Jainism

    The layman is to be considered a Jain, to the extent that he adopts a series of lay vows which mirror the various mental and physical vows adopted by the ascetic.  The five anuvratas or “lesser vows” parallel the five ascetic “great vows.” The first lesser-vow is nonviolence. While the ascetic is required to not engage in any acts of violence whatsoever, the layman simply try his best to not engage in any pointless destruction of lifeforms. The second lesser vow of truth appliers to the individuals social and business dealings and involves the necessary avoidance of sharp business practice such as willfully misrepresenting the qualities of the goods one is selling. The third lesser-vow of non-theft prohibits any form of stealing and is also extended by some contemporary writers to include such antisocial practices as avoiding to pay taxes. The fourth lesser-vow of chastity recognizes that although it should not be expected for the layman to be completely celibate like the monk he should restrict himself to one spouse and curb his sex-drive. The fifth lesser-vow of non-possessiveness states that rather than completely abandoning his possessions, the layman should not be over attached to his wealth and instead of hoarding it or glorying in it should live a simple life and dispose of any surplus money by religious giving.

Jain Business, Bidding, and Fasting

    The Jains are a merchant community that produced many financial juggernauts by the seventeenth century AD, including Santidas Jhaveri (died 1660) and Virji Vora (died 1675). By this time the Jain lay community had worked itself up as brokers and bankers. Indeed, by the nineteenth century, the Jains with their small population managed to own over half of the wealth of India. This monetary success is probably due to the fact that the metaphysical structure of the Jains, like idealistic protestant Christianity and reductionist Judaism, develops skills that promotes self-directed behavior. The Jains developed in the early modern period a custom to help them in business practices called the gaining of abru, a word signifying “prestige” or “reputation.” This abru tested whether a merchant was creditworthy and competent and when confirmed, generated further abru and still more credit and success. Reputation was based on publicly observable correct behavior, which included lack of scandal in private and commercial affairs, carefully regulated alliances, and active support of the religious sect to which one belonged. Abru was usually returned only on the basis of short-term behavior.

. . . Another activity the Jain lay community participate in is fasting, which is most commonly practiced in the Jain community by women except for holy days. The taking of a vow which involves some form of fasting is the most significant of a range of religious behavior adopted by a woman which will confirm the seriousness of her commitment and her near relatives toward Jainism. The physical restraint and control of the senses are the components the Jains believe to be most distinguished among women of their community.  As such, fasting, like bidding functions as a means of bringing out social prestige through the confirmation of moral purity of the woman and her family. Fasting usually occurs on days when the moon changes, three of these occurring each month, along with three further eight day periods that occur during the year. Fasting is also common during the four-month rainy season.

Puja

    Puja means in its broadest sense an act of devotion to a divinity by means of making an offering to a figure. Puja, for the Jains, takes place sometimes at home, where families make small domestic shrines, and can also be conducted at a temple with or without the aid of a ritual specialist. The most common type of puja is an act of “looking” at the image with mind directed toward the qualities that the image embodies. Only lay people can carry out dravya-puja, the type of puja in which the image is anointed with various types of substance (dravya). Ascetics are restricted to inner worship (bhavapuja) and merely contemplate the image without having any direct contact with it. This is due to the fact that touching the image causes impurity while their lack of possession means they can buy nothing in which to make the offering. The origin of puja in Jainism remains obscure and no doubt reflects a ritualism and puja found in Hinduism.

    The puja of eight substances is the only Jain ritual which has received extended scholarly description and interpretation. The eightfold puja is by no means standard and displays a general improvisatory character and there are a wide arrange of techniques available to the Jains. The eightfold puja usually takes place in the morning and should be performed in clean clothes. The image is first be cleaned of any accretions of the previous days worship and the anointed with a mixture of milk and water. Next the lay worshipper should apply a mixture of camphor and sandalwood, both expensive cooling substances, all to the main parts of the figures body, and the make an offering of flowers. One then withdraws from the figure and waves incense and lamps in the direction of the image, and the returns to the figure to offer three types of food substance, rice, sweets, and fruit. Finally, he completes the ritual by inward worship, contemplation of the image, and muttering of prayers and sacred formulae.

    The question is why perform puja? The objects of worship, the fordmakers, exist outside of human affairs and thus do not have an ability to respond to an act of worship. Devotion to fordmakers is sometimes described as bringing out a favorable rebirth and the activities of some present-day Jains would superficially suggest that the fordmakers indeed bestow some sort of blessing upon the devotee. However, ancient tradition, which has clearly informed current practice, discloses that worship of the fordmakers rather simply destroys karma and brings about inner spiritual purification of the worshiper. Thus, the prayers are designed to increase spiritual affinity and are not designed to promote worldly success such as luck in marriage, although certain sects of Jainism allow worldly requests to be directed at the images. There is no copy of the fordmaker located within the image and the image in no way serves as a mediator between the worshipper and the divinity.

Pilgrimage and Holy Places

    There are a large number of places throughout India which image-worshipping Jains consider to be sacred and of which journeying to them gives merit. Pilgrimage allows a Jain to become an ascetic for a short period of time and the method of pilgrimage has not changed much since the medieval period. Usually, a prominent layman will organize the event- although the original impetus will be from ascetics. There is no formal requirement for Jains to participate in pilgrimage, but it is a popular activity due to its religious and recreational value. The most important guide to Jain holy spots is the “Description of Various Holy Places,” written by the monk Jinaprabha Suri in the thirteenth/fourteenth century. Rather than being linked to the worship of images or relics, the Jain holy places are usually linked to some ancient ascetic or fordmaker, i.e., such as the place where they attained enlightenment or were born. For example, a Jain connection was claimed with the holy Hindu city, Benares, which was associated as the place of Parsva’s birth and came to be associated with several of the other early Jain careers. Although Benares is of little importance now to the Jain pilgrim, another Hindu holy spot, mount Abu, has been fully absorbed into Jain consciousness. The Jain minister Vimala (eleventh century) formed a desire to build a temple there but was not allowed by the local Hindu holy men. He then, through fasting, discovered that there was an image of Rsabha beside one of the Hindu temples and was hence allowed to build a new temple there.

   Outside the small market town of Palitana in Gujarat is Satrunjaya- one of the five holy mountains of Svetambara Jainism. The history of the mountain dates back to some of the earliest Jain texts, and probably dates to the 11th century, which marks the time when the hill was beginning to gain ground as a Jain holy spot. According to legend, Pundarika traveled to the spot and obtained final release there. A temple was then built there, and Rshaba ensured that it be regarded as the first of all holy places. A metaphysical atmosphere is associated with the holy mountain- with magical streams and wells, and animals are even said to give up their carnivorous ways and fast on the mountain. Spiritual attainments are said to be gained effortlessly on mount Satrunjaya. Sravana Belgola is a rural town of about ten thousand people situated in the southern state of Karnataka, between the cities of Mysore and Bangalore. The principal feature of the town is a small lake and two hills on either side, one named “Big Hill” and the other named “Little Hill.” At the summit of the big hill there lies a fifty-seven-feet-high figure of Bahubali- the first to become enlightened- which was built in 981 by a king. Every ten to fifteen years, the big hill is subject to a spectacular ceremony in which the head of the figure is anointed with various substances poured from 1008 pots of prominent members of the lay community.