Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c21: Retrospect
Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c21
- Language
- English
Retrospect
c21.1
1 It is admitted now that the history of Jainism begins from the advent of Pārśvanātha and not from Mahāvīra as was popularly supposed by scholars. Pārśva was a powerful religious teacher who flourished towards the end of the ninth century B.C., 250 years before Mahāvīra. It was he who for the first time founded the four orders in the Jain community.
c21.2
Unlike Buddhism the strength of Jainism lay in the mass of lay followers, which helped in the survival of the Jain religion. Another cause of its survival was its rigid conservatism which kept it free from Tāntrika developments, unlike its sister religion Buddhism. This conservatism of holding fast to their original institutions and doctrines did not allow any change in essentials of religion and hence the religious life of the Jain community even now is substantially the same as it was two thousand years ago. The new rituals and practices of Vaisnavism, saivism and other sects could not create any allurement and so Jainism lost its importance in the south where it had once gained dominance. Jain religion has maintained its old spirit and even now it exercises its hold on an influential community in India.
c21.3
The Jain Canons, on which the present work is based do not belong to one particular period. They were compiled and redacted thrice between 4th century B.C. to 5th century A.D. The object of the thesis is to present the social materials embodied in the Jain Sūtras and exegetical literature and therefore the basis of the presentation is not in chronological order.
c21.4
The period of the commentaries which varies from the first century to the seventeenth century A.D. could not be mixed up with the Sūtra period. But since the commentaries preserve a good deal of old traditions and without them the Āgamas could not be properly understood, the material embodied in them is utilised in the present work. However, the material embodied in the Jain Canons is pretty old and may be compared with the Buddhist Suttas and other works of the early period before the Christian era.
c21.5
2 We have seen that the country was divided into small principalities which were either governed by the king or had republican constitutions. Generally, the kings were autocrats and the judicial arrangements were not sound and efficient. Very often innocent persons were charged and sent for execution. Various offences such as robbery, adultery, murder were prevalent and most severe punishments were inflicted on the culprits. Prison-life was very hard. The rājadhānī or the capital city was the seat of government. There were big cities with busy markets and the villages which populated with the teeming millions of India.
c21.6
3 The economic condition of the people was not bad The country was rich and prosperous, flourished in trade and commerce. Yet the condition of the general masses cannot be said to have been ideal. There was sufficient to eat and sufficient to fulfil their simple needs People were luxury-loving and were fond of ornaments, clothes wreaths, flowers, perfumes, music, dancing dramas and singing The rich people possessed palatial buildings, married several women, paid large fees to courtesans, went out surrounded by servants and attendants in a gorgeous procession accompanied by damsels The middle class people too lived a life of luxury and made magnificent donations to the order The condition of poor people was deplorable They had to earn their livelihood with great difficulty They suffered most at the hands of money-lenders and from famines resulting from draught and pestilence
c21.7
4 There was caste system and society was divided into Ksatriyas Brāhmanas, Vaisyas and Sūdras A Sūdra had the most degraded position in the society The family was the primary cell of social organism There was the joint family system, and the head of the family was respected most The position of women cannot be described as satisfactory, although the Jain prophets allowed them equality with men and permitted them to attain Nirvāna Arts and sciences were manifold and people acquired efficiency in fine arts such as music painting and sculpture The secular sciences such as mathematics astronomy and astrology and the science of archery and architecture flourished. There were religious mendicants belonging to various orders who played an important part in moulding the material as well as the spiritual life of the people People believed in magic and a variety of superstitions. There were sports and amusements and various ceremonies held by the common-folk, funeral rites were observed with pomp
c21.8
5 During the life time of Mahāvīra, the spread of Jainism was limited, and Jain monks did not seem generally to have crossed the boundaries towards east of Sāketa beyond Anga-Magadha, towards south beyond Kosambī, towards west beyond Thūnā and towards the north beyond Kunālā, which corresponds to the tract of a portion of modern Bihar eastern United Provinces, and a part of western U. P But later on, at the time of Samprati, who was a devout Jain this geographical limit was changed and the Jain monks could traverse as far as Sindhu Sovīra and Surāstra in west, Kalinga in the east, Dravida, Āndhra and Coorg 'Kudukka' in the south and some part of the eastern Punjab It seems that Jain monks because of restrictions of food etc never left the shores of India and went abroad like the Buddhist monks and even Mahāvīra did not go beyond Bihar, north-western Bengal and a part of the eastern United Provinces, his visit to Sindhu Sovīra and other parts of India seems to be doubtful As far as possible the geographical names have been identified, yet unfortunately a bulk of them remain unidentified, particularly the small villages in Bihar, where Mahāvīra toured during his ascetic life.
c21.9
The Jain canons, besides giving information about the Āryan countries, give a list of many non-Āryan countries probably thereby meaning that Jainism had not penetrated into those countries. In these lists some of the countries, peoples and the Janapadas are recognisable, but unfortunately the traditional lists have become very corrupt through the centuries of their transmission. The author has, however, made an attempt to collate the lists occurring in various texts in order to find out the correct names.
c21.10
6. It should be borne in mind that the historical material in the Jain canons is so scanty that hardly any history in the real sense of the word could be written; hence this chapter should not be treated as purely historical. Herein simply an attempt has been made to put together the historical material preserved in the Jain Canons. A number of kings and rulers are mentioned in the Jain Canons, most of whom seem to be fictitious. They go to a religious teacher, attend his religious sermons, renounce the world and attain salvation on some mountain. Even the kings who are described as contemporaries of Mahāvīra seem to be quite legendary. Except for a few notable kings such as Sreṇika, Ajātaśatru, Pradyota and Udavana history has not given any clue to them so far. Regarding kings and rulers, another point which should be noted is that most of the well-known rulers are claimed by both Jains and Buddhists as their own. In fact, they showed equal regard towards religious teachers of different sects and hence it is very difficult to say that they belonged to any particular faith.
c21.11
The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.
c21.12
These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.
c21.13
The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.
c21.14
By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.
c21.15
The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.