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Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s9: The Other Side

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c12.s9

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English

The Other Side

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The other side of the picture cannot be ignored. We hear of devoted and chaste wives and of happy love and affection between husband and wife. A woman is counted among fourteen jewels of a *cakkavatti*.¹¹ Malli, although a woman, we are told rose to the status of a *Tirthankara*¹²

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¹¹ *Jambu.* 3 67, also cf *Dīgha* 11. pp 172-7 which mentions *cakka ratanam, hatthi ratanam, assa ratanam, maṇi ratanam, itthi ratanam, gahapati ratanam and pariṇāyaka ratanam*

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¹² *Nāyā* 8. However, attaining *Tirthankarahood* by a woman is unusual according to the Śvetāmbaras and hence it is described as one of the ten unexpected things According to the Digambaras, however, Malli was a male, and no woman can ever attain *Mokṣa*.

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Women were highly regarded and it is prescribed that at the time of difficulty such as caused by water, fire, robbers or famine, a woman must be rescued first.¹³ We hear of the faithful and chaste woman Rājimati, who followed the footsteps of her husband and joined the ascetic order We are told that once Aritthanemi, his brother Rahanemi and Rājimati all were practising penance on the same mountain, when Rahanemi lost self-control and began to court his sister-in-law The latter resisted boldly and baffled his attempt by offering him a drink in which she vomitted in his presence.¹⁴ Subhadrā was another chaste woman who was the daughter of a *śrāvaka* and was married to a Buddhist (*uvāsaga*). She was accused of having illegal connections with white-clad monks (*seyavadiyabhikkhu*). Once upon a time, when a Jain monk was begging alms, it so happened that a rice-speck entered into his eye which Subhadrā picked out with her tongue While doing so, the forehead of Subhadrā and the monk touched each other and her forehead mark made with red lead (*ciṇapiṭṭha*) was imprinted on the monk's forehead. This was shown to Subhadrā's husband, who suspecting the chastity of his wife proposed to put her to an ordeal¹⁵

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¹³ *Br̥h. Bhā* 4.4348f.

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¹⁴ *Das. Sū.* 2.7-11; *Uttarā.* XXII.

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¹⁵ *Das. cū.* 1, p. 49 f.

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Jainism and Buddhism declared as we have seen that womanhood was no bar to salvation. We hear of a large number of women in Jain texts who distinguished themselves as teachers and preachers.¹⁶ Ajja Candanā is the supreme example of superiority of women, who was the first disciple of Mahāvīra and under whom a large number of nuns practised the rules of right conduct and attained salvation.¹⁷ Then we hear of Jayantī, the sister of king Sayāṇiya of Kosambī, who abandoned her royal robe and became a devout nun.¹⁸

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¹⁶ Cf. *Anta.* 5, 7, 8; *Nāyā.* II, 1-10, pp. 220-30.

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¹⁷ Cf Anta. 8, Kalpa sū, 5. 135.

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¹⁸ Bhag 12 2

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