the same words, not to hurt, not to speak untruth, to
appropriate nothing to himself without permission, to preserve chastity,
and to practice self-sacrifice. The contents of these simple rules become
most extraordinarily extended on the part of the Jainas by the insertion
of five clauses, in each of which are three separate active instruments of
sin, in special relation to thoughts, words, and deeds. Thus, concerning
the oath not to hurt, on which the Jaina lays the greatest emphasis: it
includes not only the intentional killing or hurting of living beings,
plants, or the souls existing in dead matter, it requires also the utmost
carefulness in the whole manner of life, in all movements, a watchfulness
over all functions of the body by which anything living might be hurt.
[Footnote: The Digambara sect, at least in southern India, do not seem to
be all quite so punctiliously careful in this as the Śvetâmbara of
western India.—Ed.] It demands finally strict watch over the heart and
tongue, and the avoidance of all thoughts and words which might lead to
dispute and quarrel and thereby to harm. In like manner the rule of
sacrifice means not only that the ascetic has no house or possessions, it
teaches also that a complete unconcern toward agreeable and disagreeable
impressions is necessary, as also the sacrifice of every attachment to
anything living or dead. [Footnote: On the five great vows see the
_Âchârâṅga Sûtra_, II, 15: _S.B.E_. Vol. XXII, pp. 202-210.
The Sanskrit terms of the Jains are: 1. _ahiṁsâ_, 2.
_sûnrita_, 3. _asteya_, 4. _brahmâchârya_, 5.
_aparigraha_; those of the Brahmanical ascetics: 1. _ahiṁsa_,
2. _satya_, 3. _asteya_, 4. _brahmâchârya_,
5. _tyâga_.]
Beside the conscientious observance of these rules, Tapas—Asceticism, is
most important for the right walk of those, who strive to attain
_Nirvâṇa_. Asceticism is inward as well as outward. The former is
concerned with self-discipline, the cleansing and purifying of the mind.
It embraces repentance of sin, confession of the same to the teacher, and
penance done for it, humility before teachers and all virtuous ones, and
the service of the same, the study and teaching of the faith or holy
writing, pious meditations on the misery of the world, the impurity of the
body, etc. and lastly, the stripping off of every thing pertaining to the
world. On the other hand, under the head of exterior Asceticism, the Jaina
understands temperance, begging, giving up all savoury food, different
kinds of self-mortification such as sitting in unnatural and wearying
positions, hindering the action of the organs, especially by fasts, which,
under certain circumstances may be continued to starvation. Voluntary
death by the withdrawal of nourishment is, according to the strict
doctrine of the Digambara, necessary for all ascetics, who have reached
the highest step of knowledge. The Kevalin, they say, eats no longer. The
milder Śvetâmbara do not demand this absolutely, but regard it, as a
sure entrance to _Nirvâṇa_. In order, however, that this death may
bear its fruits, the ascetic must keep closely to the directions for it,
otherwise he merely lengthens the number of rebirths. [Footnote: With
reference to asceticism, comp. Leumann, _Aupapâtika Sûtra_ § 30. The
death of the wise ones by starvation is described, Weber, _Bhagavatî
Sûtra_, II, 266-267; Hoernle _Upâsakadaśa Sûtra,_ pp. 44-62;
_Âchârâṅga Sûtra_, in _S.B.E_. Vol. XXII, pp. 70-73. Among
the Digambara the heads of schools still, as a rule, fall victims to this
fate. Even among the Śvetâmbara, cases of this kind occur, see K.
Forbes, _Râs Mâlâ_, Vol. II, pp. 331-332, or 2nd ed. pp. 610-611.]
From these general rules follow numerous special ones, regarding the life
of the disciple of Jina. The duty of sacrifice forces him, on entrance
into the order, to give up his possessions and wander homeless in strange
lands, alms-vessel in hand, and, if no other duty interferes, never to
stay longer than one night in the same place. The rule of wounding nothing
means that he must carry three articles with him, a straining cloth, for
his drinking water, a broom, and a veil before his mouth, in order to
avoid killing insects. It also commands him to avoid all cleansing and
washing, and to rest in the four months of the rainy season, in which
animal and plant life displays itself most abundantly. In order to
practice asceticism, it is the rule to make this time of rest a period of
strictest fasts, most diligent study of the holy writings, and deepest
meditation. This duty also necessitates the ascetic to pluck out in the
most painful manner his hair which, according to oriental custom, he must
do away with at his consecration—a peculiar custom of the Jainas, which
is not found among other penitents of India.
Like the five great vows, most of the special directions for the
discipline of the Jain ascetic are copies, and often exaggerated copies,
of the Brâhmanic rules for penitents. The outward marks of the order
closely resemble those of the Sannyâsin. The life of wandering during
eight months and the rest during the rainy season agree exactly; and in
many other points, for example in the use of confession, they agree with
the Buddhists. They agree with Brâhmaṇs alone in ascetic self-torture,
which Buddhism rejects; and specially characteristic is the fact that
ancient Brâhmanism recommends starvation to its penitents as beneficial.
[Footnote: An example may be found in Jacobi's careful comparison of the
customs of the Brâhmanic and Jaina ascetics, in the beginning of his
translation of the _Âchârâṅga Sûtra, S.B.E._, Vol. XXII, pp.
xxi—xxix. In relation to the death by starvation of Brahmanical hermits
and Sannyâsin, see Âpastamba, _Dharmasûtra_, in S.B.E. Vol. II, pp.
154, 156, where (IT, 22, 4 and II, 23, 2) it, says of the penitents who
have reached the highest grade of asceticism: "Next he shall live on water
(then) on air, then on ether".]
The doctrine of the right way for the Jaina laity differs from that for
the ascetics. In place of the five great vows appear mere echoes. He vows
to avoid only serious injury to living beings, i.e. men and animals; only
the grosser forms of untruth—direct lies; only the most flagrant forms of
taking, what is not given, that is, theft and robbery. In place of the
oath of chastity there is that of conjugal fidelity. In place of that of
self-denial, the promise is not greedily to accumulate possessions and to
be contented. To these copies are added seven other vows, the
miscellaneous contents of which correspond to the special directions for
the discipline of ascetics. Their object is, partly to bring the outward
life of the laity into accordance with the Jaina teaching, especially with
regard to the protection of living creatures from harm, and partly to
point the heart to the highest goal. Some contain prohibitions against
certain drinks, such as spirits; or meats, such as flesh, fresh butter,
honey, which cannot be enjoyed without breaking the vow of preservation of
animal life. Others limit the choice of businesses which the laity may
enter; for example, agriculture is forbidden, as it involves the tearing
up of the ground and the death of many animals, as Brâhmanism also holds.
Others have to do with mercy and charitableness, with the preserving of
inward peace, or with the necessity of neither clinging too much to life
and its joys nor longing for death as the end of suffering. To the laity,
however, voluntary starvation is also recommended as meritorious. These
directions (as might be expected from the likeness of the circumstances)
resemble in many points the Buddhist directions for the laity, and indeed
are often identical with regard to the language used. Much is however
specially in accordance with Brâhmanic doctrines. [Footnote: The
_Upâsakadaśâ Sûtra_ treats of the right life of the laity,
Hoernle, pp. 11-37 (Bibl. Ind.), and Hemachandra, _Yogasûtra_,
Prakâsa ii and iii; Windisch, _Zeitschrift der Deutsch Morg. Ges._
Bd. XXVIII, pp. 226-246. Both scholars have pointed out in the notes to
their translations, the relationship between the precepts and terms, of
the Jainas and Buddhists. The Jainas have borrowed a large number of rules
directly from the law books of the Brâhmaṇs. The occupations forbidden
to the Jaina laity are almost all those forbidden by the Brâhmanic law to
the Brâhmaṇ, who in time of need lives like a Vaīśya.
Hemachandra, _Yogaśâstra_, III, 98—112 and _Upâsakadaśâ
Sûtra_, pp. 29-30, may be compared with Manu, X, 83-89, XI, 64 and 65,
and the parallel passages quoted in the synopsis to my translation
(_S.B.E._ Vol. XXV).] In practical life Jainism makes of its laity
earnest men who exhibit a stronger trait of resignation than other Indians
and excel in an exceptional willingness to sacrifice anything for their
religion. It makes them also fanatics for the protection of animal life.
Wherever they gain influence, there is an end of bloody sacrifices and of
slaughtering and killing the larger animals.
The union of the laity with the order of ascetics has, naturally,
exercised a powerful reaction on the former and its development, as well
as on its teaching, and is followed by similar results in Jainism and
Buddhism. Then, as regards the changes in the teaching, it is no doubt to
be ascribed to the influence of the laity that the atheistic Jaina system,
as well as the Buddhist, has been endowed with a cult. The ascetic, in his
striving for _Nirvâṇa_, endeavours to suppress the natural desire
of man to worship higher powers. In the worldly hearer, who does not
strive after this goal exclusively, this could not succeed. Since the
doctrine gave no other support, the religious feeling of the laity clung
to the founder of it: Jina, and with him his mythical predecessors, became
gods. Monuments and temples ornamented with their statues were built,
especially at those places, where the prophets, according to legends, had
reached their goal. To this is added a kind of worship, consisting of
offerings of flowers and incense to Jina, of adoration by songs of praise
in celebration of their entrance into _Nirvâṇa_, of which the
Jaina makes a great festival by solemn processions and pilgrimages to the
places where it has been attained. [Footnote: For the Jaina ritual, see
_Indian Antiquary_. Vol. XIII, pp. 191-196. The principal sacred
places or Tirthas are—Sameta Śikhara in Western Bengal, where twenty
of the Jinas are said to have attained Nirvâṇa; Śatruñjaya and
Girnâr in Kâthiâwâḍ sacred respectively to Ṛishabhanâtha and
Neminâtha; Chandrapuri where Vâsupûjya died; and Pâwâ in Bengal at which
Vardhamâna died.—Ed.] This influence of the laity has become, in course
of time, of great importance to Indian art, and India is indebted to it
for a number of its most beautiful architectural monuments, such as the
splendid temples of Âbu, Girnâr and Śatruñjaya in Gujarât. It has also
brought about a change in the mind of the ascetics. In many of their hymns
in honour of Jina, they appeal to him with as much fervour as the
Brâhmaṇ to his gods; and there are often expressions in them, contrary,
to the original teaching, ascribing to Jina a creative power. Indeed a
Jaina description of the six principal systems goes so far as to number
Jainism—as also Buddhism—among the theistic religions. [Footnote: The
latter assertion is to be found In the _Shaḍdarśanasamuchchaya_
Vers. 45, 77-78. A creative activity is attributed to the Jinas even in
the Kuhâon inscription which is dated 460-461 A.D. (_Ind. Antiq_.
Vol. X, p. 126). There they are called _âdikartri_ the 'original
creators'. The cause of the development of a worship among the Jainas was
first rightly recognised by Jacobi, _S.B.E._ Vol. XXII, p. xxi. The
Jaina worship differs in one important point from that of the Buddhists.
It recognised no worship of relics.]
But in other respects also the admission of the laity has produced
decisive changes in the life of the clergy. In the education of worldly
communities, the ascetic—whose rules of indifference toward all and every
thing, make him a being concentrated entirely upon himself and his
goal—is united again to humanity and its interests. The duty of educating
the layman and watching over his life, must of necessity change the
wandering penitents into settled monks—who dedicate themselves to the
care of souls, missionary activity, and the acquisition of knowledge, and
who only now and again fulfil the duty of changing their place of
residence. The needs of the lay communities required the continual
presence of teachers. Even should these desire to change from time to
time, it was yet necessary to provide a shelter for them. Thus the
Upâśraya or places of refuge, the Jaina monasteries came into
existence, which exactly correspond to the Buddhist Sanghârâma. With the
monasteries and the fixed residence in them appeared a fixed membership of
the order, which, on account of the Jaina principle of unconditional
obedience toward the teacher, proved to be much stricter than in Buddhism.
On the development of the order and the leisure of monastic life, there
followed further, the commencement of a literary and scientific activity.
The oldest attempt, in this respect, limited itself to bringing their
doctrine into fixed forms. Their results were, besides other lost works,
the so-called _Aṅga_,—the members of the body of the law, which
was perhaps originally produced in the third century B.C. Of the
_Aṅga_ eleven are no doubt preserved among the Śvetâmbaras from
a late edition of the fifth or sixth century A.D. These works are not
written in Sanskrit, but in a popular Prâkrit dialect: for the Jina, like
Buddha, used the language of the people when teaching. They contain partly
legends about the prophet and his activity as a teacher, partly fragments
of a doctrine or attempts at systematic representations of the same.
Though the dialect is different they present, in the form of the tales and
in the manner of expression, a wonderful resemblance to the sacred
writings of the Buddhists. [Footnote: A complete review of the
_Aṅga_ and the canonical works which were joined to it later, is
to be found in A. Weber's fundamental treatise on the sacred writings of
the Jainas in the _Indische Studien_, Bd. XVI, SS. 211-479 and Bd.
XVIII, SS. 1-90. The _Âchâráṅga_ and the _Kalpasûtra_
are translated by H. Jacobi in the _S.B.E_ Vol. XXII, and a part of
the _Upâsakadasâ Sûtra_ by R. Hoernle in the _Bibl. Ind._ In the
estimates of the age of the _Aṅga_ I follow H. Jacobi, who has
throughly discussed the question _S.B.E._ Vol. XXII, pp.
xxxix-xlvii.] The Digambaras, on the other hand, have preserved nothing of
the _Aṅga_ but the names. They put in their place later systematic
works, also in Prâkrit, and assert, in vindication of their different
teaching, that the canon of their rivals is corrupted. In the further
course of history, however, both branches of the Jainas have, like the
Buddhists, in their continual battles with the Brâhmaṇs, found it
necessary to make themselves acquainted with the ancient language of the
culture of the latter. First the Digambara and later the Śvetâmbara
began to use Sanskrit. They did not rest content with explaining their
own teaching in Sanskrit works: they turned also to the secular sciences
of the Brâhmaṇs. They have accomplished so much of importance, in
grammar, in astronomy, as well as in some branches of letters, that they
have won respect even from their enemies, and some of their works are
still of importance to European science. In southern India, where they
worked among the Draviḍian tribes, they also advanced the development
of these languages. The Kanarese literary language and the Tamil and
Telugu rest on the foundations laid by the Jaina monks. This activity led
them, indeed, far from their proper goal, but it created for them an
important position in the history of literature and culture.
The resemblance between the Jainas and the Buddhists, which I have had so
often cause to bring forward, suggests the question, whether they are to
be regarded as a branch of the latter, or whether they resemble the
Buddhists merely because, as their tradition asserts, [Footnote: The later
tradition of the Jainas gives for the death of their prophet the dates
545, 527 and 467 B.C. (see Jacobi, _Kalpasûtra_ introd. pp. vii—ix
and xxx). None of the sources in which these announcements appear are
older than the twelfth century A.D. The latest is found in Hemachandra who
died in the year 1172 A.D. The last is certainly false if the assertion,
accepted by most authorities, that Buddha's death falls between the years
482 and 472 B.C. is correct. For the Buddhist tradition maintains that the
last Jaina Tîrhakara died during Buddha's lifetime (see p. 34).] they
sprang from the same period and the same religious movement in opposition
to Brâhmanism. This question, was formerly, and is still sometimes,
answered in agreement with the first theory, pointing out the undoubted
defects in it, to justify the rejection of the Jaina tradition, and even
declaring it to be a late and intentional fabrication. In spite of this
the second explanation is the right one, because the Buddhists themselves
confirm the statements of the Jainas about their prophet. Old historical
traditions and inscriptions prove the independent existence of the sect of
the Jainas even during the first five centuries after Buddha's death, and
among the inscriptions are some which clear the Jaina tradition not only
from the suspicion of fraud but bear powerful witness to its honesty.
[Footnote: Apart from the ill-supported supposition of Colebrooke,
Stevenson and Thomas, according to which Buddha was a disloyal disciple of
the founder of the Jainas, there is the view held by H. H. Wilson, A.
Weber, and Lassen, and generally accepted till twenty-five years ago, that
the Jainas are an old sect of the Buddhists. This was based, on the one
hand, upon the resemblance of the Jaina doctrines, writings, and
traditions to those of the Buddhists, on the other, on the fact that the
canonical works of the Jainas show a more modern dialect than those of the
Buddhists, and that authentic historical proofs of their early existence
are wanting. I was myself formerly persuaded of the correctness of this
view and even thought I recognised the Jainas in the Buddhist school of
the Sammatîya. On a more particular examination of Jaina literature, to
which I was forced on account of the collection undertaken for the English
Government in the seventies, I found that the Jainas had changed their
name and were always, in more ancient times, called Nirgrantha or
Nigaṇṭha. The observation that the Buddhists recognise the
Nigaṇṭha and relate of their head and founder, that he was a rival
of Buddha's and died at Pâvâ where the last Tîrthakara is said to have
attained _Nirvâṇa_, caused me to accept the view that the Jainas
and the Buddhists sprang from the same religious movement. My supposition
was confirmed by Jacobi, who reached the like view by another course,
independently of mine (see _Zeitschrift der Deutsch Morg. Ges_. Bd.
XXXV, S. 669. Note 1), pointing out that the last Tîrthakara in the Jaina
canon bears the same name as among the Buddhists. Since the publication of
our results in the _Ind. Ant_. Vol. VII, p. 143 and in Jacobi's
introduction to his edition of the _Kalpasûtra,_ which have been
further verified by Jacobi with great penetration, views on this question
have been divided. Oldenberg, Kern, Hoernle, and others have accepted this
new view without hesitation, while A Weber (_Indische Studien_ Bd.
XVI, S. 240) and Barth (_Revue de l'Histoire des Religions_, tom.
III, p. 90) keep to their former standpoint. The latter do not trust the
Jaina tradition and believe it probable that the statements in the same
are falsified. There are certainly great difficulties in the way of
accepting such a position especially the improbability that the Buddhists
should have forgotten the fact of the defection of their hated enemy.
Meanwhile, this is not absolutely impossible as the oldest preserved Jaina
canon had its first authentic edition only in the fifth or sixth century
of our era, and as yet the proof is wanting that the Jainas, in ancient
times, possessed a fixed tradition. The belief that I am able to insert
this missing link in the chain of argument and the hope of removing the
doubts of my two honoured friends has caused me to attempt a connected
statement of the whole question although this necessitates the repetition
of much that has already been said, and is in the first part almost
entirely a recapitulation of the results of Jacobi's researches.]
The oldest canonical books of the Jaina, apart from some mythological
additions and evident exaggerations, contain the following important notes
on the life of their last prophet. [Footnote: The statement that
Vardhamâna's father was a mighty king belongs to the manifest
exaggerations. This assertion is refuted by other statements of the Jainas
themselves. See Jacobi, _S.B.E._ Vol. XXII, pp. xi-xii.] Vardhamâna
was the younger son of Siddhârtha a nobleman who belonged to the Kshatriya
race, called in Sanskrit Jñâti or Jñâta, in Prakrit Nâya, and, according
to the old custom of the Indian warrior caste, bore the name of a
Brâhmanic family the Kâśyapa. His mother, who was called Triśalâ,
belonged to the family of the governors of Videha. Siddhârtha's residence
was Kuṇḍapura, the Basukund of to-day, a suburb of the wealthy town
of Vaiśâlî, the modern Besarh, in Videha or Tirhut. [Footnote: Dr.
Bühler by a slip had here "Magadha oder Bihâr".—J. B.] Siddhârtha was
son-in-law to the king of Vaiśâlî. Thirty years, it seems, Vardhamâna
led a worldly life in his parents' house. He married, and his wife
Yaśodâ bore him a daughter Anojjâ, who was married to a noble of the
name of Jamâli, and in her turn had a daughter. In his thirty-first year
his parents died. As they were followers of Pârśva the twenty-third
Jina, they chose, according to the custom of the Jainas, the death of the
wise by starvation. Immediately after this Vardhamâna determined to
renounce the world. He got permission to take this step from his elder
brother Nandivardhana, and the ruler of his land divided his possessions
and became a homeless ascetic. He wandered more than twelve years, only
resting during the rainy season, in the lands of the Lâḍha, in
Vajjabhûmi and Subbhabhûmi, the Rârh of to-day in Bengal, and learned to
bear with equanimity great hardships and cruel ill treatment at the hands
of the inhabitants of those districts. Besides these he imposed upon
himself the severest mortifications; after the first year he discarded
clothes and devoted himself to the deepest meditation. In the thirteenth
year of this wandering life he believed he had attained to the highest
knowledge and to the dignity of a holy one. He then appeared as a prophet,
taught the Nirgrantha doctrine, a modification of the religion of
Pârśva, and organised the order of the Nirgrantha ascetics. From that
time he bore the name of the venerable ascetic Mahâvîra. His career as a
teacher lasted not quite thirty years, during which he travelled about, as
formerly, all over the country, except during the rainy seasons. He won
for himself numerous followers, both of the clergy and the lay class,
among whom, however, in the fourteenth year of his period of teaching, a
split arose—caused by his son-in-law Jamâli.
The extent of his sphere of influence almost corresponds with that of the
kingdoms of Srâvastî or Kosala, Vidcha, Magadha, and Aṅga,—the modern
Oudh, and the provinces of Tirhut and Bihâr in Western Bengal. Very
frequently he spent the rainy season in his native place Vaiśâlî and in
Râjagṛiha. Among his contemporaries were, a rival teacher Gosâla the
son of Maṁkhali—whom he defeated in a dispute, the King of
Videha—Bhambhasâra or Bibbhisâra called Sreṇika, and his sons
Abhayakumâra and the parricide Ajátaśatru or Kûṇika, who
protected him or accepted his doctrine, and also the nobles of the
Lichchhavi and Mallaki races. The town of Pâpâ or Pâvâ, the modern
Padraona [Footnote: This is General Cunningham's identification and a
probable one.—Ed.] is given as the place of his death, where he dwelt
during the rainy season of the last year of his life, in the house of the
scribe of king Hastipâla. Immediately after his death, a second split took
place in his community. [Footnote: Notes on Mahâvîra's life are to be
found especially in _Âchârâṅga Sûtra_ in _S.B.E._ Vol. XXII,
pp. 84-87, 189-202; _Kalpasûtra,_ ibid. pp. 217-270. The above may
be compared with Jacobi's representation, ibid. pp. x-xviii. where most of
the identifications of the places named are given, and _Kalpasûtra_
introd. p. ii. We have to thank Dr. Hoernle for the important information
that Vardhamâna's birthplace Kuṇḍapura is still called Vasukund:
_Upâsakadaśâ Sûtra_ p. 4. Note 3. The information on the schisms of
the Jainas is collected by Lemmann in the _Indische Studien_, Bd.
XVII, S. 95 ff.]
On consideration of this information, it immediately strikes one, that the
scene of Vardhamâna's activity is laid in the same part of India as Buddha
laboured in, and that several of the personalities which play a part in
the history of Buddha also appear in the Jaina legend. It is through the
kingdoms of Kosala, Videha and Magadha, that Buddha is said to have
wandered preaching, and their capitals Śrâvastî and Râjagṛiha are
just the places named, where he founded the largest communities. It is
also told of the inhabitants of Vaiśâlî that many turned to his
doctrine. Many legends are told of his intercourse and friendship with
Bimbisâra or Śreṇika, king of Videha, also of the murder of the
latter by his son Ajâtaśatru, who, tortured with remorse, afterwards
approached Buddha; mention is also made of his brother Abhayakumâra,
likewise Makkhali Gosâla is mentioned among Buddha's opponents and rivals.
It is thus clear that the oldest Jaina legend makes Vardhamâna a fellow
countryman and contemporary of Buddha, and search might be suggested in
the writings of the Buddhists for confirmation of these assumptions. Such
indeed are to be found in no small number.
Even the oldest works of the Singalese Canon,—which date apparently from
the beginning of the second century after Buddha's death, or the fourth
century B.C., and which at any rate had their final edition in the
third,—frequently mention an opposing sect of ascetics, the
Nigaṇṭha, which the northern texts, written in Sanskrit, recognise
among the opponents of Buddha, under the name Nirgrantha, whom an old
_Sûtra_ [Footnote: The _Mahâparinibbâṇa Sutta_, in
_S.B.E_. Vol. XI, p. 106.] describes as "heads of companies of
disciples and students, teachers of students, well known, renowned,
founders of schools of doctrine, esteemed as good men by the multitude".
Their leader is also named; he is called in Pâli Nâtaputta, in Sanskrit
Jñâtiputra, that is the son of Jñâti or Nâta. The similarity between these
words and the names of the family Jñâti, Jñâta or Naya, to which
Vardhamâna belonged is apparent. Now since in older Buddhist literature,
the title 'the son of the man of the family N. N.' is very often used
instead of the individual's name, as for example, 'the son of the Sâkiya'
is put for Buddha-Sâkiyaputta, so that it is difficult not to suppose that
Nâtaputta or Jñâtiputra, the leader of the Nigaṇṭha or Nirgrantha
sect, is the same person as Vardhamâna, the descendant of the Jñâti family
and founder of the Nirgrantha or Jaina sect. If we follow up this idea,
and gather together the different remarks of the Buddhists about the
opponents of Buddha, then it is apparent that his identity with Vardhamâna
is certain. A number of rules of doctrine are ascribed to him, which are
also found among the Jainas, and some events in his life, which we have
already found in the accounts of the life of Vardhamâna, are related.
In one place in the oldest part of the Singalese canon, the assertion is
put into the mouth of Nigaṇṭha Nâtaputta, that the
_Kiriyâvâda_—the doctrine of activity, separates his system from
Buddha's teaching. We shall certainly recognise in this doctrine, the rule
of the _Kiriyâ_, the activity of souls, upon which Jainism places so
great importance. [Footnote: Jacobi, _Zeitschrift der Deutsch. Morg.
Ges._ Bd. XXXIV, S. 187; _Ind. Antiq._ Vol. IX, p. 159.] Two other
rules from the doctrine of souls are quoted in a later work, not
canonical: there it is stated, in a collection of false doctrines which
Buddha's rivals taught, that Nigaṇṭha asserts that cold water was
living. Little drops of water contained small souls, large drops, large
souls. Therefore he forbade his followers, the use of cold water. It is
not difficult, in these curious rules to recognise the Jaina dogma, which
asserts the existence of souls, even in the mass of lifeless elements of
earth, water, fire, and wind. This also proves, that the Nigaṇṭha
admitted the classification of souls, so often ridiculed by the
Brâhmaṇs, which distinguishes between great and small. This work, like
others, ascribes to Nigaṇṭha the assertion, that the so-called three
_daṇḍa_—the three instruments by which man can cause injury to
creatures—thought, word, and body, are separate active causes of sin. The
Jaina doctrine agrees also in this case, which always specially represents
the three and prescribes for each a special control. [Footnote: Jacobi,
_Ind. Antiq._ Vol. IX, p. 159.]
Besides these rules, which perfectly agree with one another, there are
still two doctrines of the Nigaṇṭha to be referred to which seem to,
or really do, contradict the Jainas; namely, it is stated that Nâtaputta
demanded from his disciples the taking of four, not as in Vardhamâna's
case, of five great vows. Although this difficulty may seem very important
at first glance, it is, however, set aside by an oft repeated assertion in
the Jaina works. They repeatedly say that Pàrśva, the twenty-third Jina
only recognised four vows, and Vardhamâna added the fifth. The Buddhists
have therefore handed down a dogma which Jainism recognises. The question
is merely whether they or the Jainas are the more to be trusted. If the
latter, and it is accepted that Vardhamâna was merely the reformer of an
old religion, then the Buddhists must be taxed with an easily possible
confusion between the earlier and later teachers. If, on the other hand,
the Jaina accounts of their twenty-third prophet are regarded as mythical,
and Vardhamâna is looked upon as the true founder of the sect,—then the
doctrine of the four vows must be ascribed to the latter, and we must
accept as a fact that he had changed his views on this point. In any case,
however, the Buddhist statement speaks for, rather than against, the
identity of Nigaṇṭha with Jina. [Footnote: Jacobi, _loc. cit._.
p. 160, and Leumann, _Actes du Vlième Congrès Int. des Or_. Sect.
Ary. p. 505. As the Jaina accounts of the teaching of Pârśva and the
existence of communities of his disciples, sound trustworthy, we may
perhaps accept, with Jacobi, that they rest on a historical foundation.]
Vardhamâna's system, on the other hand, is quite irreconcilable with
Nâtaputta's assertion that virtue as well as sin, happiness as well as
unhappiness is unalterably fixed for men by fate, and nothing in their
destiny can be altered by the carrying out of the holy law. It is,
however, just as irreconcilable with the other Buddhist accounts of the
teaching of their opponent; because it is absolutely unimaginable, that
the same man, who lays vows upon his followers, the object of which is to
avoid sin, could nevertheless make virtue and sin purely dependent upon
the disposition of fate, and preach the uselessness of carrying out the
law. The accusation that Nâtaputta embraced fatalism must therefore be
regarded as an invention and an outcome of sect hatred as well as of the
wish to throw discredit on their opponents. [Footnote: Jacobi _loc.
cit._. p. 159-160.]
The Buddhist remarks on the personality and life of Nâtaputta are still
more remarkable. They say repeatedly that he laid claim to the dignity of
an Arhat and to omniscience which the Jainas also claim for their prophet,
whom they prefer simply to call 'the Arhat' and who possesses the
universe-embracing '_Kevala_' knowledge. [Footnote: See for example
the account in the _Chullavagga_, in _S.B.E_. Vol. XX. p. 78-79;
_Ind. Antiq._ Vol. VIII, p. 313.] A history of conversions, tells us
further that Nâtaputta and his disciples disdained to cover their bodies;
we are told just the same of Vardhamâna. [Footnote: Spence Hardy,
_Manual of Budhism_, p. 225.] A story in the oldest part of the
Singalese canon gives an interesting and important instance of his
activity in teaching. Buddha, so the legend runs, once came to the town
Vaiśâlî, the seat of the Kshatriya of the Lichchhavi race. His name,
his law, his community were highly praised by the nobles of the Lichchhavi
in the senate-house. Sîha, their general, who was a follower of the
Nigaṇṭha, became anxious to know the great teacher. He went to his
master Nâtaputta, who happened to be staying in Vaiśâlî just then, and
asked permission to pay the visit. Twice Nâtaputta refused him. Then Sîha
determined to disobey him. He sought Buddha out, heard his teaching and
was converted by him. In order to show his attachment to his new teacher
he invited Buddha and his disciples to eat with him. On the acceptance of
the invitation, Sîha commanded his servants to provide flesh in honour of
the occasion. This fact came to the ears of the followers of the
Nigaṇṭha. Glad to have found an occasion to damage Buddha, they
hurried in great numbers through the town, crying out, that Sîha had
caused a great ox to be killed for Buddha's entertainment; that Buddha had
eaten of the flesh of the animal although he knew it had been killed on
his account, and was, therefore guilty of the death of the animal. The
accusation was brought to Siha's notice and was declared by him to be a
calumny. Buddha, however preached a sermon after the meal, in which he
forbade his disciples to partake of the flesh of such animals as had been
killed on their account. The legend also corroborates the account in the
Jaina works, according to which Vardhamâna often resided in Vaiśâlî and
had a strong following in that town. It is probably related to show that
his sect was stricter, as regards the eating of flesh, than the Buddhists,
a point, which again agrees with the statutes of the Jainas. [Footnote:
_S.B.E_. Vol. XVII, pp. 108-117.]
The account of Nâtaputta's death is still more important. "Thus I heard
it", says an old book of the Singalese canon, the _Sâmagâma Sutta_,
"once the Venerable one lived in Sâmagâma in the land of the Sâkya. At
that time, however, certainly the Nigaṇṭha Nâtaputta had died in
Pâvâ. After his death the Nigaṇṭha wandered about disunited,
separate, quarrelling, fighting, wounding each other with words."
[Footnote: The passage is given in the original by Oldenberg,
_Leitsch. der D. Morg. Ges_. Bd. XXXIV, S. 749. Its significance
in connection with the Jaina tradition as to their schisms has been
overlooked until now. It has also been unnoticed that the assertion, that
Vardhamâna died during Buddha's lifetime, proves that the latest account
of this occurrence given by traditions 467 B.C. is false: Later Buddhist
legends (Spence Hardy, _Manual of Budhism_, pp. 266-271) treat of
Nâtaputta's death in more detail. In a lengthy account they give as the
cause of the same the apostacy of one of his disciples, Upâli who was
converted by Buddha. After going over to Buddhism, Upâli treated his
former master with scorn, and presumed to relate a parable which should
prove the foolishness of those who believed in false doctrines. Thereupon
the Nigaṇṭha fell into despair. He declared his alms-vessel was
broken, his existence destroyed, went to Pâva, and died there. Naturally
no importance is to be given to this account and its details. They are
apparently the outcome of sect-hatred.] Here we have complete confirmation
of the statement of the Jaina canon as to the place where Vardhamâna
entered _Nirvâṇa_, as well as of the statement that a schism
occurred immediately after his death.
The harmony between the Buddhist and Jaina tradition, as to the person of
the head of the Nirgrantha is meanwhile imperfect. It is disturbed by the
description of Nâtaputta as a member of the Brâhmanic sect of the
Âgniveśyâyana, whilst Vardhamâna belonged to the Kâśyapa. The point
is however so insignificant, that an error on the part of the Buddhists is
easily possible. [Footnote: According to Jacobi's supposition,
_S.B.E_. Vol. XXII, p. xvi, the error was caused, by the only
disciple of Vardhamâna, who outlived his master, Sudharman being an
Âgniveśyâyana.] It is quite to be understood that perfect exactness is
not to be expected among the Buddhists or any other sect in describing the
person of a hated enemy. Enmity and scorn, always present, forbid that.
The most that one can expect is that the majority and most important of
the facts given may agree.
This condition is undoubtedly fulfilled in the case on hand. It cannot,
therefore be denied, that, in spite of this difference, in spite also of
the absurdity of one article of the creed ascribed to him, Vardhamâna
Jñâtiputra, the founder of the Nirgrantha—or Jaina community is none
other than Buddha's rival. From Buddhist accounts in their canonical works
as well as in other books, it may be seen that this rival was a dangerous
and influential one, and that even in Buddha's time his teaching had
spread considerably. Their legends about conversions from other sects very
often make mention of Nirgrantha sectarians, whom Buddha's teaching or
that of his disciples had alienated from their faith. Also they say in
their descriptions of other rivals of Buddha, that these, in order to gain
esteem, copied the Nirgrantha and went unclothed, or that they were looked
upon by the people as Nirgrantha holy ones, because they happened to have
lost their clothes. Such expressions would be inexplicable if Vardhamâna's
community had not become of great importance. [Footnote: See for the
history of Sîha related above, Spence Hardy, _Manual of Budhism_, pp.
226, 266, and Jacobi, _Ind. Antiq._ Vol. VIII, p. 161]
This agrees with several remarks in the Buddhist chronicles, which assert
the existence of the Jainas in different districts of India during the
first century after Buddha's death. In the memoirs of the Chinese Buddhist
and pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang, who visited India in the beginning of the
seventh century of our era, is to be found an extract from the ancient
annals of Magadha, which proves the existence of the Nirgrantha or Jainas
in their original home from a very early time. [Footnote: Beal,
_Si-yu-ki._ Vol. II, p. 168.] This extract relates to the building of
the great monastry at Nâlandâ, the high school of Buddhism in eastern
India, which was founded shortly after Buddha's _Nirvâṇa_, and
mentions incidentally that a Nirgrantha who was a great astrologer and
prophet had prophesied the future success of the new building. At almost
as early a period the _Mahâvan̄sa_, composed in the fifth century
A.D., fixes the appearance of the Nirgrantha in the island of Ceylon. It
is said that the king Paṇḍukâbhaya, who ruled in the beginning of
the second century after Buddha, from 367-307 B.C. built a temple and a
monastery for two Nirgranthas. The monastery is again mentioned in the
same work in the account of the reign of a later king Vaṭṭâgâmini,
cir. 38-10 B.C. It is related that Vaṭṭâgâmini being offended by the
inhabitants, caused it to be destroyed after it had existed during the
reigns of twenty one kings, and erected a Buddhist Saṅghârâma in its
place. The latter piece of information is found also in the
_Dîpavan̄sa_ of more than a century earlier. [Footnote: Turnour,
_Mahâvaṅsa_, pp. 66-67 and p. 203, 206: _Dîpavan̄sa_ XIX
14; comp. also Kern, _Buddhismus_, Bd. I, S. 422. In the first
passage in the _Mahâvaṅ sa_, three Nighaṇṭas are introduced
by name, Jotiya, Giri, and Kumbhaṇḍa. The translation incorrectly
makes the first a Brâhmaṇ and chief engineer.]
None of these works can indeed be looked upon as a truly historical
source. There are, even in those paragraphs which treat of the oldest
history after Buddha's death, proofs enough that they simply hand down a
faulty historical tradition. In spite of this, their statements on the
Nirgrantha, cannot be denied a certain weight, because they are closely
connected on the one side with the Buddhist canon, and on the other they
agree with the indisputable sources of history, which relate to a slightly
later period.
The first authentic information on Vardhamâna's sect is given by our
oldest inscriptions, the religious edicts of the Maurya king Aśoka,
who, according to tradition was anointed in the year 219 after Buddha's
death, and—as the reference to his Grecian contemporaries, Antiochos,
Magas, Alexander, Ptolemaeus and Antigonas confirms,—ruled, during the
second half of the third century B.C. over the whole of India with the
exception of the Dekhan. This prince interested himself not only in
Buddhism, which he professed in his later years, but he took care, in a
fatherly way, as he repeatedly relates, of all other religious sects in
his vast kingdom. In the fourteenth year of his reign, he appointed
officials, called law-superintendents, whose duty it was to watch over the
life of the different communities, to settle their quarrels, to control
the distribution of their legacies and pious gifts. He says of them in the
second part of the seventh 'pillar' edict, which he issued in the
twenty-ninth year of his reign, "My superintendents are occupied with
various charitable matters, they are also engaged with all sects of
ascetics and householders; I have so arranged that they will also be
occupied with the affairs of the _Saṁgha_; likewise I have
arranged that they will be occupied with the Âjîvika Brâhmaṇs; I have
arranged it that they will also be occupied with the Nigaṇṭha".
[Footnote: See Senart, _Inscriptions de Piyadasi_, tom. II, p. 82.
Ed. VIII, l. 4. My translation differs from Senart's in some points
especially in relation to the construction. Conf. _Epigraphia
Indiea_, vol. II, pp. 272f.] The word _Saṁgha_ serves here as
usual for the Buddhist monks. The Âjívikas, whose name completely
disappears later, are often named in the sacred writings of the Buddhists
and the Jainas as an influential sect. They enjoyed the special favour of
Aśoka, who, as other inscriptions testify, caused several caves at
Baràbar to be made into dwellings for their ascetics. [Footnote: See
_Ind. Antiquary_, vol. XX, pp. 361 ff.] As in the still older writings
of the Buddhist canon, the name Nigaṇṭha here can refer only to the
followers of Vardhamâna. As they are here, along with the other two
favourites, counted worthy of special mention, we may certainly conclude
that they were of no small importance at the time. Had they been without
influence and of small numbers Aśoka would hardly have known of them,
or at least would not have singled them out from the other numerous
nameless sects of which he often speaks. It may also be supposed that they
were specially numerous in their old home, as Aśoka's capital
Pâṭaliputra lay in this land. Whether they spread far over these
boundaries, cannot be ascertained.
On the other hand we possess two documents from the middle of the next
century which prove that they advanced into south-eastern India as far as
Kaliṅga. These are the inscriptions at Khaṇḍagiri in Orissa, of
the great King Khâravela and his first wife, who governed the east coast
of India from the year 152 to 165 of the Maurya era that is, in the first
half of second century B.C.
The larger inscription, unfortunately very much disfigured, contains an
account of the life of Khâravela from his childhood till the thirteenth
year of his reign. It begins with an appeal to the Arhat and Siddha, which
corresponds to the beginning of the five-fold form of homage still used
among the Jainas, and mentions the building of temples in honour of the
Arhat as well as an image of the first Jina, which was taken away by a
hostile king. The second and smaller inscription asserts that Khâravela's
wife caused a cave to be prepared for the ascetics of Kalinga, "who
believed on the Arhat." [Footnote: The meaning of these inscriptions,
which were formerly believed to be Buddhist, was first made clear by Dr.
Bhangvânlâl's Indrâji's careful discussion in the _Actes du Vlième
Congrès Internat. des Orientalistes_ Sect. Ary. pp. 135-159. H; first
recognised the true names of the King Khâravela and his predecessors and
shewed that Khâravela and his wife were patrons of the Jainas. We have to
thank him for the information that the inscription contains a date in the
Maurya Era. I have thoroughly discussed his excellent article in the
_Oesterreichischen Monatsschrift_, Bd. X, S. 231 ff. and have there
given my reasons for differing from him on an important point, namely, the
date of the beginning of the Maurya Era, which, according to his view
begins with the conquest of Kaliṅga by Aśoka about 255 B. C. Even
yet I find it impossible to accept that the expression, "in the hundred
and sixty fifth year of the era of the Maurya Kings", can mean anything
else than that 164 years have passed between the thirteenth year of the
rule of Khâravela and the anointing of the first Maurya King Chandrugupta.
Unfortunately it is impossible to fix the year of the latter occurrence,
or to say more than that it took place between the years 322 and 312 B.C.
The date given in Khâravela's inscription cannot therefore be more closely
fixed than that it lies between 156 and 147 B.C. I now add to my former
remarks—that appeals to the Arhat and Siddha appear also in Jaina
inscriptions from Mathurâ and may be taken as a certain mark of the sect.
Thus it is worthy of note that even in Hiuen Tsiang's time, (Beal,
_Si-yu-ki_, Vol. II, p. 205) Kalinga was one of the chief seats of
the Jainas.]
From a somewhat later period, as the characters show, from the first
century B.C. comes a dedicatory inscription which has been found far to
the west of the original home of the Jainas, in Mathurà on the Jamnâ. It
tells of the erection of a small temple in honour of the Arhat Vardhamâna,
also of the dedication of seats for the teachers, a cistern, and a stone
table. The little temple, it says, stood beside the temple of the guild of
tradesmen, and this remark proves, that Mathurâ, which, according to the
tradition of the Jainas, was one of the chief scats of their religion,
possessed a community of Jainas even before the time of this inscription.
[Footnote: This inscription also was first made known by Dr Bhagwanlal
Indiaji, _loc. cit_. p. 143.]
A large member of dedicatory inscriptions have come to light, which are
dated from the year 5 to 98 of the era of the Indo-Skythian kings,
Kanishka, Huvishka, and Vâsudeva (Bazodeo) and therefore belong at latest
to the end of the first and to the second century A.D. They are all on the
pedestals of statues, which are recognisable partly by the special mention
of the names of Vardhamâna and the Arhat Mahâvíra, partly by absolute
nudity and other marks. They show, that the Jaina community continued to
flourish in Mathurâ and give besides extraordinarily important
information, as I found in a renewed research into the ancient history of
the sect. In a number of them, the dedicators of the statues give not only
their own names, but also those of the religious teachers to whose
communities they belonged. Further, they give these teachers their
official titles, still used among the Jainas: _vâchaka_, 'teacher',
and _gaṇin_, 'head of a school'. Lastly they specify the names of
the schools to which the teachers belonged, and those of their
subdivisions. The schools are called, _gaṇa_, 'companies'; the
subdivisions, _kula_, 'families' and _śâkhà_, 'branches'.
Exactly the same division into _gaṇa, śâkhà_, and _kula_
is found in a list in one of the canonical works, of the Śvetâmbaras,
the _Kalpasûtra_, which gives the number of the patriarchs and of the
schools founded by them, and it is of the highest importance, that, in
spite of mutilation and faulty reproduction of the inscriptions, nine of
the names, which appear in the _Kalpasûtra_ are recognisable in them,
of which part agree exactly, part, through the fault of the stone-mason or
wrong reading by the copyist, are somewhat defaced. According to the
_Kalpasûtra_, Sushita, the ninth successor to Vardhamâna In the
position of patriarch, together with his companion Supratibuddha, founded
the 'Koḍiya' or 'Kautika _gaṇa_, which split up into four
'_sâkhà_, and four '_kula_'. Inscription No. 4. which is dated
in the year 9 of the king Kanishka or 87. A.D. (?) gives us a somewhat
ancient form of the name of the _gaṇa Koṭiya_ and that of one
of its branches exactly corresponding to the _Vairi śàkhâ_.
Mutilated or wrongly written, the first word occurs also in inscriptions
Nos. 2, 6 and 9 as _koto-, keṭṭiya_, and _ka_ ..., the
second in No. 6 as _Vorâ_. One of the families of this
_gaṇa_, the _Vâṇiya kula_ is mentioned in No. 6, and
perhaps in No. 4. The name of a second, the _Praśnavàhaṇaka_,
seems to have appeared in No. 19. The last inscription mentions also
another branch of the Koṭiya gaṇa, the _Majhimâ sâkhâ_, which,
according to the _Kalpasûtra,_ was founded by Priyagantha the second
disciple of Susthita. Two still older schools which, according to
tradition, sprang from the fourth disciple of the eighth patriarch, along
with some of their divisions appear in inscriptions Nos. 20 and 10. These
are the _Aryya-Udehikîya gaṇa_, called the school of the
Ârya-Rohaṇa in the _Kalpasûtra_, to which belonged the
_Parihâsaka kula_ and the _Pûrnapâtrikâ śâkhâ,_ as also the
_Charâṇa gaṇa_ with the _Prîtidharmika kula._ Each of
these names is, however, somewhat mutilated by one or more errata in
writing. [Footnote: Dr. Bühler's long note (p. 48) on these inscriptions
was afterwards expanded in the _Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des
Morgenlandes_ Bd. I, S. 165-180; Bd. II, S. 141-146. Bd. III, S.
233-240; and Bd. IV, S. 169-173. The argument of these papers is
summarised in. Appendix. A, pp. 48 ff.—Ed.] The statements in the
inscriptions about the teachers and their schools are of no small
importance in themselves for the history of the Jainas. If, at the end of
the first century A.D.(?) many separate schools of Jaina ascetics existed,
a great age and lively activity, as well as great care as regards the
traditions of the sect, may be inferred. The agreement of the inscriptions
with the _Kalpasûtra_ leads still further however: it proves on the
one side that the Jainas of Mathurâ were Śvetâmbara, and that the
schism, which split the sect into two rival branches occurred long before
the beginning of our era. On the other hand it proves that the tradition
of the Svetâmbara really contains ancient historic elements, and by no
means deserves to be looked upon with distrust. It is quite probable that,
like all traditions, it is not altogether free from error. But it can no
longer be declared to be the result of a later intentional
misrepresentation, made in order to conceal the dependence of Jainism on
Buddhism. It is no longer possible to dispute its authenticity with regard
to those points which are confirmed by independent statements of other
sects, and to assert, for example, that the Jaina account of the life of
Vardhamâna, which agrees with the statements of the Buddists, proves
nothing as regards the age of Jainism because in the late fixing of the
canon of the Śvetâmbaras in the sixth century after Christ it may have
been drawn from Buddhist works. Such an assertion which, under all
circumstances, is a bold one, becomes entirely untenable when it is found
that the tradition in question states correctly facts which lie not quite
three centuries distant from Vardhamâna's time, and that the sect, long
before the first century of our era kept strict account of their internal
affairs. [Footnote: See Weber's and Barth's opinions quoted above in note
I, p. 23.]
Unfortunately the testimony to the ancient history of the Jainas, so far
as made known by means of inscriptions, terminates here. Interesting as it
would be to follow the traces of their communities in the later
inscriptions, which become so numerous from the fifth century A.D. onwards
and in the description of his travels by Hiuen Tsiang, who found them
spread through the whole of India and even beyond its boundaries, it would
be apart from our purpose. The documents quoted suffice, however, to
confirm the assertion that during the first five centuries after Buddha's
death both the statements of Buddhist tradition and real historical
sources give evidence to the existence of the Jainas as an important
religious community independent of Buddhism, and that there are among the
historical sources some which entirely clear away the suspicion that the
tradition of the Jainas themselves is intentionally falsified.
The advantage gained for Indian history from the conclusion that Jainism
and Buddhism are two contemporary sects—having arisen in the same
district,—is no small one. First, this conclusion shows that the
religious movement of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. in eastern India
must have been a profound one. If not only one, but certainly two, and
perhaps more reformers, appeared at the same time, preaching teachers, who
opposed the existing circumstances in the same manner, and each of whom
gained no small number of followers for their doctrines, the desire to
overthrow the Brahmanical order of things must have been generally and
deeply felt. This conclusion shows then that the transformation of the
religious life in India was not merely the work of a religious community.
Many strove to attain this object although separated from one another. It
is now recognisable, though preliminarily, in one point only, that the
religious history of India from the fifth century B.C. to the eighth or
ninth A.D. was not made up of the fight between Brahmanism and Buddhism
alone. This conclusion allows us, lastly, to hope that the thorough
investigation of the oldest writings of the Jainas and their relations
with Buddhism on the one hand and with Brahmanism on the other will afford
many important ways of access to a more exact knowledge concerning the
religious ideas which prevailed in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., and
to the establishment of the boundaries of originality between the
different systems.