A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s1: Jinism and Its Literature
A History of Indian Literature v2.c20.s1
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Jinism and Its Literature
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Buddhist texts frequently mention Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta as a rival and opponent of Gotama Buddha. This is none other than the saint known and venerated by the name of Mahāvīra, *i.e.*, “the great hero,” the founder or reformer of the sect of the Jainas, which had developed out of the far older sect of the Nigaṇṭhas (*i.e.*, the Fetter-less), under the leadership of Vardhāmāna Mahāvīra, probably not long before the appearance of Gotama.[^1) The religion of the Jainas, Jinism,[^2) has so much in common with Buddhism that, for a long time, it was
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[^1): On the strength of the unanimous tradition of both Buddhists and Jainas, we may take it as certain that Mahāvīra was a senior contemporary of Buddha, and that both were contemporaries of Kings Bimbisāra and Ajātaśatru of Magadha. The year of Mahāvīra's death is, however, at least as uncertain as that of Buddha's. Appendix VI. H. Jacobi (Ind. Ant. 9, 1880, 158 ff.; SBE 45, p. xx ff.) has made it seem very probable that Mahāvīra was not the founder but only the reformer of an earlier sect of the Nigaṇṭhas founded by Pārśva. Nevertheless, when the tradition says that Pārśva lived exactly 250 years before Mahāvīra, we are not by any means justified in taking this as a certain historical fact. [^2): The epithets “Enlightened One” (Buddha) and “Victor” (Jina) were applied to Gotama as well as to Mahāvīra (and other founders of religions). However, whilst “Buddha” came to be the name of Gotama, “Jina” came to be the usual name of Mahāvīra, and his adherents called themselves “Jainas”, *i.e.*, disciples of the Jina.” It has grown customary to use the expressions “Jainism” and “Jainistic.” However, as we never say “Bauddhism” and “Bauddhistic,” we ought by rights to say “Jinism” and “Jinisic” just as we say “Buddhism” and “Buddhistic.” Scholars like A. Weber and Th. Benfey still considered the Jainas as a Buddhist sect. It has been proved by Jacobi (SBE 22, Introd., and in the introduction to his edition of the Kalpa-Sūtra) that this view is erroneous.
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considered merely as a Buddhist sect. Nevertheless, it presents a marked divergence from the Buddhist religion in such essential points, that it must be regarded as an independent creed. Jinism¹ lays far more stress than Buddhism on asceticism and all manner of cult exercises, and in contrast to the Buddha, Mahāvīra taught a very elaborate belief in the soul. All that the two religions have in common, is the ancient Indian "ascetic morality" which we have already characterised more than once; the points of contact, too, between Buddhist and Jaina literature, are precisely those which they both share with the whole of Indian ascetic poetry. It is the Jainas, however, who far more than any other Indian religion, emphasize the commandment of Ahiṁsā, non-violence.
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¹ *Cf.* G *Bühler*, Ueber die indische Sekte der Jainas (Almanach der k. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 1887); translated into English by J. *Burgess*, On the Indian Sect of the Jainas, with an Outline of Jaina Mythology, London 1903; H. *Jacobi* in *ERE* VII. 1914, 465 ff.; Mrs. Sinclair *Stevenson*, The Heart of Jainism, Oxford and London 1915; Puran Chand *Nahar* and Krishnachandra *Ghosh*, An Epitome of Jainism, Calcutta 1917; Helmuth *v. Glasenapp*, Der Jainismus, Berlin 1925. A. *Guérinot*, La religion Djaina, histoire, doctrine, culte, coutumes, institutions, Paris 1926. A presentation of the Jaina religion from the view-point of an enthusiastic European is given by Herbert *Warren*, Jainism in Western Garb as a Solution to Life's Great Problems, Arrah 1912, second ed. 1916. On the history of the Jainas, see also A. *Guérinot*, Répertoire d'Epigraphie Jaina précédé d'une esquisse de l'histoire du Jaïnisme d'après les inscriptions, Paris (Publ. de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient) 1908, and J. *Charpentier* in Cambridge History I, 150 ff.
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An essential difference between the two religions is, however, that Jinism has always remained a national Indian religion, whilst Buddhism developed into a world religion. It is true that, according to the belief of the Jainas, their religion is a "world religion" in the sense that it is a religion not only for human beings of all races and classes, but even for animals, gods and denizens of hell. Notwithstanding, the Jainas have retained the Indian system of castes and classes in its entirety,² and Jinism has a much stronger tendency than Buddhism to adapt itself to Brahmanism and Hinduism, and also it is confined within the frontiers of India. The Jainas themselves explain the close relations of their religion with Brahmanism by asserting that their religion is the oldest of all religions, and the religion of the Brahmins is merely a degenerate form of it. Although, as has already been mentioned, Jinism is older than Buddhism, the canonical literature of the Jainas has not come down to us in its earliest form. Unfortunately only parts of it have been preserved, and in its present form it only dates back to a comparatively recent period. It is solely for this reason that we deal with it here *after* Buddhist literature.
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² H. v. *Glasenapp*, Der Jainismus, pp. 314 ff., 316 ff.
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With rare exceptions, the sacred books of the Jainas are written in a dry-as-dust, matter of fact, didactic tone, and as far as we know them hitherto, are seldom instinct with that general human interest which so many Buddhist texts possess. Hence, important as they are for the specialist, they cannot claim the interest of the general reader to anything approaching so great an extent. If, for these reasons, the following treatment of Jinist literature¹ occupies a comparatively small space, we shall be giving only a faint idea of the exceedingly wide range of literary activity of the Jaina monks, to which the catalogues of Jaina manuscripts² and the very numerous editions of texts that have appeared during the last decades in various collections, bear testimony.¹
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¹ The first to open up the rich treasures of the Jaina libraries was *G. Bühler*, who in the years 1873-1878 acquired a large collection of Jaina manuscripts for the royal library at Berlin. This collection formed the basis of the first comprehensive and epoch-making accounts of the literature of the Jainas, by Albrecht Weber, Ind. Stud. 16, 1883, pp. 211-479; 17, 1885, pp. 1-90 (translated into English by H. W. *Smyth* in Ind. Ant., vols. 17-21, 1888-1892) and HSS. Verz. II, 1888-1891. Cf. E. Windisch, Geschichte der Sanskrit-Philologie (Grundriss I, 1 B), p. 346 ff.; *A. Guérinot*, Essai de bibliographie Jaina, Paris 1906 (AMG, bibl. d'études, t. 22); Addenda to it JA 1909, s. 10, t. XIV, 47-148; 1912, s. 10, t. XIX, 373 ff., and B. Geiger in GGA 1908, 124 ff.; Guérinot, La religion Djaina, pp. 69-90; *H. v. Glasenapp*, Der Jainismus, pp. 81-134 and Die Literaturen Indiens (in "Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft"), p. 118 ff. For important data on Jain authors, see *J. Klatt* in Ind. Ant. 11, 1882, pp. 245-256 and Specimen of a Literary-Bibliographical Jaina-Onomasticon, Leipzig 1892. The little book by U. D. *Barodia*, History and Literature of Jainism, Bombay 1909, has no scientific value.
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² The following accounts of Jaina MSS. are of great importance:—those by *R. G.* *Bhandarkar*, Report 1883-4; P. *Peterson*, 3 Reports, Report IV and Rep. V; by *Jacobi*, *Klatt* and *Leumann*, ZDMG 33, 693 ff., 478 ff.; 45, 454 ff.; 47, 308 ff.; WZKM 11, 1897, 297 ff.; F. L. *Pullé*, Catalogo dei manoscritti giainici della Bibliotheca n.c. di Firence 1894 and OC X, 1894, II, p. 15 ff.; A. B. *Keith*, Catalogue of Prākrit Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1911, col. 1-45; *Rai Bahadur Hiralal*, Catalogue of Sanskrit and Prakrit MSS. published under the Orders of the Government of the Central Provinces and Berar, Nagpur 1926; H. D. *Velankar*, A Descriptive Catalogue of Saṁskṛta and Prākṛta Manuscripts in the Library of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vols. III-IV, Jain and Vernacular Literatures, Bombay 1930.
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¹ A collection of the canonical writings, "Āgama-Saṁgraha," was printed between 1875 and 1885 in Calcutta, Bombay, Benares and Ahmedabad in 45 volumes. Numerous texts have appeared in the Śrī-Jaina-Jaso-Vijaya-Granthamālā published by the great Jainācarya Vijaya Dharma Sūri; learned societies, such as the Jaina Dharma Prasāraka Sabhā in Bhavnagar, the Jaina Vidyā Prasāraka Varga in Palitana, the Jaina Jñāna Prasāraka Varga in Bombay, the Jaina Vidyā Sālā in Ahmedabad, the Āgamodaya Samiti in Mehsana, and others, and wealthy patrons such as Sheṭh Devchand Lalbhai Jhaveri in Bombay, Sheṭh Bhagabāi Mansukkhāi in Ahmedabad, and others, have assisted towards the publication of Jain texts. See E. *Hultzsch* in Ind. Ant., Vol. 39, 1910, p. 228; *Jacobi* in AR 18, 1910, 615 ff., and 18, 1915, 275 f. We are indebted to the Digambara Jainas also, for such valuable publications as the "Sacred Books of the Jainas" and "The Library of Jaina Literature," both of which are appearing in Arrah.
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The literature of the Jainas is also very important from the point of view of the history of the Indian languages: for the Jainas always took care that their writings were accessible to considerable masses of the people. Hence the canonical writings and the earliest commentaries are written in Prākrit dialects (Māgadhī and Māhārāṣṭrī).² It was not until a later period that the Jainas—the Śvetāmbaras from the 8th century, and the Digambaras somewhat earlier—used Sanskrit for commentaries and learned works as well as for poetry. Some of these authors write a simple, lucid Sanskrit, others compete with the classical Sanskrit poets in their use of an elaborate Sanskrit in the Kāvya style, whilst yet others affect a Sanskrit shot with Prākritisms, approaching the vernacular.³
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² See above I, p. 48, and W. *Denecke*, in Festgabe Jacobi, p. 160 ff.
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³ See M. *Bloomfield*, Some Aspects of Jaina Sanskrit, in Festschrift Wackernagel, 1923, p. 220 ff.
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At a later time, from the 10th to the 12th century, there is a return of poetry to the Apabhraṁśa dialects adapted to the vernacular.¹ Lastly, in quite recent times, the Jainas also use various modern Indian languages, and they have enriched more especially Gujarati and Hindi literatures, as well as Tamil and Kanarese literatures in the south.
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¹ See above I, p. 49, and *Jacobi*, Zur Frage nach dem Ursprung des Apabhraṁśa, in Festschrift Wackernagel, p. 124 ff.
Cites (1)
- Kalpasūtra — Bhadrabāhu, Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit