24 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ON JAINISM
The following questions were asked by the Jain youths over last few years. The answers presented here are not necessarily the ultimate ones. There could surely be better answers than those given below.
19 Questions & Answers on Non-violence
Basic Questions & Answers on Jainism
Answer-1:
There are many books. For example, there are
45 canonical books (Jain Ägäms) according
to the Shwetambar-Murtipujak
tradition. In addition there are numerous books that provide details of Jain
philosophy. If there is one book to be named for Jain philosophy, it would be “Tattvartha sutra” by Umaswati (also
known as Umaswami). As a minimum, every Jain should have this book in their
home and, should read and understand it.
Answer-2:
The Sanskrit
word for the religion is Dharma. Dharma
means the nature of the thing. For all living beings, the soul is the real
thing. The religion therefore means to see, to know and to realize the true
nature of the soul. In other words, the laws of nature in truest and purest
form are the religion.
Laws of nature
lead us to the laws of self-initiative and self-effort. Without self-efforts
and self-initiative, one cannot see, know or realize the true qualities of
Self. That’s why Jainism relies a great deal on one's own efforts and
initiatives, and laws of nature.
Our present fate
is due to our past Karma. One can change
it by self-effort .
Unlike other
living beings, we, human beings, have
reasoning mind and capacity to think rationally. We have curiosity. We want to
live a peaceful, happy and simple life. Since the time immemorial, we curious
human beings have been seeking answers to the questions such as: who am I? Who
am I not? Who is God? Who made the universe? What is my relationship with the
universe? What is my real nature? How can I achieve my own nature, my true
self? How do I achieve permanent happiness? Right answers to these questions
constitute the religion.
Answer-3:
It is believed that Parshvanath and Lord
Mahavir were historical entities.The name of Rushabhdev occurs in Vedic literature. This makes Jainism as old
as the Vedic religion, if not older. Similarly, the existence of Jainism is
mentioned in the canonical books of the Buddhism. Historians also agree that
the Jainism is a pre-historical religion. Recent archeological discoveries like
figures of Rushabhdev substantiate the Jain religion’s existence since five
thousand years. There are tens of thousands of years old caves that have
paintings echoing Jainism.
There has been
countless time-cycles in the past. During each half time cycles (trillions and
trillions of years long), we have 24 Tirthankars. Therefore, the Jain religion
has been preached by our Tirthankars during each half cycle.
Extraordinary
details on the practice “non-violence”, the concept of six substances of the
universe, nine realities and many similar things preached in Jainism do
support, represent and substantiate the laws of nature and the laws of
universal balance. The Jain religion and the laws of nature are synonymous.
Therefore, our religion has been in existence since the laws of nature have
been in existence. Therefore, Jains believe that the Jain religion has been in
existence since the time without beginning and will have no end.
Answer-4: Hindu and Jain, both religions are
independent. It is a wrong belief that the Jain religion is derived from the
Vedic religion. Because of the thousands of years of common history and
parallel culture of Hindus and Jains, there are many similarities. Both
religions preach that non-violence
constitutes the supreme religion. Hindus and Jains are not distinguishable when
it comes to their attitude towards the life. It should be also noted that there
are some distinct differences between these two religions. The concept of
“non-violence” is much more detailed in Jainism. We, Jains do not believe that
the universe was created. We believe that the universe is self-regulated. No
one decides for us what we should get. We believe that we are the master of our
own destiny. There is no divine power who decides for us. We believe all living
beings are equal and all human beings are capable of achieving the liberation
regardless of their race, cast, sex or color. We do not believe that the souls
who have gone to Moksha come back to
earth (take a rebirth) to save the world.
Answer-5 We do not believe in any theory like
“First Chicken or Egg.” If we were created then we can be destroyed. But our
soul is immortal. Therefore, we could not have been created. We Jains believe that our souls were in existence
since the time without beginning and will be in existence forever (has no end).
There was no creation of the souls and will have no destruction of the souls.
We move from one body to another until we achieve the liberation. After the
liberation, we still exist forever in the pure soul form.
Answer-6: Jainism has said that there is a life in
the plant much before the science has proved it. It is true that vegetables and
fruits, both have lives. The ideal situation for a Jain would be to eat the
ripe fruit that has just fallen off a tree. Vegetables and fruits are
one-sensed living beings. One-sensed living beings have only “touch” sense. Their
development of consciousness (knowledge) is significantly less than the higher
(two, three, four and five)-sensed living beings like us, animals, birds, etc.
For example, the level of knowledge of one-sensed living beings is only a small
fraction of one letter. It is impossible to live a life with absolute
non-violence. We need to eat to survive and
we need to earn to live as a “house-holder”. But the basis of Jainism is “non-violence”. Therefore, we must
minimize the act of non-violence. Eating vegetables constitutes minimum act of
violence because: 1) Animals have more life-force, called Prän and more knowledge (purer -much more developed- consciousness)
than the vegetables. Therefore, killing animals constitutes the higher form of
violence. 2) Many other living organisms reside in an animal body and They get
multiplied in a dead body. 3) Vegetables have less living cells and more water
content. 4) We do not kill the plant
for vegetables. We take leaves, vegetables and fruits off the plants. By removing
vegetables and fruits from a tree, we sometimes lengthen the life span of the
tree. 5) Eating vegetables is healthier. 6) The anatomy (teeth, digestive
system, tongue, etc.) of human beings
is for eating vegetarian food.
Answer-7: a) The question implies that if we
cannot eat meat of cow, how can we consume cow’s milk. When we eat cow’s meat,
we kill the cow. When we use cow’s milk, we do not kill the cow. But we must
make sure the cow’s milk is extracted without causing pain to it and the milk
was in excess (we did not deprive the cow’s off-springs). If we do not remove
the excess milk from cow, we may be doing more harm to it than help. When we
use the butter and cheese, we should make sure that they (specially the cheese)
do not contain any animal ingredients. Jainism considers that the use of milk
and milk products is not conducive to spiritual
advancement. There are people in US who are called vegans. Vegans do not eat
dairy products.
b)
We should choose a profession or a business that has minimum amount of
violence. The Jain Ägams recommend
staying away from the trades that involve sufferings and killing of animals,
affect our environment and ecology, and pollute or dry-up our natural
resources. Trades that involve weapons and explosives, fire, cutting of trees,
fermented products like liquor, animal parts like ivory, leather and fur; lard,
meat and honey; poisonous and toxic substances, animal testing & use and
prostitution need to be avoided. Moreover, we should not buy stocks or
otherwise invest in such businesses.
Answer-8: a) Dead bodies of animals contain lot of
living organisms and that keeps on multiplying as time passes. Most organisms
have the same color as of the meat. Therefore, eating meat of naturally dead
animal does involve a high level of violence. Secondly, there is the risk of
dying by eating the dead animal because it may contain deadly decease or our
digestive system may not adjust to that meat-eating. It is of course hard to
court death in absence of innocent food. There are, however, examples of Jain
monks who died due to severe draught
rather than eating meat or even drinking sentient water. As Jains believe that
there is life after death, we should not worry about dying. One may argue that
the human life is very difficult to attain. This is true. But the act of bad
Karma (päp) like eating meat may lead
to hell in the next life. Meat eating only when there is no other alternative
is not acceptable to Jainism. If we practice the minor vows for house-holders,
then we will not be traveling to an unknown area. We will be limiting our
travels to the familiar areas. We will also be limiting our activities to the
essential needs. By resorting to such precepts, one can avert such hypothetical
situation. Jainism is more about prevention of wrong situations.
b)
This is fallacious since purchasing creates demand and encourages others to
kill. Thus it is equivalent to oneself committing the deed. The 'neat'
packaging of meat hides the pain that occurred before. It is unfortunate that
packaging keeps scenes of slaughterhouses off the minds of the consumers.
Mahavir Bhagwan said, "It is Himsä (violence)
- whether a man kills living beings himself/herself, or causes others to kill
them, or gives consent to others to kill.”
Answer-9:
The issue is not whether you eat from the
dish containing meat on one side. The real issue is how to avoid such a
situation. You should let your friend know that you are a vegetarian and you do
not eat meat. In all probabilities your friend will understand and respect your
belief and will not put you in a tough situation by serving you a dish that contains
meat. If he/she does, then he/she may not be your friend.
Answer-10:
The philisophy of Chärväka did not believe in the concepts of soul and Karma. That philosophy laid down to eat, spend and materially enjoy the life
even if you have to borrow. They claimed that no one knows whether there is a
next life.
First of all,
one practices the religion to attain the long-lasting happiness. Such happiness
can be achieved by removing the causes of all miseries. Enjoying the material world
may bring temporary happiness, but no one can attain the lasting happiness
through material things. We know that money, power, name, etc. do not guarantee
the happiness. How do we get rid of the
miseries? The root cause of all our miseries is attachment and aversion. When
we get what we want we feel happy (this is attachment) and we become unhappy
when we do not get what we want (this is aversion). The rules and regulations
are designed to reduce our attachment and aversion. However, one should not be
forced to practice what is not appealing to his/her common sense. One should
adopt the minor vows according to his/her own capacity, and then gradually
progress from there.
The religion is
for guiding us to find the inner (permanent) happiness. The goal of the
long-lasting happiness is not limited to only this life. We believe that we had
lives in past and will have lives in future until we achieve the liberation
(perfect happiness). Now, the next question is - how do we know that we had
previous lives and/or we will have a next life?
There are four ways to decide on the
things like whether there were previous lives and/or there is a next life.
These four ways are: 1)
self-experience, 2) believe in the people who have experienced it or what is said
in the Jain Ägäms (Canonical
books). 3) by inference and 4) by
analogy. In this fifth segment of the regressive half-time cycle, we do not
have the people with self-experience. We have Jain Ägams that can be trusted.
But in today’s world, one may ask for rationale. One has to rationalize
two major aspects:: 1) belief in the existence of soul and 2) belief in the theory of Karma. The existence of
soul can be reasoned out by comparing a dead body and a living being. The
differences between these two
bodies are
consciousness, feeling energy, ability
to act etc. These differences constitute the characteristics of the soul. This
leads us to believe that there is a substance like soul.
The theory of
Karma rests on the observance of various phenomena. Why are we not equal at the time of birth? Why are
some happy and some aren’t? Why are some healthy and some aren’t? Why are some good looking and
some aren’t? Why are some rich and some
aren’t? The rational explanation is that there has to be some aspect that makes
everyone different. Per Jainism, that aspect is called “Karma”. At the time of our
birth, each one of us has a different impact of Karma and that makes us
different from each other. We must be carrying such Karma from the previous life.
Similarly, we add or subtract to the
Karma every moment. With good-positive self-effort, we can
change the impact of our Karma. As
the impact decreases, the more realized are the characteristics of soul. As we
know, someone gets more reward for good work in this life, while someone gets
less or no reward for the same amount of good work. Why? One kills one person and gets a death sentence. While
someone else kills one hundred persons and still goes free . The reward is not
equal. Therefore, there has to be a next life to take care of such
discrepancies.
The next
question is - why don’t we remember our previous life? There are eight
different types of Karmas. One them
is knowledge-obscuring Karma. The
existence of that Karma does not let
us completely realize the knowledge component of our consciousness (soul).
There are five reasons that activate the knowledge-obscuring Karma: place, time, substance, emotions
and transition to next life. We do not remember everything we know at every
place, at every time. during every emotional experience and at every
substance-encounter. The time, the place, the feeling and the substance involve
in a particular situation decides how, when and where of its memory. The
transition of our soul (with our Karman body
and tejas body) to the next life
activates the knowledge-obstructing Karma.
Therefore, we do not remember the previous life. Since this transition to
another body is an extraordinary event as compared to other events in our
life, it makes us forget about our
previous life.
The next
question is - what happens when I
remember my previous life? If this happens, this could be the most fortunate
moment of our life. We will trust every thing that is said in our Ägäms. Our life will spiritually be
more focused.
Answer-11:
There are two types of vows, one for the
monks and one for house-holders. The vows for monks are called the major vows (Maha Vrata). In the practice of Maha Vrata, total abstinence from
violence, falsehood, stealing, carnality and possessiveness is observed. The
vows for the house-holders are called minor vows (Anu Vrata). House-holders
observe the vows of restraining from gross violence, lies, stealing, sexual activities and accumulation. These vows are not as strict
as the major vows. Each house-holder can observe such vows according to place,
time, feeling, capacity and profession. The degree of the practice can
thus vary. A house-holder takes the
vows with certain conditions that he/she thinks can practice without
feeling miserable. Observance of minor vows by house-holders and major vows by
Jain monks has been prevalent without
significant compromise since Bhagavän Mahavir’s time.
Answer-12: It is true that human life is difficult
to attain and the world’s population is increasing. Jainism says the human life
is difficult to attain in this universe. That is said in respect to the human
population in the universe. We do not have knowledge whether the population of
human beings in universe is increasing or not. If it is increasing, it has an
explanation that these people must have done good deeds in their past lives.
The good deeds (Karma) to attain a
human life include qualities like tolerance, straightforwardness, universal
friendship and respecting all living beings. Therefore, the human life is
difficult to attain. Intentional violence, attachment, meat-eating and killing
of five-sensed lives lead to the life in hell. Deceit, cheating, manipulation
and purposeful lying lead to a lower
form of the life. Restraint, austerity, etc., lead to the life in heaven. The
one sensed living beings are infinitely more than all other living beings
combined. There are more two-sensed lives than three-sensed lives and onwards.
The human beings are less than any
other living being. In addition, the human beings are the only ones who have
the capacity of rational thinking and conduct. This enables them to eradicate their Karmas. Therefore, the human life is the “must” before one can
attain the liberation (Moksha).
Answer-13: There are five supreme entities:
Arihants have 12 unique qualities,
Siddhas have 8, Acharyas have
36, Upadhyayas have 25, and. Sädhus
have 27. There are thus 108 unique
qualities of these five supreme entities. Each bead in the rosary represents
one such quality.
Answer-14:
There are eight major types of Karmas:
1) Knowledge-Obscuring, Jnänvarniya Karma,
2) Perception-Obscuring, Darshanvarniya
Karma, 3) Vigor-Obstructing, Antaray
Karma, 4) Deluding, Mohniya Karma,
5) Situation-Conferrling, Vedniya Karma,
6) Body-Making, Nam Karma, 7)
Status-determining, Gotra Karma and
8) Age span-Determining, Ayushya Karma.
The first four are the destructive (ghäti)
Karmas. They defile the real nature
of the soul. The last four Karmas are
non-destructive (aghäti) Karmas. When the first four Karmas are
eradicated, the person becomes keveli
and achieves perfect knowledge, perfect perception and perfect conduct. But
there are two types of kevelis: 1.
Ordinary and 2. Tirthankar. Ordinary kevalis do not show the path of
purification to others, while Tirthankar
kevalis preach the path of the
purification (liberation - Moksha) to
all living beings. Tirthankar means
who leads us across the ocean of suffering. Tirthankar
is not the founder of the religion, he/she is the propagator of truth, and path
of liberation which has been preached by other Tirthankars. When a kevali, whether he/she is an ordinary or
Tirthankar keveli, achieves Nirvän,
he/she eradicates the remaining
four (aghäti) Karmas and becomes a Sidhdha.
For example, Bhagavän Mahavir became
a Sidddha after his Nirvän.
Since he was a Tirthankar kevali we still call him a Tirthankar.
Answer-15:
It is true that They all look same. They have
chosen the same path of liberation by renouncing their worldly attachments and
have taken the same great vows as required for a Jain monk. However, Acharya is
the head of the religious order. He is a spiritual leader and monk-scholar, responsible for maintaining the rules of
conduct, providing spiritual guidance and handling the organizational
needs. Upädyäya is the teacher, who has
a detailed knowledge of Jain canonical books. The monks other than Ächärya and Upädyäya are Sädhus.
Answer-16: If we had 23 Tirthankars, then we would
have a question why there are only 23, no more or no less? There are certain
realities that do not need (or have) an explanation. They are just facts. So is
the number of Tirthankars.
Answer-17: We have more information on the lives of
Rushabhdev, Shantinath, Mallinath, Neminath, Parasnath, and Mahavir Swami
because there have been many extraordinary, impressive, unique and
message-oriented incidents in the lives of these Tirthankars as compared to others. Rushabhdev introduced the
necessary things to ease the transition from primitive life to an organized
one. For example he introduced, arts of men and women, languages, tools,
business and farming, governing body to handle state affairs, etc. Also there
were extraordinary events in his and his children’s lives. In case of
Shantinäth, there was an event of the previous life of Shantinäth that he was
willing to give his own flesh to save a bird. That event emphasized the
importance of non-violence. Mallinäth was a woman, and there is a event in her
life that she defused the war and
convinced marriage-seeking princes, who wanted to marry her, to initiate as monks. There is a very famous
event in the life of Neminäth, the chapter of Nem and Rajul. Lord Mahavir had
several extraordinary and exceptional events in his life; encounter with Sangamdev, facing chandkausik, association
and encounter with Goshalak, recorded discussion with his to-be eleven disciples, case
of Chandanbäla, etc. There are no
significant events in the lives of other Tirthankars
like these six Tirthankaras.
Answer-18:
We have been told by Lord Mahavir who
attained the perfect knowledge. The preaching of the Lord Mahavir was passed on
to us by his main disciples. The perfect knowledge means the knowledge of past,
present and future about all the living beings and non-living substances..
Answer-19:
Paryushana means to stay closer, to
stay closer to the self - to our soul (Ätmä).
Paryushana parva consists of eight
(Shwetambar tradition) to ten days (Digambar tradition) . During that period,
Jains practice various restraints like not eating (fasting) or eating only one
meal a day and spend more time spiritually (like listening to Jain gurus, reading religious books, etc.).
The last day of thie period is called Samvatsari
(annual ceremony of atonement), when
people undertake atonement of wrong activities during the previous 12
months. They admit their sins and pray for forgiveness (ksama). Admission of sins
and praying for forgiveness are directed towards the spiritual teachers, family
members, friends and others regardless of age or sex. Letters are written to
the people they know and who were not approachable in person on the Samvatsari day acknowledging the wrong
doings and seeking the forgiveness. The
aspirant on his part gives forgiveness to all living beings and asks for the same favor from others. This is
usually done through the Samvatsari
Pratikraman (Pratikraman means to
return from sins or faults) and raises the real spirit of universal friendship
and goodwill: (Khämemi savvajive savve
Jiva khamantu me ! Mitti me savvabhuesu
veram majjha na kenai (It means -
I forgive to all living beings; may all
of them forgive me.I have a friendship with all living beings and hostility
towards none). The pratyäkhyäna (renunciation
of certain things) aspect is very elaborate during the Paryushana parva. The Samvatsari
Pratikraman is considered a highly important practice during the Paryushana parva which is the most important Jain festival.
Answer-20:
We pray/worship to pay our respects to
the Tirthankars because They
have attained liberation and have laid
down the path of liberation. We want to get inspiration to become like them. By
praying them, we receive the spiritual incentive to follow the right path of
purification. We do not pray/worship for any favors or material benefits from
the Tirthankars or from monks and
nuns.
There are eight
things involved in worshipping (puja) the Tirthankaras:
1. Jal Puja: (Water) 2. Chandan Puja: (Sandal-wood) 3. Pushpa Puja:
(Flower) 4. Dhup Puja: (Incense) 5. Dipak Puja: (Candle) 6. Akshat Puja: (Rice)
7. Naivedya Puja: (Sweet food) 8. Fal Puja: (Fruit). Symbolically each item
represents a specific religious virtue which one should reflect (contemplate) in
his/her mind while performing puja.
Answer-21:
The worshipping place provides the
necessary environment for spiritual up-liftment just as the school provides for
education. One who is spiritually advanced, can continue the spiritual activity
at any place. But for most of the Sansäris
(house-holders) we need to depend upon outside sources such as temple to
make initial progress in the spiritual direction. It is also acceptable that
one can practice his/her religion from home as long as he/she achieves the
similar or better results. For most people, the combination of both is
recommended.
Answer-22:
According to Jainism the dreams are not only thoughts, images and
emotions during the sleep; the dreams could be indicative of our past
experiences as well as what will happen in future. Per Jainism, we get dreams
due to: 1) experiences in this life, 2) what we heard, 3) experiences of our
previous life, 4) gas, cough or acidity
problems, 5) own-nature of our soul, 6) worries, 7) contact with heavenly
beings, 8) religious experiences or
acts, and 9) activation of good or bad Karma.
First six types of dreams may not be fruitful, but the last three dreams can be
fruitful. Per Jainism, we should not go back to sleep if we see the best dream.
Answer-23:
There is a book on dreams in Jainism that
explains significance of dreams, types of dreams and results of dreams. In that
book, it is stated that all Tirthankars’ mothers get the same 14 dreams at the
time of conception. .
Queen Trishala,
the mother of Lord Mahavir at midnight saw fourteen beautiful and wholesome
dreams after conception. They
were: 1. Elephant 2. Bull 3. Lion 4.
Goddess Laxmi 5. Garland of Flowers 6. Full Moon 7. Sun 8. Large Flag 9. Silver
Urn 10. Lotus-Lake 11. Milky-Sea 12. Celestial Air-plane
13. Heap of Gems 14. Smokeless
Fire.
1. Elephant: She
saw a big, tall, and impetuous elephant.
It had two pairs of tusks. The color of the elephant was white and its
whiteness was superior to the color of
marble. This dream indicates that her son will guide the spiritual chariot, and
save human beings from misery, greed, and attraction of life.
2. Bull: The
color of the bull was also white, but it was brighter than white lotuses. It
glowed with beauty and radiated light
all around. It was noble, grand, and
had a majestic hump. It had fine,
bright, and soft hair on its body. Its
horns were superb and sharply-pointed. This dream indicates that her son will
be a spiritual teacher of great ascetics, kings, and other great personalities.
3. Lion: Its
claws were beautiful and well-poised.
The lion had a large well-rounded head and extremely sharp teeth. Its lips were perfect, its color was red,
and its eyes were sharp and glowing. Its tail was impressively long and
well-shaped. Queen Trishala saw this lion descending towards her and
entering her mouth. This dream
indicates that her son will be as powerful and strong as a lion. He will be fearless, mighty, and
capable of ruling over the world.
4. Goddess
Laxmi: The fourth dream Queen Trishala saw was of the Goddess Laxmi, the
Goddess of wealth, prosperity and power.
She was seated at the top of mountain Himalaya. Her feet had a sheen of golden turtle. She had a delicate and soft fingers. Her black hairs were tiny, soft, and delicate. She wore rows of pearls interlaced with
emeralds and a garland of gold. A pair
of earring hung over her shoulders with dazzling beauty. She held a pair of bright lotuses. This dream indicates that her son will
attain great wealth, power, prosperity.
5. Garland of
Flowers: The fifth dream Queen Trishala saw was of a celestial garland of
flowers descending from the sky. It
smelled of mixed fragrances of different flowers. The whole universe was filled with fragrance. The flowers were
white and woven into the garland. They
bloomed during all different seasons. A
swarm of bees flocked to it and they made a humming sound around the region. This dream indicates that the fragrance of
her son's preaching will spread over the entire universe.
6. Full Moon:
The sixth dream queen Trishala saw was of a full moon. It presented an auspicious sight. The moon was at its full glory. It awoke the lilies to bloom fully. It was bright like a well polished
mirror. The moon radiated whiteness
like a swan. It inspired the oceans to
surge skyward. The beautiful moon
looked like a radiant beauty-mark in the sky.
This dream indicates that her son will have a great physical structure,
and be pleasing to all living beings of the universe.
7. Sun: The
seventh dream Queen Trishala saw was of a huge disc of sun. The sun was
shining, and destroying darkness. It
was red like the flame of the forest.
Lotuses bloomed at its touch.
The sun is the lamp of the sky and the lord of planets. The sun rose and and put to end the evil
activities of the creatures who thrive at night. This dream indicates that the teaching of her son will destroy
anger, greed, ego, lust, pride, etc.
from the life of the people.
8. Large Flag:
The eighth dream Queen Trishala saw was of a very large flag flutterling from a
golden staff. The flag fluttered softly
in the gentle breeze. It attracted the
eyes of all. Peacock feathers decorated
its crown. A radiant white lion was on
it. This dream indicates that her son
will be great, noble, and well respected leader of the family.
9. Silver Urn:
The ninth dream Queen Trishala saw was of a silver urn (Kälsh) full of
crystal-clear water. It was a
magnificent, beautiful, and bright pot.
It shone like gold and was a joy to behold. It was garlanded with strings of lotuses and other flowers. The pot was holy and untouched by anything
sinful. This dream indicates that her
son will be perfect in all virtues.
10. Lotus-Lake:
The tenth dream Queen Trishala saw was of a lotus lake (padma-sagar). Thousands of lotuses were floating on the
lake which opened at the touch of the sun's rays. The lotuses imparted a sweet fragrance. There were swarms of fish in the lake. Its water glowed like flames of fire. The lily-leaves were floating on the water. This dream indicates that her son will help
to liberate the human beings who are tangled in the cycle of birth, death, and
misery.
11. Milky-sea:
The eleventh dream Queen Trishala saw was of a milky sea. Its water swelled out in all directions,
rising to great heights with turbulent motions. Winds blew and created waves.
A great commotion was created in the sea by huge sea animals. Great rivers fell into the sea, producing
huge whirlpools. This dream indicates
that her son will navigate through the ocean of birth, death, and misery
leading to Moksha or liberation.
12. Celestial
air-plane: The twelfth dream Queen
Trishala saw was of a celestial airplane. The airplane had eight thousands
magnificent gold pillars studded with gems.
The plane was framed with sheets of gold and garlands of pearls. It was decorated with rows of murals
depicting bulls, horses, men, crocodiles, birds, children, deers, elephants,
wild animals, and lotus flowers. The
plane resounded with celestial music. It
was saturated with an intoxicating aroma of incense fumes. It was illuminated with a bright silvery
light. This dream indicates that all
gods and goddesses in heaven will respect and salute his spiritual teaching and
will obey him.
13. Heap of Gems: The thirteenth dream Queen Trishala saw was
of a great heap of gems, as high as Mount Meru. There were gems and precious
stones of all types and kinds. These gems were heaped over the earth and they
illuminated the entire sky. This dream
indicates that her son will have infinite virtues and wisdom.
14. Smokeless
Fire: The fourteenth dream queen Trishala saw was of a smokeless fire. The fire
burned with great intensity and emitted a radiant glow. Great quantities of
pure ghee was being poured on the fire.
It burned with numerous flames. This dream indicates that the wisdom of
her son will excel the wisdom of all other great people.
Answer-24:
About 170 years after Mahavir's Nirvän,
Acharya Bhadrabahu Swami became the head of the Jain order. That time. Chandra
Gupta Maurya was the king in Magadha. During that time a famine occurred for
twelve years. (This is a historical fact). Acharya Bhadrabhahu had predicted
that long famine and realized that it will be very difficult for monks to
strictly follow religion (Five Mahavrats, no clothes, beg food in hands, etc.).
Therefore he, along with twelve thousands of his disciples, migrated to south
and settled there so that they can follow the strict religious rules. The
remaining monks were led by Acharya Sthulibhadra and he relaxed some of the
rules for the monks for survival during this famine. That was the primary cause
of the separation of Digambar and Shwetambar sects. However, the real
separation occurred during the time of Acharya Vajrasen (six hundred years
after Mahavir's Nirvän). It is a fact that Mahavir did not wear clothes after renunciation. However, his
disciples were of both types (clad as well as unclad). The disciples of
Parshwanath (23rd Tirthankar) wore white clothes.
Shwetambar Jains
are also divided into two major subsects: Shwetambar Murti Pujak (Idol
worshiper) and Shwetambar Sthanakwasi (Non-idol worshiper). There is an
offshoot among Sthanakwasis which is known as Terapanthi. Digambar Jains are
divided into three major subsects: Bisa Panth that accepts Bhattarak's
authority, Terah Panth which does not accept such authority, and Taran Panth-
Non-Murti pujak sect .
The essential
philosophy of all Jain sects is similar. The similarities exist in many areas:
1. Concept of God 2. Every soul has the potential for becoming God or Siddha.
3. Metaphysics, 4. The universe composed of six substances, 5. Philosophy of
Karma, 6. The seven/nine fundamentals (tattvas)
7. Right perception (Samyag Darshan), Right Knowledge (Samyag Jnan) and Right
Conduct (Samyak Charitra) as the path of liberation. 10. five vows, 11.Five
meticulosities (Samities), 12 Control over mental, verbal and physical
activities (Three Gupties), 13 Multiplicity of view points
(Anekantwad/Syadwad), 14) Five types of Knowledge (Jnan), 15 Fourteen Stages of
elevation (Gunasthanak), 16 Twelve reflections (Bhavanas), 17 Four types of Meditations
(Dhyan), 18 Six types of Leshyas (psychic coloration), 19 Emergence of 12
Tirthankars in each half time cycle, 20
Namaskar Maha Mantra and 21 Authority of Tattvartha Sutra are recognized by all
the Jain sects.
The following,
however, are the major differences. 1 Agams: Digambar Jains believe that all
the original Ägams (Äng and Purva Ägams) have been lost. Most of them might
have been lost during the twelve years of famine that occurred during the time
of the Chandra Gupta Maurya (300 B.C.). They recognize other books written by
great Acharyas like Kundkunacharya. Shwetambar Jains believe that 600 years
after Lord Mahavir's Nirvan all Purva Ägams were lost or not remembered by
monks and hence were not saved. Only Ang and Non-Ang Ägams could be preserved.
2 Life after kevaljnan: Digambars believe that after attaining Kevaljnan,
Tirthankars and other Kevaljnanis do not eat or drink; while Shwetambars
believe that they continue to eat and drink like other human beings and
continue to lead the renunciate life for the remaining period of their life. 3
Sex of Tirthankars: Digambars believe that all the Tirthankars are necessarily
male and there is no exception. Shwetambars believe that generally they are
male but in the present series of 24 Tirthankars, the nineteenth Tirthankar,
Mallinath was a female and that was an exception to the rule. 4 Sex of other
Kevalis: Digambars believe that only males can attain liberation. A female has
to be reborn as a male in order to attain liberation. Shwetambars believe that
both males and females can attain liberation. 5. Clothes and Food: Digambar
monks do not wear any clothes. They beg for food in their hands and eat only
once a day. Shwetambar monks and nuns wear white clothes and they beg food in
pots generally once a day. They bring the food to Upashraya or other place of
their residence and ask their Guru for permission to eat their meal. They do
not eat food in the presence of laymen. 6. Mahavir's conception: Shwetambars
believe that Mahavir's fetus was transferred from mother Devananda (Bhraman
family) to mother Trishala (Kshatriya family), while Digambars believe that he
was conceived by mother Trishala and the question of fetus transfer does not
arise. 7 Marital status of Mahavir: Digambars believe that Mahavir was not
married, while Shwetambars believe that Mahavir was married with Yashoda and
they had a daughter named Priyadarshan. 8. Tirthankara's Murti (Idol): The
Tirthankar's idol can have ornaments and decorations, and their eyes look
toward the worshiper in Shwetambar Murti Pujak sect. Digambar idols do not have
ornaments and their eyes are turned downward in meditating position. 9.
Pratikraman, Samayik, and Puja rituals are different.
It can be seen
that all Jain sects have remarkable similarity in their philosophy despite
minor areas of disagreements. Recently, there have been several collaborative
works by all major sects. Jains from different sects outside India seem to have
more unity and harmony..
(In alphabetical order)
1. "Dravya Sangraha" by Nemichandra Siddhantideva (1125),
originally edited in English by Sarat Chandra Ghosal (1917), Republished by
Shri Chandrapraph Digambar Maindir Trust, Bombay (1986).
2. "Essential of Jainism", edited
by Dr. Prem Suman Jain, Jain Center of Greater Boston, Wellesley, Mass., USA
(1984).
3. "The Jaina Path of
Purification" by P. S. Jaini, published by University of California,
Berkeley, USA (1978).
4. “Ahimsä Beyond Vegetarianism” by Youths
of Jain Center of Southern California,
5. “Guidance for Jainism by Bhdrabahu Vijay,
6. “Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian, Choose
Yourself” by Gopi Nath Aggarwal,
7. “Vegetarianism: Answers to the most
commonly asked questions” by The North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS),
8. Electronic material from Dr. Prem Gada
and Pravin Shah,
9. Lectures by Dhirubhai D. Pandit, 1994-95
10. Various issues of Jain Study Circular and
Jaina Digest,
11. Many other Jain books.