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Home , Digambara, Jainism, Jainism in India, Jain meditation

111111xxx00010.1177/1111111111111111 Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

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Early History The origins of the of the Jinas are obscure. Jainism (Jinism), one of the oldest surviving reli- According to tradition, the has no founder. gious traditions of the world, with a focus on It is taught by 24 omniscient prophets, in every and for the few, was confined half-cycle of the eternal wheel of . Around the to the Indian subcontinent until the 19th century. fourth century BCE, according to modern research, It now projects itself globally as a solution to the last prophet of our epoch in world his- world problems for all. The main offering to mod- tory, Prince Vardhamāna—known by his epithets ern global society is a refashioned form of the Jain mahāvīra (“great hero”), tīrthaṅkāra (“builder of ethics of (ahiṃsā) and nonpossession a ford” [across the ocean of suffering]), or jina (aparigraha) promoted by a of non- (spiritual “victor” [over attachment and karmic one-sidedness (anekāntavāda). bondage])—renounced the world, gained enlight- The recent transformation of Jainism from an enment (kevala-jñāna), and henceforth propagated of world renunciation into an ideology a universal doctrine of individual salvation (mokṣa) for world transformation is not unprecedented. It of the ( or jīva) from the karmic cycles belongs to the global movement of religious mod- of and redeath (saṃsāra). In contrast ernism, a 19th-century theological response to the to the dominant sacrificial practices of Vedic ideas of the European Enlightenment, which West- Brahmanism, his method of salvation was based on ernized elites in South embraced under the the practice of nonviolence (ahiṃsā) and asceticism influence of colonialism, global industrial capital- (). After enlightenment, Mahāvīra formed ism, and modern science and technology. In the a order of and , called early discourse of Jain modernism, Jainism was nirgranthas and nirgranthīs (“unattached ones”), framed not only as a religion, in the sense of the which became the heart of the caturvidha-saṅgha new Religionswissenschaft (Science of Religion), (“fourfold community”) of monks, nuns, male but also as a world religion, both by colonial , and female laity. The mendicant orders of the administrators and by Western-educated Jain com- nirgranthas were the first monastic organizations munity leaders, promoting the reformist agenda of the world. Access was not predicated on social that now dominates Jain culture, especially in the criteria and, in principle, was open to all. Already global Jain diaspora. during Mahāvīra’s lifetime, the began

975 Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

976 Jainism to split into many independently organized groups Panjabi Śvetāmbaras from the Osvāl and Śrīmālī or orders (gaṇa, , etc.) which, together with castes, started to migrate beyond famine-stricken their respective lay following (often recruited from , first to East Africa, where the majority a particular local clan or caste), formed rival worked in their traditional professions as shop- under a variety of designations. From the begin- keepers and traders, and later to Britain, North ning of the Common Era, additionally, the two America, and other parts of the world. Wherever main denominations of the monks they settled, the migrants constructed community (“sky-clad”—that is, naked) and the Śvetāmbara and , which often transcended (“white-clad”) monks developed along geographic traditional boundaries of , caste, and region and doctrinal lines. The former are still predomi- because of the small number of local Jain families. nant in north, central, and southern , and the Devoid of the support of Jain mendicants and latter prevail in . other religious experts, lay Jains also presented their religion in the public sphere and, in this way, contributed to the growing global recognition and Colonialism and Revivalism appeal of Jainism even beyond the confines of the The word (colloquially: jain), or traditional Jain subsects and subcastes. The pat- jainī, came to be more commonly used as a self- tern of migrant trading communities contributing designation and in as a family name to the global spread of an internally highly diverse by the followers of the Jina under the influence of confirms sociological stereotypes. religious nationalism and communalism, in the 19th Yet, the values of orthodox Jainism, although century, while the English word Jainism replaced universal in outlook and appeal, work against ancient terms such as jina- (“doctrine of globalization, if understood as a of material the Jina”) or jina-mārga (“path of the victorious”). practices involving the unrestrained movement of At the same time, the preachings (pravacana) of people, goods, capital, , and cultural Mahāvīra, which are said to inform the scriptural values throughout the world. They demand, on corpus (āgama or siddhānta) redacted in the fifth the contrary, restraint in all spheres of action, in century CE, were for the first time made acces- “mind, speech, and body,” and explicitly discour- sible to a wider public, both Jain and non-Jain, age long-distance travel and unlimited expansion through print editions and translations into Indic of the spheres of action. The ancient Śvetāmbara and European languages. Particularly influential scriptures stipulate the compulsory peregrinations were the text editions and translations of H. Jacobi of Jain mendicants, performed to ensure perpetual (1882, 1884, 1894), which furnished clear textual nonattachment, to be confined to a circumscribed proof for the historical independence of the Jaina region in northern India, between Aṅga- tradition from Brahmanism and . They to the east, Kauśāmbī to the south, the Sthūṇā area still serve as reference points for the construction of to the west, and Takṣaśilā () to the north communal Jain identity by means of modern char- (the fertile plains and heartland of Vedic culture ters such as Jaina law (Jain, 1926; Jaini, 1916), Jaina between modern and the Hindukush), and community (Sangave, 1959), Jain ecology (Singhvi, all other regions “where Jaina knowledge, 2002), or Jain economics (Mahāprajña, 2000), and and conduct is well established” (KS 1.51). The are cited in public forums, such as the first World daily begging round should also not exceed a Congress of in 1893, where certain distance, and the exceptional crossing of Jainism was presented to a global public by the waterways by boat only was equally strictly regu- lawyer V. R. Gandhi (1893), acting on behalf of the lated. One of the 12 principal vows for Jain laity, Śvetāmbara Vijaya Ānanda Sūri (1836–1896) the diga- (“restriction of distance”), demands who, in accordance with Jain monastic rules, could a formal commitment not to transgress the limits not use any means of transport and travel overseas. of a circumscribed area of movement in order to reduce the overall quantity of violence against all forms of life. In practice, this vow is rarely Migration and Worldwide Mission taken, except in the last stages of life. Yet, acts of For economic reasons, from the late 19th century deliberate self-limitation in all spheres of action, onward, Jain laity, the majority Gujarati and especially regarding contexts of exploitation (of Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

Jainism 977 animals and humans), (re)production, accumula- Jain modernism are the impact of modern science tion, consumption, and movement, are still highly on the interpretation and frequently reductionist praised and currently creatively reinterpreted in (re-)formulation of Jain doctrine (“essence of terms of the modern concerns of ecology, vegan- Jainism”) and the deliberate break with traditional ism, and , unknown to traditional sectarian and caste identities. The increased role Jainism. For a variety of other, partly modern, rea- and recognition of lay intellectuals and of women sons, such as fear of pollution, until the mid-20th in religion are also notable, as is the use of English century, Jains and other high-caste Indians were as a new lingua franca for global Jainism, supple- generally not permitted by their caste councils to menting cosmopolitan Sanskrit and sanskritized travel overseas, on threat of excommunication. in India, and of print and electronic media, Although standards of conduct are perceived to be which are all rejected by traditionalists. Central is dropping continuously even in the Jain communi- the nontraditional understanding and imaginative ties, in line with the doctrinally predicted overall rationalization and packaging, by modernizers and trend in our “” (yuga), there is still some antimodernizers alike, of a great variety of received stigma attached to occupations engaged in acts of and practices from the point of view of violence, notably industrial production. Yet, an modern science (Jain biology, Jain physics, Jain increasing number of monastic and lay commu- mathematics, Jain , etc.). Increasingly, nity leaders criticize orthodox “obstinacy” to the and mythology are not read literally “necessary adaptation” of religion to the “changed anymore but as symbols of the path of salvation; requirements of the times” and promote the use asceticism and meditation are presented as means of modern technology and means of transport for improving physical and mental health; non- enabling not only laity but also novices and even violence and the protection of life should not be fully initiated (but excommunicated) mendicants, practiced anymore primarily for “self-centered” who act on their own accord, to travel overseas salvific reasons but for social reasons and for the to serve the diaspora communities and to promote protection of the biosphere, animal liberation, and Jainism as a world religion through other “altruistic” motives. Innovative religious tours around the globe. practices include new forms of and Jaina , based on a new reading of selected pas- sages in the Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist scriptures New Religious Ideas and Practices and ecumenical religious functions. Debates between “ancient” and “modern” inter- pretations of Jainism are old. However, Jain mod- Social and Political Activism ernism as an ideology, that is, the belief in the superiority of the present over the past, and as a Jain modernism is significant, because it projects discourse, structured by the opposition modern- itself globally as an alternative form of modernity. ism/antimodernism, is a development that affects It offers templates for a better , integrating the antimodernist rhetoric of Jain or science and ethics under a canopy of universally traditionalism (prācīntāvāda) against heterodoxy acceptable Jain values such as nonviolence and or modernism (navīntāvāda) as well. In contrast to non-one-sidedness. It claims that the universal traditional discourses about problems of deviation implementation of Jain values in the world was of practice from precept or problems of adaptation always part of the sociopolitical agenda of the tra- of old models to new contexts though exegesis, the dition. Yet, at the beginning of the modern reform discourse of Jain modernism often uses old materi- movements in the 19th and 20th centuries, social als for the “invention” of entirely new concepts reform within the Jain community topped the and practices, such as Jain ecology, Jain vegan- agenda, including the abolishment of casteism, sec- ism, or Jainism as a world religion and answer to tarianism, introduction of modern Western-style global problems. It is recognizable by its optimistic education (for both men and women), abolish- rhetoric of change, using terms such as scientific, ment of dowry, ostentatious wedding and funeral national, global, ecological, development, prog- feasts, and other outdated customs, as well the ress, revolution, mission, Jain community, Jaina purification of the saṅgha, that is, improvement of law, Jaina studies, and Jain spirit. Main features of the standards of conduct and education of monks Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

978 Jainism and nuns. Communalists stress the importance of and international forums; (6) the growing interest Jain marriages across sectarian and caste boundar- of non-Jains in the Jain way of life, philosophi- ies, while excluding non-Jains, and the religious cal pluralism, and the resulting incorporation of minority rights of Jains. Others argue that Jains, Jainism in school and university curricula world- although distinct from a religious point of view, wide. The globally perceived significance of the are culturally and socially . They tend to understanding of the Jaina tradition and its influ- reject isolationist political agendas and highlight ence is currently reflected in a plethora of new the organic integration of Jains into “Hindu soci- textbooks and university courses on Jainism being ety.” Other points of controversy concern indis- set up across the world. It is too early to assess criminate charity to members of low castes, the the social impact of the new culturally thinned- poor, even if they are eaters and consumers out globalized versions of Jainism and of one of alcohol, and the acceptability of members from trans-sectarian global Jain community, which are non-Jain castes in the newly constituted modern significant primarily as regulative ideas. It can be community organizations. The recent transcultural expected that traditional sectarian divisions will and transnational social and political agenda of reemerge in the Jain diaspora as soon as a critical Jain activists is entirely different from the earlier mass of migrants is locally present. Conversions to social reform movements in India. Beyond indi- Jainism will probably remain exceptions. Yet the vidual political and social preferences, it addressed new global reverberations of Jain ideals and prac- globally shared concerns of the educated middle tices of nonviolence as a for alternative classes, Jains and non-Jains alike (Tobias, 1993): lifestyles are potentially immense. (a) self-development through change of lifestyle: (health, nutrition, etc.), , Peter Flügel meditation, retreats, and so forth; (b) sustainable development based on self-restraint; (c) ethics of See also Acculturation; ; Colonialism; nonviolence and global peace initiatives (especially Community; Cosmopolitanism; Diasporas; Elites; Gandhiism); and (d) animal rights and ecology. Empires; Global Religions, Beliefs, and ; Identities in Global Societies; Religious Identities; Values; Women’s Rights Global Organizations

The first generation of migrants of the emerg- Further Readings ing global Jain diaspora fashioned modern lay associations and registered charities reflecting Banks, M. (1992). Organizing and traditional divisions of caste, sect, and regional England. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. background. These organizations are primarily Cort, J. E. (2000). Intellectual ahiṃsā” revisited: Jain oriented to community self-help. By contrast, the tolerance and intolerance of others. Philosophy East abundance of new competing national and world & West, 50, 324–347. Jain federations, whether engaged in transnational Dundas, P. (2002). The Jains (2nd ed.). : activity and aspects of global society or only virtu- Routledge. Flügel, P. (2005). The invention of Jainism: A short ally existing, are a relatively recent phenomenon. history of Jaina studies. Journal of Jaina Studies At least six factors contribute to their growth: (Kyoto), 11, 1–19. (1) modern forms of mass communication and trans- Gandhi, V. R. (1893). The philosophy and ethics of portation; (2) global commercial interests and the Jains. In The world’s congress of religions networks; (3) the transnational Indian and Jain (pp. 370–376). Boston: Arena. marriage market; (4) worldwide Jain missions, Jacobi, H. (Trans.). (1884–1895). Jaina sūtras. In both sectarian and trans-sectarian, lay and men- M. Müller (Ed.), Sacred books of the East dicant led, and interfaith networks; (5) the desire (Vols. 22 & 45). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. of the Jain elites to secure recognition, rights, Jain, C. R. (Comp.). (1926). The Jaina law. Madras, and privileges for their religion, community, and India: Mallinath. organizations by the United Nations, national Jaini, J. L. (1916). Jaina law (“Bhadrabāhu Samhitā”). governments around the globe, and other national Arrah, India: Central Jaina Publishing House. Copyright © 2012 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

Johannesburg 979

KS = Das -sūtra. Die alte Sammlung jinistischer contributing one tenth of the subcontinent’s gross Mönchsvorschriften [The Kalpa-Sūtra. An old domestic product. collection of disciplinary rules for Jaina monks] Johannesburg has often been called “the power- (E. Leumann, Ed.; J. A. S. Burgess, Trans.). (1905). house of Africa.” This is in reference to its strong Leipzig, Germany: Otto Harrassowitz. industrial foundation and its high manufacturing Mahāprajña, Ā. (2000). Economics of output, both of which stem from the development (S. R. Mohnot, Trans.). New , India: Vikas. of the mining industry in and around the area of Sangave, V. A. (1980). Jaina community (2nd ed.). present-day Johannesburg. The origins of the city Bombay, India: Popular Prakashan. (Original work lie in the late 19th-century discovery of on the published 1959) Witwatersrand (literal translation, “White Waters’ Singhvi, L. M. (2002). Jain declaration on nature. In Ridge”) of South Africa. Until that time, the region C. Chapple (Ed.), Jainism and ecology (pp. 217–224). now constituting Johannesburg was largely agrar- Cambridge, MA: Harvard Center for the Study of ian, settled first by an indigenous San population . Tobias, M. (1993). Life force: The world of Jainism. (colloquially known as Bushmen) and from the Freemont, CA: Asian Press. early 13th century onward by Bantu-speaking migrants from central Africa. European settlers, in the form of Voortrekkers descended from Dutch colonizers who initially established a maritime outpost at the Cape, arrived during the first part of Johannesburg the 18th century. Seeking independence from the Cape’s new imperial powers—Great Britain—and Johannesburg is a large, inland metropolis located having defeated the native Matabele, the Voortrek- in the northeast of South Africa. Its size and cur- kers established the independent Zuid-Afrikaansche rent economic strength make it one of the leading Republiek (ZAR). This republic encompassed the cities in the global South, while its illustrious past Witwatersrand and some towns in the far north of as a world mining capital lends it a place among South Africa. The discovery of gold on a farm in history’s key cities. 1886 in what is present-day Johannesburg sparked Johannesburg is the capital of Gauteng Province, a gold rush and the influx of scouts and aspirant one of the nine politico-administrative regions that miners from as distant as Europe, the Americas, were established during South Africa’s transition and Asia. Rapid population growth soon trans- from apartheid in the mid-1990s. Gauteng is the formed the farm into a large settlement. In Octo- smallest, but economically most significant, prov- ber 1886, the ZAR proclaimed it as a permanent ince in South Africa. With a total population of settlement and it was named Johannesburg. There 10.5 million (close to one quarter of the national is some dispute over the choice of the name. A population), it is also the country’s most populous predominant theory is that the settlement was province. Consisting of a series of densely con- named after Johann Rissik and Christiaan Johannes nected and expansive urban municipalities, Gauteng Joubert, two officials appointed by the ZAR to Province is best described as a massive conurba- demarcate a suitable area within the Witwa- tion. The municipal district of Johannesburg con- tersrand for mineral prospecting. stitutes the biggest part of that conurbation. Indeed, Whatever the origins of its name, Johannesburg with a land area of 1,645 square kilometers (just grew at a rapid pace, outstripping the development over 635 square miles) and a population estimated of other South African cities. Johannesburg was in 2007 by South Africa’s national statistical declared a city in 1928, having established itself by agency at 3.9 million, Johannesburg is the largest that time as the unquestionable industrial engine and most densely populated city in South Africa. In of the country. Much of this growth founded on terms of size, Johannesburg ranks well below the the large-scale extraction of the gold, coal, and mega-cities of Africa such as Lagos in Nigeria and precious metal reserves located in the city and Cairo in Egypt (both with an estimated population surrounding areas but was bolstered by the devel- of around 15 million). Yet it is one of the opment of a manufacturing industry and the main economic centers of sub-Saharan Africa, expan­sion of secondary production. At the same