Further the
religious independence given to women had its repercussions in other
fields also. Equality of opportunity was accorded to women in several
social spheres of action. In education they were given equal treatment
with the males. The utmost importance of imparting education to females,
along with males, was realised even in the ancient past by Rishabhadeva,
the first Tirthankara, who bad advised his two young daughters, Brahmi and
Sundari, that "only when you would adorn yourself with education your life
would be fruitful because just as a learned man is held in high esteem by
educated persons, a learned lady also occupies the highest position in the
female world." According to Jaina tradition a woman is expected to know 64
arts like dancing, painting, music, aesthe tics, medicine, domestic
science etc. As a result of this high type of education received by women,
we find, in Jaina tradition, that many women used to enter the teaching
profession and to remain unmarried throughout the life in order to carry
on their spiritual experiments unhampered. It is recorded in Jaina
tradition that Jayanti, a daughter of King Saliasranika of Kaushambi`
remained unmarried out of her love for religion and-philosophy.' When
Mahavira-first'visited
several abstruse ineta-physical questions
and' eventually became a nun. Similarly, in later periods of history `
also Jaina women not only kept up the pace of female education' but at
times made original contributions to literature. For example, along with
men Jaina women also added to Kannada' literature. The greatest name among
them was Kanti, who, along with the great poet Abhinava Pampa, was one of
the gems that adorned the court of Hoyasala King Ballal I (A.D. 1100-11U6)
in Karnatak. She was a redoubtable orator and poet who completed the
unfinished poems of Abhinava Pampa in the open Court of that ruler.
Similarly, a Jaina lady Avvaiyara, `the Venerable Matron', was one of the
most admired amongst the poets in Tamil language. Kausha'mbi, she
discussed With him,
(3)
Inculcation of Self-reliance:
Tirthankara Mahavira's contribution of a
revolutionary nature consisted in completely changing the attitude of the
people towards God and thereby inculcating the spirit of self-reliance
among the minds of the people. The common belief held by the people
according to the Vedic ideology was that as this world has been created by
the God and that the work of controlling the events in this world is also
carried out by the God. This' popular belief engendered a feeling of
divine dispensation in the minds of the people because it was firmly held
by the people that God can do and undo anything in this world in
accordance with his wishes.Naturally this feeling created a sense of
complete dependence on the God by the people in the conduct of their daily
activities and in securing happiness in this world as well as in the next
world. Obviously this sense of dependence on the God urged people to find
out ways and means so as to obtain in abundant measure the favours of God
in mundane and spiritual matters and also to avoid the displeasure or
wrath of' God which, it was thought, would not only bring several
difficulties in the normal course of life but also would lead to complete
disaster. As a result of this attitude, people began to place entirely
blind faith on the omnipotent God and to secure his favours by practising
certain rites and rituals laid down for the purposes. These prescribed
rituals were so elaborate that'they did require the services of priests
who were supposed to have the special knowledge about these rites and Who
were also specifically authorised to perform these rituals in a proper
manner. In this way the entire code of conduct of the people was fully
dominated by the practice of various rituals throughout the course of life
and by the priests whose help and assistance were considered most
essential to work as intermediary between people and God for securing
desired favours from God.
Tirthankara
Mahavira launched an intensive attack on this attitude of complete
submission to God by the people for attaining their final objective in
life, viz. liberation. In this regard Tirthankara Mahavira firmly asserted
that this world is eternal and has not been created by any power like God
and that the happenings in this world are not controlled by God. He
clearly proclaimed that nothing here or elsewhere depends on the favours
of God but everything depends on the actions of the people. He confidently
stated that all persons, irrespective of their class, family or position,
have got a right to achieve salvation, their ultimate objective in life,
by relying on themselves and through the observance of an ethical code of
conduct and not by merely performing some rituals with the help of others.
, For this purpose he laid down a path to liberation which consisted Right
Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Con-duct and appealed to the people to
follow this path on their individual initiative and efforts and not on the
help of any intermediary. Further, he impressed on the people the Theory
of Karma which is based on the principle of self-reliance. This doctrine
explains the reasons lying behind or causes leading to effects. It
maintains that every happening in this world is the result of some
antecedent causes. Since the individual soul is the doer of actions, it
must bear the consequences of these actions sooner or later. There is no
way out of it. The responsibility of consequences cannot be shifted nor
exemption from the consequences be given by anybody. The soul has to enjoy
the fruits of the Karmas in this life or in subsequent lives. There is no
salvation until the soul stops the influx of Karmas and gets rid of
existing Karmas and this it will have to do by its own deliberate efforts
without expecting any help from an outside agency like God. There is no
use in asking the favour of God or his representative because Gods have
not the power of determining the consequences of the Karmas and have no
authority to forgive people from future consequences of past actions.
This theory
of Karma has been an original and integral part of the Jaina ideology and
Tirthankara Mahavira convinced the people of the necessity of adopting
this doctrine and of mould ing their entire life on the foundation of this
theory. Naturally Tirthankara Mahavira laid full stress on individual
action and completely denied the existence of divine dispensation. He
emphasised that man is the architect of his destiny and that there is no
external power which can come in the way of getting the fruits of one's
actions, whether good or bad. He assured the people that the attainment of
liberation, the ultimate objective in life, is within their reach and it
depends entirely on one's, own efforts in the march on the path to
liberation. In this; way Tirthankara Mahavira wanted every individual to
become a true hero on the battle-field of self-conquest. Thus Tirthankara
Mahavira inculcated a spirit of reliance among the people in place of the
feelings of utter dependence on the God. This basic change in attitude
brought an over-all change in the course of life of the people who began
to lay stress more on the ethical aspects than on the ritualistic aspects
of their.conduct.
(4)
Emphasis on Non-violence:
Tirthankara
1Vlahavira's most distinctive contribution consists in his great emphasis
on the observance of Ahimsa, i.e. noninjury to living beings, by all
persons to the maximum extent possible. Ahinsa in its full significance
was realised and preached by twenty-three Tirthankaras preceding
Tirthankara Mahavira. In fact, the philosophy and rules of conduct laid
down in Jaina religion have been based on the solid foundation of Ahimsa,
which hats throughout and consistently, been followed to its logical
conclusion. That is why Jainism has become synonymous with Ahimsa and
Jaina*religion is considered as the religion of Ahimsa. The significance
of this basic principle of Ahimsa was very powerfully reiterated by
Tirthankara Mahavira as the practices of committing violence in the
different pretexts had become rampant at that time.
During the
Vedic period utmost importance was attached to the performance of
sacrifices with a view to secure the favours of God and to avert His
anger.The sacrifices were very elaborate, complicated and hedged with
various restrictions. The sacrifices became a regular feature of the
religious life of the people. The peculiar characteristic of these
sacrifices was that they were usually accompanied by the slaughter of
animals. As the sacrifices were mainly animal sacrifices they involved the
practice of Himsa to a considerable extent: Along with this practice, the
flesh-eating or non-vegetarian diet was extremely popular among the
different sections of the people. The Rigvedic people, including the
Brahmins, were fond of meat-eating and practically all the important
ceremonies were attended with the slaughter of animals. Offerings of flesh
were frequently made to the Gods, and worshippers, including the priests,
ate the offerings. The meat of cows and bulls does not seem to have been
excluded. It was a custom to entertain a distinguished guest with the meat
of a bull or a barren cow. At the wedding ceremonies oxen were slain,
evidently for the feeding of the invited guests. In fact, the sacrifice of
cow and bulls was not only optional as in the case of the arrival of a
guest and marriage but compulsory on certain occasions and ceremonies. At
Shradhhas, or periodical oblations to the manes, the sacrifice of cows was
recommended, as substances like rice, barley, sesamum, fruits, etc. keep
the manes satisfied for a month, the flesh of goats for six months, while
beef satisfied them for a year. Meat was almost compulsory at Annaprashana,
i.e. the first feeding with solid food, ceremony of a child and from then
till death and cremation, sacrificing of animals was necessary on most of
the ceremonial occasions of life.
Tirthankara
Mahavira launched a vigorous attack against meat-eating and the
performance of sacrificial rites by propagating the principle of Ahimsa,
i.e. non-injury to living beings. In fact in all his preachings
Tirthankara Mahavira invariably laid great stress on the observance of
Ahimsa because the principle of Ahimsa is the logical outcome of the basic
Jaina metaphysical theory that all the souls are potentially equal. He
therefore asserted that as no one likes pain, one should not do unto
others what one does not want Others to do unto one. Since all living
beings possessed soul, the principle of non-injury was obviously extended
to cover all living beings. He explained the doctrine of Ahimsa
systematically and to the minutest detail. He considered injury or
violence of three kinds : (i) physical violence, which covered killing,
wounding and causing any physical pain, (ii) violence in words consisted
in using harsh words, and (iii) mental violence; which implied bearing
ill-feeling towards others. Further, he made it clear that violence or
injury should be avoided in three ways, that is, it should not be
committed, commissioned or consented to. Moreover, among the five main
Vratas, i.e. vows, the first place was given to the observance of Ahimsa.
In addition, Ahimsa was regarded as the principal vow, and the other four
vows were considered to be merely details of the principal vow.
