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12-2013

Jain Endangerment Discourse

Ezra Rashkow [email protected]

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MSU Digital Commons Citation Rashkow, Ezra, "Jain Endangerment Discourse" (2013). Department of History Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 21. https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/history-facpubs/21

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at Montclair State University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Department of History Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works by an authorized administrator of Montclair State University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMENTARY India up to the present day”. Titling the The Jain Endangerment concluding chapter of his book “Jain Society Through the Ages: Growth and Discourse Survival”, Jaini (1998: 275) saw his com- munity as one “struggling as much for institutional survival as for attainment Ezra D Rashkow of the noble spiritual goals set forth by the Tirthankaras”, and marvelled at how Is Jainism an endangered Friends, we look to you to save this great the Jains “managed to keep both their r eligion. tradition and their community intact, religion? This article considers – K C Sogani in a lecture to the International the various ways in which School for Jain Studies, 18 June 2009. despite myriad forces operating against Perhaps the most important reason which the continued existence of so tiny a Jainism has been projected to be contributed to the continued existence of the heterodox minority”.1 in decline, under threat, and/or in Jaina community to the present day is the Scholars of Jain religion and history excellent organisation of the community. have always made it a priority to track need of protection; and it assesses – Sangave (1980: 377). the steps taken as a result of such changes in the strength of the Jain The greatest threat to the continued exist- community over the aeons. P S Jaini and perceptions. Examining Jainism’s ence of Jainism came not from some exter- nal source but from a spiritual decay within many of the historians of early Jainism position as a minority religion the Jaina society itself. have consistently focused their attention in India and abroad, this asks – Jaini (1998: 306). on how the fate of the Jain community why authors and pundits have he fi rst section of this article re- was tied to royal houses and their pa- views the historiography of Jainism tronage. They trace the rise of sectarian- often expressed concern for the Tthat focuses on issues such as ism and mourn that the separation of survival of the Jain community, temple destruction in medieval India, Jain centres north and south meant that and if such fears are at all conversion, loss of political patronage, the community was “irrevocably divided founded. It will also look at some and the extinction of Jain’s sister religion, along geographical lines” (ibid: 278). Buddhism, in India in the 14th century. Coming to the medieval period, of course recent attempts at preservation. The second section takes up the modern the impact of the Muslim invasions, the and contemporary discourse on Jain subsequent conversions, and the loss of decline, survival, and resuscitation. Here, temples are major themes in this histori- particular attention will be paid to ography. Historians refl ecting on Jaina writing on the demographic situation decline suggest that while during the facing the Jain lay and monastic com- Rashtrakuta period (750-1,000 CE) wholly munities in the 20th century. The third one-third of the population of the Deccan section considers the recent political de- probably followed the teachings of bates on Jain minority status in India. Mahavir, the number of Jainas subse- Here the issue of Jain-Hindu hybridity quently faced a rapid and massive dimi- and right-wing/Hindutva approaches to nution (Altekar 1934: 313). When dis- Jainism will come to the fore. Finally, cussing the health of Jainism in the me- this article concludes with a discussion dieval period much is made of the “spir- of how Jain concerns for the health of itual decay of the Jain community”, the their religion and community have mani- increase in Jaina-Brahmin confl ict, and fested themselves in the recent advent the diffi culties Jains faced being labelled of the International School for Jain atheistic and anti-vedic (Jaini 1998: 306; Studies and other institutional commu- Sangave 1980: 385). nity building projects. Endangerment Jaina Historiography Yet these are not mere antiquarian anxi- P S Jaini, perhaps the most acclaimed eties. The historiography of endanger- scholar of ancient and medieval Jainism, ment, the trope of survival and decline once mused in his pioneering magnum in the writings of ancient historians, opus The Jaina Path of Purifi cation indo logists and medievalists alike, (1998: 274), that “the basic question” springs from concerns for the health of Ezra D Rashkow ([email protected]) of Jaina history is “how Jainism, alone contemporary Jainism. To understand is at the Montclair State University, Montclair, among the non-vedic Sramana traditions, the r easons for these concerns let us ex- New Jersey, the US. has been able to survive and prosper in amine some work on the demographic

24 december 7, 2013 vol xlviii no 49 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY position of the modern Jaina community. see that according to the Census of India, of this century and that is why there was a V A Sangave’s Jaina Community: A Social the population of Jains again nearly continuous decline in the Jaina population Survey stands as a particularly sombre doubled between the years 1971 and [as reported in the Census of India] during the decades from 1891 to 1921.2 assessment of the state of Jainism. In his 2001 from 2.6 to 4.2 million; though work he concludes “Since the middle there is admittedly a decline in Jains as Sangave further argues that since ages the Jainas are declining day by day a percentage of the population in this I ndependence there has been a noticeable in number and their infl uence is continu- period from 0.47% to 0.41% (Table 1). push by Jains to reorganise and strengthen ously waning. If the same process contin- Table 1: Population of Jains in India the Jain community, and that a similar ues it is likely that the Jaina community Year Total Jains as % of % +/ – in Jain movement was not seen in the years will have to face total extinction within a Number India’s Population Population prior to Independence when Jains chose 1881 12,21,896 0.48 – period of a few centuries” (Sangave to lump themselves under the Hindu 1891 14,16,177 0.49 +15.9 1980: 385). And declining population, banner. He writes, “After Independence 1901 13,34,039 0.45 -5.8 argued Sangave (1980: 388), is “the most there has been a great religious awaken- 1911 12,48,182 0.40 -6.4 important, serious and urgent problem 1921 11,78,596 0.37 -5.6 ing among the Jainas and nowadays the confronting the Jaina community”. 1931 12,52,105 0.36 +6.2 Jainas defi nitely regard themselves as However, Sangave’s assertion that the 1941 14,49,286 0.37 +15.8 Jainas and not as Hindus” (ibid). Jain population is in decline seems to 1951 16,18,406 0.45 +11.7 stand in contradiction to the empirical 1961 20,27,248 0.46 +25.3 Minority Status evidence he himself presents in his book. 1971 26,04,646 0.47 +28.5 Today, the idea that theirs may not be Between 1881 and 1971, the years Sangave ... a separate and distinct religion from selected for his survey of the Census of 2001 42,25,053 0.41 +62.21 Hinduism comes as an anathema to many India, the Jain population more than Sources: Sangave (1980); Government of India (2001). Jains. It is only in the last few years, how- doubled from around 1.2 million to 2.6 Interestingly, if we examine the table ever, that Jains have been offi cially granted million. Meanwhile, Jains as a percent- above, we can immediately notice the minority status in several states including age of India’s population remained rela- large decline in the Jain population both in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, tively stable at about 0.47%-0.48% or numbers and as a percentage of India’s Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, 47-48 people in 10,000. This, of course, population in the early 20th century. Jharkhand, and Delhi. Most recently, on puts Jains in the position of a minuscule Apparently, to quote Sangave (1980:3), Mahavir Jayanti in April 2013, the Jain minority, but it does not refl ect the mas- the tendency among the Jains to regard them- community of the Punjab was fi nally sive demographic decline that Sangave selves as Hindus was very prominently notice- accorded minority status. After many years warns of in his conclusions. And so we able among the Jainas from the beginning of voicing the demand to be recognised Figure 1: Newspaper Articles on Jain Minority Status

Economic & Political Weekly EPW december 7, 2013 vol xlviii no 49 25 COMMENTARY as a religious minority, the Punjab govern- controversy highlights is the relative secu- Jawahar lal Nehru on 3 September 1949, ment under Chief Minister Parkash Singh rity and affl uence of the Jain community. in his Allahabad speech when he said: Badal fi nally made this demand a reality. Many who oppose granting Jain minority No doubt India had a vast majority of Hindus, In Rajasthan, minority status was fi rst status do so because they feel Jains may but they could not forget the fact that there granted under the previous Congress be seeking extra advantages, where they are also minorities Moslems, Christians, Parsis government in 1998, and then taken already have great comparative advantage. and Jains. If India was understood as a ‘Hindu away when the Bharatiya Janata Party Since minority status in India is associated Rashtra’ it meant that the minorities were 3 (BJP) came to power in 2003. Following with economic, educational, and political not cent per cent citizens of the country. the move in the Punjab, Chief Minister benefi ts such as reservations and in Yet ironically, the push for minority Ashok Gehlot has recently affi rmed that schools, workplaces, and the government, status has largely served to stir up chau- his government would soon move to re- it is understandable that Jain claims to vinistic Hindu-right rhetoric asserting that store minority status for the community. this status have been highly contested. Jains are in fact Hindus, and so part of In the last decade or so this issue of the This, however, seems to be a problem of the great “Hindu Rashtra”. Thus, while the categorisation of Jainism as a religious layers of meaning attached to the term community has been granted minority identity separate from mainstream Hindu- minority in these politically correct days, status in Maharashtra, the BJP has ism has become a major bone of conten- and does not challenge the de facto resisted granting Jains minority status tion in India. Since the year 1980 we can point that Jainism is a minority religion. in neighbouring Gujarat and Rajasthan. see a consistent increase in newspaper In educationist Subhash Parmar’s words, Under Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s articles about Jain minority status in It’s not just about benefi ts. The status will help saffron front both Jains and Buddhists are India (Figure 1, p 25). reassert the individuality of the Jain faith. Turn classifi ed as Hindu. As Sandeep Khardekar, Although Jainism has been listed as a the pages of history, and you’ll realise that the president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva major religion in the census since its followers of Mahavira have always held their Morcha (BJYM) put it, inception in 1871, there has been quite a lot own. During the time of the Raj, however, they chose to fi ght under the Hindu umbrella. I don’t think the Jains are justifi ed in asking of resistance to granting Jains minority But our culture and practises are unique to us, for a minority status. And it is a fact that Jains are a part of Hinduism. To cite another status in India. To understand why, we and we don’t wish to forget that (quoted from instance, Punjabi families have the eldest ExpressIndia.com, 30 November 2004). must consider the multiple meanings of son as a Sikh, while others are Hindus. His- the term minority. In this view, minority status is a means torically speaking, many sects originated from From one perspective, the term minority of cultural and religious preservation. As the Hindu faith (quoted from ExpressIndia. in India is associated with government Parmar’s quotation suggests, the other com, 30 November 2004). benefi ts and a protected status. India issue at stake besides benefi ts in Jains It will take time to determine whether is a nation full of the impoverished, seeking minority status is their assertion the push for minority status will help or the oppressed, and the endangered. But of themselves as a distinct community hinder the Jain cause in the end. it is also a nation full of great affl uence outside the ambit of Hinduism. Thus, But what precisely is the Jain cause? and power. Interestingly one of the advocates of Jain minority status often, What is to be protected and what is to be major issues that the Jain minority status and proudly, refer to the words of set aside? 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26 december 7, 2013 vol xlviii no 49 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY many argue that in order for Jainism to the ISJS 2009 brochure, we are told that Jaipur when he said to us, “So, in India, survive into the future, caste and sectar- organisers of this school “have carried Jainism is in the decline… [Long pause.] ian differences within the religion must the message of Lord Mahavir with speed Not Jainism, but Jain scholarship.” As one be removed.4 The irony here seems to be and diligence, making certain that it will ISJS Power Point presentation puts it: that while the removal of casteism and be passed on to the next generation”. “• Building Temples is Not Enough sectarianism may be seen as noble goals, Indeed, concern for spreading the teach- • Extensive Temple building in recent the push also seems to be towards the ings of Mahavir and all the Tirthankaras years • Temples alone will not preserve removal of certain traditional elements seems to be an imperative within Jainism. Jainism • It is essential to preserve Jain as well as the internal diversity within Numerous historical examples abound Learning and prepare competent scholars Jainism. So the question becomes how of conversion of entire populations with- who will teach Jainism.” It is hoped that does the impulse to save one minority, in India to Jainism. But most of the ISJS scholars “will spread Jainism” by namely, Jainism, square with the ten- speakers at ISJS stress that there is no going on to develop courses about Jainism, dency towards removing internal minor- push in Jainism to make converts, only to research and publish on Jainism, etc, and ities within the Jain community? make everybody follow the doctrines of that this will bring “Benefi ts to Jainism Sangave, who himself calls for ending Tirthankaras: mainly ahimsa. Again we in India”. caste and sectarian differences within see this concern for spreading the word One particular hope seems to be that Jainism, nevertheless points out that come up in a conversation b etween a vice through this intercultural exchange “Jain perhaps 60% of Jain castes are in signi- president of Jain Digest, a publication youth will no longer see Jainism as an fi cant decline. According to his survey, in the US, and the Terapanth Acharya old-fashioned, impractical and isolated in 1980 there were a little over 100 Mahaprajna. As Kirit C Daftary writes, system”. This statement in itself could open Jain castes, but “there are nearly sixty “After brief exchanges of compliments, a whole other aspect of the discussion of castes whose population is less than one Acharya Mahaprajna inquired as to how Jain endangerment concerns – namely, hundred. There are 17 castes which are on Jaina is spreading the message of the generational gap and especially the the way of [sic] being wiped out” (Sangave Mahavir in [the] US?” On the other hand, survival of Jainism in diaspora where as 1980: 70). In the Jaina Digambara the concern about fracturing the diaspora Sulekh Jain put it in the ISJS 2009 bro- Directory we fi nd similar fi gures. It says community with sectarianism also creeps chure, there is distress “that many of the there are 87 castes, 41 having populations into their dialogue: American-born Jain youths… are either less than 500, and only 15 with popula- ignorant about their own religion or I asked Acharya how could we maintain unity tions greater than 5,000 (ibid: 72). Thus, of Jains in North America? How could all sects have developed an apathy towards it”. each caste forms a very small group, of Jains stay together? If Terapanth were going Through encouraging scholarship, the except for a very few castes such as the to open up their own centers in US some of hope seems to be to ensure the survival Oswalas, Srimalas, Agarwalas, Khande- current Jain members would leave the existing of Jainism. This article simply asks: is lavas, Saitavalas, Paravaras, Chaturthas, centers and join new centers. Thus, it could Jainism endangered? Is its survival dilute our numbers and weaken our strength.5 and Panchamas. And these groups are only at stake? likely to get smaller if strict rules of endog- Next in the ISJS brochure, we have a amy are enforced. If anything, it may be message from Sulekh C Jain who writes Notes the caste system that is endangered within I have noticed that compared to other religions 1 See also Jaini (1979, 1976). Jainism. Depending on who you talk to, of India, Jainism is the least known and most 2 But in 1931 Jains boycotted the census as part of Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. Thus this may prove the point that not every- misunderstood religion not only in the general Jain numbers in that year refl ected the views of thing endangered is worth protecting. population but also in academia as well…. A the census makers and were not based on self- good part of the problem is that the old guard reporting. of Jain academic scholars, who are mostly 3 Cited from The Statesman, 5-9-1949. The Academic Study of Jainism confi ned to India in any event, are now in 4 For example, when Anne Vallely circulated a survey among Jains in Canada, many refused Typically, calling something endangered their late 70s and 80s. Their numbers are to answer it if questions included caste or sec- implies that the subject is threatened and dwindling rapidly and there is hardly any- tarian affi liation. needs to be preserved. Let us consider one in the pipeline to replace them. For Jain- 5 Jain Digest 23, No 4 (Winter 2004: 8). how the perceived need to protect Jainism ism to take its rightful place amongst the world’s great religious traditions, Jainism References has manifested itself in creation and must not only be preserved in Indian univer- Altekar, A S (1934): Rashtrakutas and Their Times. curriculum of the International School sities and centres of learning, but must be Jaini, Padmanabh S (1976): “The Jainas and the for Jain Studies (ISJS), and other recent incorporated into the academic institutions Western Scholar” in Sambodhi, V: Dr A N Upadhye Jain institutions. Part of the motivation of the West and the rest of the world. Commemoration Volume, 121-31, Ahmedabad. – (1979): “Disappearance of Buddhism and the behind the ISJS, as explicitly s tated in Here we can see that there is another Survival of Jainism: A Study in Contrast” in the literature, is that by supporting its sense in which Jainism is endangered and A K Narayan (ed.), Proceedings of the Seminar on the World History of Buddhism (Madison: academic study Jainism itself will be pre- in need of preservation. It is not only Wisconsin). served, and the message of Mahavir will practice, but knowledge that needs to be – (1998): The Jaina Path of Purifi cation, Motilal be spread. Starting with the opening preserved. The same concern was put Banarsidass Publishers. Sangave, V A (1980): Jaina Community: A Social Survey, message by Cromwell Crawford found in somewhat more bluntly by K C Sogani in 2nd ed (Bombay: Popular Prakashan), 377.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW december 7, 2013 vol xlviii no 49 27