Chapter XV: Part I: Introductory Essay on Caste (10)

After the death of its founder the sect languished for a period of ten years until it was taken in hand by Debendra Nath Tagore, whose father Dwarka Nath had been a friend and warm admirer of Ram Mohan Roy, and had practically maintained the society by paying its expenses during the interval. In 1843 Debendra drew up a form of initiation which involved the renunciation of idolatry. He established branches of the Brahmo Samaj in many towns and villages of Bengal, and in 1845 he sent four Pandits to Benares to copy out and make a special study of the Vedas. On their return to Calcutta after two years Debendra Nath devoted himself with their aid to a diligent and critical study of the sacred books, and eventually, after much controversy and even danger of disruption, the Samaj, under his guidance, came to the important decision that the teaching of the Vedas could not be reconciled with the conclusions of modern science or with the religious convictions of the Brahmos, a result which soon led to an open and public denial of the infallibility of the Vedas.

"There is nothing," Professor Oman remarks, "in the Brahmic movement more creditable to the parties concerned than this honest and careful inquiry into the nature of the doctrines and precepts of the Vedas." [254]

5. Keshub Chandar Sen.

The tenets of the Brahmo Samaj consisted at this time of a pure theism, without special reliance on the Hindu sacred books or recognition of such Hindu doctrines as the transmigration of souls. But in their ordinary lives its members still conformed generally to the caste practices and religious usages of their neighbours. But a progressive party now arose under the leadership of Keshub Chandar Sen, a young man of the Vaidya caste, which desired to break altogether with Hinduism, abolish the use of sect marks and the prohibition of intermarriage between castes, and to welcome into the community converts from all religions. Meanwhile Debendra Nath Tagore had spent three years in seclusion in the Himalayas, occupied with meditation and prayer; on his return he acceded so far to the views of Keshub Chandar Sen as to celebrate the marriage of his daughter according to a reformed theistic ritual; but when his friend pressed for the complete abolition of all caste restrictions, Debendra Nath refused his consent and retired once more to the hills. [255] The result was a schism in the community, and in 1866 the progressive party seceded and set up a Samaj of their own, calling themselves the Brahmo Samaj of India, while the conservative group under Debendra Nath Tagore was named the Adi or original Samaj. In 1905 the latter was estimated to number only about 300 persons. [256]

Keshub Chandar Sen had been educated in the Presidency College, Calcutta, and being more familiar with English and the Bible than with the Sanskrit language and Vedic literature, he was filled with deep enthusiastic admiration of the beauty of Christ's character and teaching. [257] He had shown a strong passion for the stage and loved nothing better than the plays of Shakespeare. He was fond of performing himself, and especially delighted in appearing in the role of a magician or conjurer before his family and friends. The new sect took up the position that all religions were true and worthy of veneration. At the inaugural meeting, texts from the sacred scriptures of the Christians, Hindus, Muhammadans, Parsis and Chinese were publicly read, in order to mark and to proclaim to the world the catholicity of spirit in which it was formed. [258] Keshub by his writings and public lectures kept himself prominently before the Indian world, enlisting the sympathies of the Viceroy (Sir John Lawrence) by his tendencies towards Christianity.

6. The Civil Marriage Act.

By this time several marriages had been performed according to the revised ritual of the Brahmic Church, which had given great offence to orthodox Hindus and exposed the participators in these novel rites to much obloquy. The legality of marriages thus contracted had even been questioned. To avoid this difficulty Keshub induced Government in 1872 to pass the Native Marriage Act, introducing for the first time the institution of civil marriage into Hindu society. The Act prescribed a form of marriage to be celebrated before the Registrar for persons who did not profess either the Hindu, the Muhammadan, the Parsi, the Sikh, the Jaina or the Buddhist religion, and who were neither Christians nor Jews; and fixed the minimum age for a bridegroom at eighteen and for a bride at fourteen. Only six years later, however, Keshub Chandar Sen committed the fatal mistake of ignoring the law which he had himself been instrumental in passing: he permitted the marriage of his daughter, below the age of fourteen, to the young Maharaja of Kuch Bihar, who was not then sixteen years of age. [259] This event led to a public censure of Keshub Chandar Sen by his community and the secession of a section of the members, who formed the Sadharan or Universal Brahmo Samaj. The creed of this body consisted in the belief in an infinite Creator, the immortality of the soul, the duty and necessity of the spiritual worship of God, and disbelief in any infallible book or man as a means of salvation. [260]

7. Keshub Chandar's relapse into mysticism.

From about this period, or a little before, Keshub Chandar Sen appears to have attempted to make a wider appeal to Indians by developing the emotional side of his religion. And he gradually relapsed from a pure unitarian theism into what was practically Hindu pantheism and the mysticism of the Yogis. At the same time he came to consider himself an inspired prophet, and proclaimed himself as such. The following instances of his extravagant conduct are given by Professor Oman. [261]

"In 1873 he brought forward the doctrine of Adesh or special inspiration, declaring emphatically that inspiration is not only possible, but a veritable fact in the lives of many devout souls in this age. The following years witnessed a marked development of that essentially Asiatic and perhaps more especially Indian form of religious feeling, which finds its natural satisfaction in solitary ecstatic contemplation. As a necessary consequence an order of devotees was established in 1876, divided into three main classes, which in ascending gradation were designated Shabaks, Bhaktas and Yogis. The lowest class, divided into two sections, is devoted to religious study and the practical performance of religious duties, including doing good to others. The aspiration of the Bhakta is ... 'Inebriation in God. He is most passionately fond of God and delights in loving Him and all that pertains to Him.... The very utterance of the divine name causes his heart to overflow and brings tears of joy to his eyes.' As for the highest order of devotees, the Yogis, 'They live in the spirit-world and readily commune with spiritual realities. They welcome whatever is a help to the entire subjugation of the soul, and are always employed in conquering selfishness, carnality and worldliness. They are happy in prayer and meditation and in the study of nature.'

"The new dispensation having come into the world to harmonise conflicting creeds and regenerate mankind, must have its outward symbol, its triumphal banner floating proudly on the joyful air of highly-favoured India. A flag was therefore made and formally consecrated as 'The Banner of the New Dispensation.' This emblem of 'Regenerated and saving theism' the new prophet himself formed with a yak's tail and kissed with his own inspired lips. In orthodox Hindu fashion his missionaries--apostles of the new Dispensation--went round it with lights in their hands, while his less privileged followers respectfully touched the sacred pole and humbly bowed down to it. In a word, the banner was worshipped as Hindu idols are worshipped any day in India. Carried away by a spirit of innovation, anxious to keep himself prominently before the world, and realising no doubt that since churches and sects do not flourish on intellectual pabulum only, certain mystic rites and gorgeous ceremonials were necessary to the success of the new Dispensation, Keshub introduced into his Church various observances which attracted a good deal of attention and did not escape criticism. On one occasion he went with his disciples in procession, singing hymns, to a stagnant tank in Calcutta, and made believe that they were in Palestine and on the side of the Jordan. Standing near the tank Keshub said, 'Beloved brethren, we have come into the land of the Jews, and we are seated on the bank of the Jordan. Let them that have eyes see. Verily, verily, here was the Lord Jesus baptised eighteen hundred years ago. Behold the holy waters wherein was the Son of God immersed.' We learn also that Keshub and his disciples attempted to hold communication with saints and prophets of the olden time, upon whose works and teaching they had been pondering in retirement and solitude. On this subject the following notice appeared in the _Sunday Mirror_:

"'It is proposed to promote communion with departed saints among the more advanced Brahmos. With a view to achieve this object successfully ancient prophets and saints will be taken one after another on special occasions and made the subject of close study, meditation and prayer. Particular places will also be assigned to which the devotees will resort as pilgrims. There for hours together they will try to draw inspiration from particular saints. We believe a spiritual pilgrimage to Moses will be shortly undertaken. Only earnest devotees ought to join.'"

8. Recent history of the Samaj.

Keshub Chandar Sen died in 1884, and the Brahmo Samaj seems subsequently to have returned more or less to its first position of pure theism coupled with Hindu social reform. His successor in the leadership of the sect was Babu P.C. Mazumdar, who visited America and created a favourable impression at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago. Under his guidance the Samaj seems to have gradually drifted towards American Unitarianism, and to have been supported in no slight degree by funds from the United States of America. [262] He died in 1905, and left no one of prominent character and attainments to succeed to the leadership. In 1911 the adherents of the different branches of the Samaj numbered at the census only 5500 persons.

9. Character of the movement.

The history of the Brahmo Samaj is of great interest, because it was the first attempt at the reform and purification of Hinduism made under the influence of Christianity, the long line of Vaishnavite reformers who strove to abrogate Hindu polytheism and the deadening restrictions of caste, having probably been inspired by the contemplation of Islam. The Samaj is further distinguished by the admirable toleration and broadness of view of its religious position, and by having had for its leaders three men of exceptional character and attainments, two of whom, and especially Keshub Chandar Sen, made a profound impression in England among all classes of society. But the failure of the Samaj to attract any large number of converts from among the Hindus was only what might have been expected. For it requires its followers practically to cut themselves adrift from family and caste ties and offers nothing in return but an undefined theism, not calculated to excite any enthusiasm or strong feeling in ordinary minds. Its efforts at social reform have probably, however, been of substantial value in weakening the rigidity of Hindu rules on caste and marriage.

Dadupanthi Sect. [263]

_Dadupanthi Sect._--One of the sects founded by Vaishnava reformers of the school of Kabir; a few of its members are found in the western Districts of the Central Provinces. Dadu was a Pinjara or cotton-cleaner by caste. He was born at Ahmadabad in the sixteenth century, and died at Narayana in the Jaipur State shortly after A.D. 1600. He is said to have been the fifth successor in spiritual inspiration from Kabir, or the sixth from Ramanand. Dadu preached the unity of God and protested against the animistic abuses which had grown up in Hinduism. "To this day," writes Mr. Coldstream, "the Dadupanthis use the words Sat Ram, the True God, as a current phrase expressive of their creed. Dadu forbade the worship of idols, and did not build temples; now temples are built by his followers, who say they worship in them the Dadubani or Sacred Book." This is what has been done by other sects such as the Sikhs and Dhamis, whose founders eschewed the veneration of idols; but their uneducated followers could not dispense with some visible symbol for their adoration, and hence the sacred script has been enthroned in a temple. The worship of the Dadupanthis, Professor Wilson says, is addressed to Rama, but it is restricted to the Japa or repetition of his name, and the Rama intended is the deity negatively described in the Vedanta theology. The chief place of worship of the sect is Narayana, where Dadu died. A small building on a hill marks the place of his disappearance, and his bed and the sacred books are kept there as objects of veneration.

Like other sects, the Dadupanthis are divided into celibate or priestly and lay or householder branches. But they have also a third offshoot, consisting in the Naga Gosains of Jaipur, nearly naked ascetics, who constituted a valuable part of the troops of Jaipur and other States. It is said that the Nagas always formed the van of the army of Jaipur. The sect have white caps with four corners and a flap hanging down at the back, which each follower has to make for himself. To prevent the destruction of animal life entailed by cremation, the tenets of the sect enjoin that corpses should be laid in the forests to be devoured by birds and beasts. This rule, however, is not observed, and their dead are burnt at early dawn.

Dhami, Prannathi Sect.

_Dhami, Prannathi Sect._--A small religious sect or order, having its headquarters in the Panna State of Bundelkhand. A few members of the sect are found in the Saugor and Damoh Districts of the Central Provinces. The name Dhami is simply a derivative from _dham_, a monastery, and in northern India they are called Prannathi after their founder. They are also known as Sathi Bhai, brothers in religion, or simply as Bhai or brothers. The sect takes its origin from one Prannath, a Rajput who lived in the latter part of Aurangzeb's reign towards the end of the seventeenth century. He is said to have acquired great influence with Chatra Sal, Raja of Panna, by the discovery of a diamond mine there, and on this account Panna was made the home of the sect. Prannath was well acquainted with the sacred books of Islam, and, like other Hindu reformers, he attempted to propagate a faith which should combine the two religions. To this end he composed a work in Gujarati called the Kulzam Sarup, in which texts from the Koran and the Vedas are brought together and shown not to be incompatible. His creed also proclaimed the abolition of the worship of idols, and apparently of caste restrictions and the supremacy of Brahmans. As a test of a disciple's assent to the real identity of the Hindu and Muhammadan creeds, the ceremony of initiation consists in eating in the society of the followers of both religions; but the amalgamation appears to be carried no further, and members of the sect continue to follow generally their own religious practices. Theoretically they should worship no material objects except the Founder's Book of Faith, which lies on a table covered with gold cloth in the principal temple at Panna. But in fact they adore the boy Krishna as he was at Mathura, and in some temples there are images of Radha and Krishna, while in others the decorations are so arranged as to look like an idol from a distance. All temples, however, contain a copy of the sacred book, round which a lighted lamp is waved in the morning and evening. The Dhamis now say also that their founder Prannath was an incarnation of Krishna, and they observe the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's birthday as their principal festival. They wear the Radha Vallabhi _tilak_ or sect-mark, consisting of two white lines drawn down the forehead from the roots of the hair, and curving to meet at the top of the nose, with a small red dot between them. On the cheeks and temples they make rosette-like marks by bunching up the five fingers, dipping them in a solution of sandalwood and then applying them to the face. [264] They regard the Jumna as a sacred river and its water as holy, no doubt because Mathura is on its banks, but pay no reverence to the Ganges. Their priests observe celibacy, but do not practise asceticism, and all the Dhamis are strict vegetarians.

There is also a branch of the sect in Gujarat, where the founder is known as Meheraj Thakur. He appears to have been identical with Prannath, and instituted a local headquarters at Surat. [265] It is related by Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam that Meheraj Thakur was himself the disciple of one Deo Chand, a native of Amarkot in Sind. The latter was devoted to the study of the Bhagwat Puran, and came to Jamnagar in Kathiawar, where he founded a temple to Radha and Krishna. As there is a temple at Panna consecrated to Deo Chand as the Guru or preceptor of Prannath, and as the book of the faith is written in Gujarati, the above account would appear to be correct, and it follows that the sect originated in the worship of Krishna, and was refined by Prannath into a purer form of faith. A number of Cutchis in Surat are adherents of the sect, and usually visit the temple at Panna on the full-moon day of Kartik (October). Curiously enough the sect has also found a home in Nepal, having been preached there, it is said, by missionary Dhamis in the time of Raja Ram Bahadur Shah of Nepal, about 150 years ago. Its members there are known as Pranami or Parnami, a corruption of Prannathi and they often come to Panna to study the sacred book. It is reported that there are usually about forty Nepalis lodging in the premises of the great temple at Panna. [266]

Jain Religion

[_Bibliography: The Jainas_, by Dr. J.G. Bühler and J. Burgess, London, 1903; _The Religions of India_, Professor E.W. Hopkins; _The Religions of India_, Professor A. Barth; _Punjab Census Report_ (1891), Sir E.D. Maclagan; article on Jainism in Dr. Hastings' _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_.]

List of Paragraphs

1. _Numbers and distribution_.
2. _The Jain religion. Its connection with Buddhism_.
3. _The Jain tenets. The Tirthakars_.
4. _The transmigration of souls_.
5. _Strict rules against taking life_.
6. _Jain sects_.
7. _Jain ascetics_.
8. _Jain subcastes of Banias_.
9. _Rules and customs of the laity_.
10. _Connection with Hinduism_.
11. _Temples and car festival_.
12. _Images of the Tirthakars_.
13. _Religious observances_.
14. _Tenderness for animal life_.
15. _Social condition of the Jains_.

1. Numbers and distribution.

_Jain_.--The total number of Jains in the Central Provinces in 1911 was 71,000 persons. They nearly all belong to the Bania caste, and are engaged in moneylending and trade like other Banias. They reside principally in the Vindhyan Districts, Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore, and in the principal towns of the Nagpur country and Berar.

2. The Jain religion. Its connection with Buddhism.

The Jain tenets present marked features of resemblance to Buddhism, and it was for some time held that Jainism was merely a later offshoot from that religion. The more generally accepted view now, however, is that the Jina or prophet of the Jains was a real historical personage, who lived in the sixth century B.C., being a contemporary of Gautama, the Buddha. Vardhamana, as he was commonly called, is said to have been the younger son of a small chieftain in the province of Videha or Tirhut. Like Sakya-Muni the Buddha or enlightened, Vardhamana became an ascetic, and after twelve years of a wandering life he appeared as a prophet, proclaiming a modification of the doctrine of his own teacher Parsva or Parasnath. From this time he was known as Mahavira, the great hero, the same name which in its familiar form of Mahabir is applied to the god Hanuman. The title of Jina or victorious, from which the Jains take their name, was subsequently conferred on him, his sect at its first institution being called Nirgrantha or ascetic. There are very close resemblances in the traditions concerning the lives of Vardhamana and Gautama or Buddha. Both were of royal birth; the same names recur among their relatives and disciples; and they lived and preached in the same part of the country, Bihar and Tirhut. [267] Vardhamana is said to have died during Buddha's lifetime, the date of the latter's death being about 480 B.C. [268] Their doctrines also, with some important differences, present, on the whole, a close resemblance. Like the Buddhists, the Jains claim to have been patronised by the Maurya princes. While Asoka was mainly instrumental in the propagation of Buddhism over India, his grandfather Chandragupta is stated to have been a Jain, and his grandson Sampadi also figures in Jain tradition. A district which is a holy land for one is almost always a holy land for the other, and their sacred places adjoin each other in Bihar, in the peninsula of Gujarat, on Mount Abu in Rajputana and elsewhere. [269] The earliest of the Jain books belongs to the sixth century A.D., the existence of the Nirgrantha sect in Buddha's lifetime being proved by the Cingalese books of the Buddhists, and by references to it in the inscriptions of Asoka and others. [270] While then M. Barth's theory that Jainism was simply a later sect of Buddhism has been discarded by subsequent scholars, it seems likely that several of the details of Vardhamana's life now recorded in the Jain books are not really authentic, but were taken from that of Buddha with necessary alterations, when the true facts about their own prophet had been irrevocably lost.

3. The Jain tenets. The Tirthakars.

Like the Buddhists, the Jains recognise no creator of the world, and suppose it to have existed from eternity. Similarly, they had originally no real god, but the Jina or victor, like the Buddha or Enlightened One, was held to have been an ordinary mortal man, who by his own power had attained to omniscience and freedom, and out of pity for suffering mankind preached and declared the way of salvation which he had found. [271] This doctrine, however, was too abstruse for the people, and in both cases the prophet himself gradually came to be deified. Further, in order perhaps to furnish objects of worship less distinctively human and to whom a larger share of the attributes of deity could be imputed, in both religions a succession of mythical predecessors of the prophet was gradually brought into existence. The Buddhists recognise twenty-five Buddhas or divine prophets, who appeared at long epochs of time and taught the same system one after another; and the Jains have twenty-four Tirthakars or Tirthankars, who similarly taught their religion. Of these only Vardhamana, its real founder, who was the twenty-fourth, and possibly Parsva or Parasnath, the twenty-third and the founder's preceptor, are or may be historical. The other twenty-two Tirthakars are purely mythical. The first, Rishaba, was born more than 100 billion years ago, as the son of a king of Ajodhya; he lived more than 8 million years, and was 500 bow-lengths in height. He therefore is as superhuman as any god, and his date takes us back almost to eternity. The others succeeded each other at shorter intervals of time, and show a progressive decline in stature and length of life. The images of the Tirthakars are worshipped in the Jain temples like those of the Buddhas in Buddhist temples. As with Buddhism also, the main feature of Jain belief is the transmigration of souls, and each successive incarnation depends on the sum of good and bad actions or _karman_ in the previous life. They hold also the primitive animistic doctrine that souls exist not only in animals and plants but in stones, lumps of earth, drops of water, fire and wind, and the human soul may pass even into these if its sins condemn it to such a fate. [272]

4. The transmigration of souls.

The aim which Jainism, like Buddhism, sets before its disciples is the escape from the endless round of successive existences, known as Samsara, through the extinction of the _karman_ or sum of actions. This is attained by complete subjection of the passions and destruction of all desires and appetites of the body and mind, that is, by the most rigid asceticism, as well as by observing all the moral rules prescribed by the religion. It was the Jina or prophet who showed this way of escape, and hence he is called Tirthakar or 'The Finder of the Ford,' through the ocean of existence. [273] But Jainism differs from Buddhism in that it holds that the soul, when finally emancipated, reaches a heaven and there continues for ever a separate intellectual existence, and is not absorbed into Nirvana or a state of blessed nothingness.

5. Strict rules against taking life.

The moral precepts of the Jains are of the same type as those of Buddhism and Vaishnavite Hinduism, but of an excessive rigidity, at any rate in the case of the Yatis or Jatis, the ascetics. They promise not to hurt, not to speak untruths, to appropriate nothing to themselves without permission, to preserve chastity and to practise self-sacrifice. But these simple rules are extraordinarily expanded on the part of the Jains. Thus, concerning the oath not to hurt, on which the Jains lay most emphasis: it prohibits not only the intentional killing or injuring of living beings, plants or the souls existing in dead matter, but requires also the utmost carefulness in the whole manner of life, and a watchfulness also over all movements and functions of the body by which anything living might be hurt. It demands, finally, strict watch over the heart and tongue, and the avoidance of all thoughts and words which might lead to disputes and quarrels, and thereby do harm. In like manner the rule of sacrifice requires not only that the ascetic should have no houses or possessions, but he must also acquire a complete unconcern towards agreeable or disagreeable impressions, and destroy all feelings of attachment to anything living or dead. [274] Similarly, death by voluntary starvation is prescribed for those ascetics who have reached the Kewalin or brightest stage of knowledge, as the means of entering their heaven. Owing to the late date of the Jain scriptures, any or all of its doctrines may have been adopted from Buddhism between the commencement of the two religions and the time when they were compiled. The Jains did not definitely abolish caste, and hence escaped the persecution to which Buddhism was subjected during the period of its decline from the fifth or sixth century A.D. On account of this trouble many Buddhists became Jains, and hence a further fusion of the doctrines of the rival sects may have ensued. The Digambara sect of Jains agree with the Buddhists in holding that women cannot attain Nirvana or heaven, while the Swetambara sect say that they can, and also admit women as nuns into the ascetic order. The Jain scripture, the Yogashastra, speaks of women as the lamps that burn on the road that leads to the gates of hell.

6. Jain sects.

The Jains are divided into the above two principal sects, the Digambara and the Swetambara. The Digambara are the more numerous and the stricter sect. According to their tenets death by voluntary starvation is necessary for ascetics who would attain heaven, though of course the rule is not now observed. The name Digambara signifies sky-clad, and Swetambara white-clad. Formerly the Digambara ascetics went naked, and were the gymnosophists of the Greek writers, but now they take off their clothes, if at all, only at meals. The theory of the origin of the two sects is that Parasnath, the twenty-third Tirthakar, wore clothes, while Mahavira the twenty-fourth did not, and the two sects follow their respective examples. The Digambaras now wear ochre-coloured cloth, and the Swetambaras white. The principal difference at present is that the images in Digambara temples are naked and bare, while those of the Swetambaras are clothed, presumably in white, and also decorated with jewellery and ornaments. The Digambara ascetics may not use vessels for cooking or holding their food, but must take it in their hands from their disciples and eat it thus; while the Swetambara ascetics may use vessels. The Digambara, however, do not consider the straining-cloth, brush, and gauze before the mouth essential to the character of an ascetic, while the Swetambara insist on them. There is in the Central Provinces another small sect called Channagri or Samaiya, and known elsewhere as Dhundia. These do not put images in their temples at all, but only copies of the Jain sacred books, and pay reverence to them. They will, however, worship in regular Jain temples at places where there are none of their own.

7. Jain ascetics.

The initiation of a Yati or Jati, a Jain ascetic, is thus described: It is frequent for Banias who have no children to vow that their first-born shall be a Yati. Such a boy serves a novitiate with a _guru_ or preceptor, and performs for him domestic offices; and when he is old enough and has made progress in his studies he is initiated. For this purpose the novice is carried out of the tower with music and rejoicing in procession, followed by a crowd of Sravakas or Jain laymen, and taken underneath the banyan, or any other tree the juice of which is milky. His hair is pulled out at the roots with five pulls; camphor, musk, sandal, saffron and sugar are applied to the scalp; and he is then placed before his _guru,_ stripped of his clothes and with his hands joined. A text is whispered in his ear by the _guru_, and he is invested with the clothes peculiar to Yatis; two cloths, a blanket and a staff; a plate for his victuals and a cloth to tie them up in; a piece of gauze to tie over his mouth to prevent the entry of insects; a cloth through which to strain his drinking-water to the same end; and a broom made of cotton threads or peacock feathers to sweep the ground before him as he walks, so that his foot may not crush any living thing. The duty of the Yati is to read and explain the sacred books to the Sravakas morning and evening, such functions being known as Sandhya. His food consists of all kinds of grain, vegetables and fruit produced above the earth; but no roots such as yams or onions. Milk and _ghi_ are permitted, but butter and honey are prohibited. Some strict Yatis drink no water but what has been first boiled, lest they should inadvertently destroy any insect, it being less criminal to boil them than to destroy them in the drinker's stomach. A Yati having renounced the world and all civil duties can have no family, nor does he perform any office of mourning or rejoicing. [275] A Yati was directed to travel about begging and preaching for eight months in the year, and during the four rainy months to reside in some village or town and observe a fast. The rules of conduct to be observed by him were extremely strict, as has already been seen. Those who observed them successfully were believed to acquire miraculous powers. He who was a Siddh or victor, and had overcome his Karma or the sum of his human actions and affections, could read the thoughts of others and foretell the future. He who had attained Kewalgyan, or the state of perfect knowledge which preceded the emancipation of the soul and its absorption into paradise, was a god on earth, and even the gods worshipped him. Wherever he went all plants burst into flower and brought forth fruit, whether it was their season or not. In his presence no animal bore enmity to another or tried to kill it, but all animals lived peaceably together. This was the state attained to by each Tirthakar during his last sojourn on earth. The number of Jain ascetics seems now to be less than formerly and they are not often met with, at least in the Central Provinces. They do not usually perform the function of temple priest.

8. Jain subcastes of Banias.

Practically all the Jains in the Central Provinces are of the Bania caste. There is a small subcaste of Jain Kalars, but these are said to have gone back to Hinduism. [276] Of the Bania subcastes who are Jains the principal are the Parwar, Golapurab, Oswal and Saitwal. Saraogi, the name for a Jain layman, and Charnagar, a sect of Jains, are also returned as subcastes of Jain Banias. Other important subcastes of Banias, as the Agarwal and Maheshri, have a Jain section. Nearly all Banias belong to the Digambara sect, but the Oswal are Swetambaras. They are said to have been originally Rajputs of Os or Osnagar in Rajputana, and while they were yet Rajputs a Swetambara ascetic sucked the poison from the wound of an Oswal boy whom a snake had bitten, and this induced the community to join the Swetambara sect of the Jains. [277]

9. Rules and customs of the laity.

The Jain laity are known as Shrawak or Saraogi, learners. There is comparatively little to distinguish them from their Hindu brethren. Their principal tenet is to avoid the destruction of all animal, including insect life, but the Hindu Banias are practically all Vaishnavas, and observe almost the same tenderness for animal life as the Jains. The Jains are distinguished by their separate temples and method of worship, and they do not recognise the authority of the Vedas nor revere the _lingam_ of Siva. Consequently they do not use the Hindu sacred texts at their weddings, but repeat some verses from their own scriptures. These weddings are said to be more in the nature of a civil contract than of a religious ceremony. The bride and bridegroom walk seven times round the sacred post and are then seated on a platform and promise to observe certain rules of conduct towards each other and avoid offences. It is said that formerly a Jain bride was locked up in a temple for the first night and considered to be the bride of the god. But as scandals arose from this custom, she is now only locked up for a minute or two and then let out again. Jain boys are invested with the sacred thread on the occasion of their weddings or at twenty-one or twenty-two if they are still unmarried at that age. The thread is renewed annually on the day before the full moon of Bhadon (August), after a ten days' fast in honour of Anant Nath Tirthakar. The thread is made by the Jain priests of tree cotton and has three knots. At their funerals the Jains do not shave the moustaches off as a rule, and they never shave the _choti_ or scalp-lock, which they wear like Hindus. They give a feast to the caste-fellows and distribute money in charity, but do not perform the Hindu _shraddh_ or offering of sacrificial cakes to the dead. The Agarwal and Khandelwal Jains, however, invoke the spirits of their ancestors at weddings. Traces of an old hostility between Jains and Hindus survive in the Hindu saying that one should not take refuge in a Jain temple, even to escape from a mad elephant; and in the rule that a Jain beggar will not take alms from a Hindu unless he can perform some service in return, though it may not equal the value of the alms.

10. Connection with Hinduism.

In other respects the Jains closely resemble the Hindus. Brahmans are often employed at their weddings, they reverence the cow, worship sometimes in Hindu temples, go on pilgrimages to the Hindu sacred places, and follow the Hindu law of inheritance. The Agarwal Bania Jains and Hindus will take food cooked with water together and intermarry in Bundelkhand, although it is doubtful whether they do this in the Central Provinces. In such a case each party pays a fine to the Jain temple fund. In respect of caste distinctions the Jains are now scarcely less strict than the Hindus. The different Jain subcastes of Banias coming from Bundelkhand will take food together as a rule, and those from Marwar will do the same. The Khandelwal and Oswal Jain Banias will take food cooked with water together when it has been cooked by an old woman past the age of child-bearing, but not that cooked by a young woman. The spread of education has awakened an increased interest among the Jains in their scriptures and the tenets of their religion, and it is quite likely that the tendency to conform to Hinduism in caste matters and ceremonies may receive a check on this account. [278]

11. Temple and car festival.

The Jains display great zeal in the construction of temples in which the images of the Tirthakars are enshrined. The temples are commonly of the same fashion as those of the Hindus, with a short, roughly conical spire tapering to a point at the apex, but they are frequently adorned with rich carved stone and woodwork. There are fine collections of temples at Muktagiri in Betul, Kundalpur in Damoh, and at Mount Abu, Girnar, the hill of Parasnath in Chota Nagpur, and other places in India. The best Jain temples are often found in very remote spots, and it is suggested that they were built at times when the Jains had to hide in such places to avoid Hindu persecution. And wherever a community of Jain merchants of any size has been settled for a generation or more several fine temples will probably be found. A Jain Bania who has grown rich considers the building of one or more temples to be the best method of expending his money and acquiring religious merit, and some of them spend all their fortune in this manner before their death. At the opening of a new temple the _rath_ or chariot festival should be held. Wooden cars are made, sometimes as much as five stories high, and furnished with chambers for the images of the Tirthakars. In these the idols of the hosts and all the guests are placed. Each car should be drawn by two elephants, and the procession of cars moves seven times round the temple or pavilion erected for the ceremony. For building a temple and performing this ceremony honorary and hereditary titles are conferred. Those who do it once receive the designation of Singhai; for carrying it out twice they become Sawai Singhai; and on a third occasion Seth. In such a ceremony performed at Khurai in Saugor one of the participators was already a Seth, and in recognition of his great liberality a new title was devised and he became Srimant Seth. It is said, however, that if the car breaks and the elephants refuse to move, the title becomes derisive and is either 'Lule Singhai,' the lame one, or 'Arku Singhai,' the stumbler. If no elephants are available and the car has to be dragged by men, the title given is Kadhore Singhai.

12. Images of the Tirthakars.

In the temples are placed the images of Tirthakars, either of brass, marble, silver or gold. The images may be small or life-size or larger, and the deities are represented in a sitting posture with their legs crossed and their hands lying upturned in front, the right over the left, in the final attitude of contemplation prior to escape from the body and attainment of paradise. There may be several images in one temple, but usually there is only one, though a number of temples are built adjoining each other or round a courtyard. The favourite Tirthakars found in temples are Rishab Deva, the first; Anantnath, the fourteenth; Santnath, the sixteenth; Nemnath, the twenty-second; Parasnath, the twenty-third; and Vardhamana or Mahavira, the twenty-fourth. [279] As already stated only Mahavira and perhaps Parasnath, his preceptor, were real historical personages, and the remainder are mythical. It is noticeable that to each of the Tirthakars is attached a symbol, usually in the shape of an animal, and also a tree, apparently that tree under which the Tirthakar is held to have been seated at the time that he obtained release from the body. And these animals and trees are in most cases those which are also revered and held sacred by the Hindus. Thus the sacred animal of Rishab Deva is the bull, and his tree the banyan; that of Anantnath is the falcon or bear, and his tree the holy Asoka; [280] that of Santnath is the black-buck or Indian antelope, and his tree the _tun_ or cedar; [281] the symbol of Nemnath is the conch shell (sacred to Vishnu), but his tree, the _vetasa_, is not known; the animal of Parasnath is the serpent or cobra and his tree the _dhataki_; [282] and the animal of Mahavira is the lion or tiger and his tree the teak tree. Among the symbols of the other Tirthakars are the elephant, horse, rhinoceros, boar, ape, the Brahmani duck, the moon, the pipal tree, the lotus and the _swastik_ figure; and among their trees the mango, the _jamun_ [283] and the _champak_. [284] Most of these animals and trees are sacred to the Hindus, and the elephant, boar, ape, cobra and tiger were formerly worshipped themselves, and are now attached to the principal Hindu gods. Similarly the asoka, pipal, banyan and mango trees are sacred, and also the Brahmani duck and the _swastik_ sign. It cannot be supposed that the Tirthakars simply represent the deified anthropomorphic emanations from these animals, because the object of Vardhamana's preaching was perhaps like that of Buddha to do away with the promiscuous polytheism of the Hindu religion. But nevertheless the association of the sacred animals and trees with the Tirthakars furnished a strong connecting link between them and the Hindu gods, and considerably lessens the opposition between the two systems of worship. The god Indra is also frequently found sculptured as an attendant guardian in the Jain temples. The fourteenth Tirthakar, Anantnath, is especially revered by the people because he is identified with Gautama Buddha.

13. Religious observances.

The priest of a Jain temple is not usually a Yati or ascetic, but an ordinary member of the community. He receives no remuneration and carries on his business at the same time. He must know the Jain scriptures, and makes recitations from them when the worshippers are assembled. The Jain will ordinarily visit a temple and see the god every morning before taking his food, and his wife often goes with him. If there is no temple in their own town or village they will go to another, provided that it is within a practicable distance. The offerings made at the temple consist of rice, almonds, cocoanuts, betel-leaves, areca, dates, cardamoms, cloves and similar articles. These are appropriated by the Hindu Mali or gardener, who is the menial servant employed to keep the temple and enclosures clean. The Jain will not take back or consume himself anything which has been offered to the god. Offerings of money are also made, and these go into the _bhandar_ or fund for maintenance of the temple. The Jains observe fasts for the last week before the new moon in the months of Phagun (February), Asarh (June) and Kartik (October). They also fast on the second, fifth, eighth, eleventh and fourteenth days in each fortnight of the four months of the rains from Asarh to Kartik, this being in lieu of the more rigorous fast of the ascetics during the rains. On these days they eat only once, and do not eat any green vegetables. After the week's fast at the end of Kartik, at the commencement of the month of Aghan, the Jains begin to eat all green vegetables.

14. Tenderness for animal life.

The great regard for animal life is the most marked feature of the Jain religion among the laity as well as the clergy. The former do not go to such extremes as the latter, but make it a practice not to eat food after sunset or before sunrise, owing to the danger of swallowing insects. Now that their beliefs are becoming more rational, however, and the irksome nature of this rule is felt, they sometimes place a lamp with a sieve over it to produce rays of light, and consider that this serves as a substitute for the sun. Formerly they maintained animal hospitals in which all kinds of animals and reptiles, including monkeys, poultry and other birds were kept and fed, and any which had broken a limb or sustained other injuries were admitted and treated. These were known as _pinjrapol_ or places of protection. [285] A similar institution was named _jivuti_, and consisted of a small domed building with a hole at the top large enough for a man to creep in, and here weevils and other insects which the Jains might find in their food were kept and provided with grain. [286] In Rajputana, where rich Jains probably had much influence, considerable deference was paid to their objections to the death of any living thing. Thus a Mewar edict of A.D. 1693 directed that no one might carry animals for slaughter past their temples or houses. Any man or animal led past a Jain house for the purpose of being killed was thereby saved and set at liberty. Traitors, robbers or escaped prisoners who fled for sanctuary to the dwelling of a Jain Yati or ascetic could not be seized there by the officers of the court. And during the four rainy months, when insects were most common, the potter's wheel and Teli's oil-press might not be worked on account of the number of insects which would be destroyed by them. [287]

15. Social condition of the Jains.

As they are nearly all of the Bania caste the Jains are usually prosperous, and considering its small size, the standard of wealth in the community is probably very high for India, the total number of Jains in the country being about half a million. Beggars are rare, and, like the Parsis and Europeans, the Jains feeling themselves a small isolated body in the midst of a large alien population, have a special tenderness for their poorer members, and help them in more than the ordinary degree. Most of the Jain Banias are grain-dealers and moneylenders like other Banias. Cultivation is prohibited by their religion, owing to the destruction of animal life which it involves, but in Saugor, and also in the north of India, many of them have now taken to it, and some plough with their own hands. Mr. Marten notes [288] that the Jains are beginning to put their wealth to a more practical purpose than the lavish erection and adornment of temples. Schools and boarding-houses for boys and girls of their religion are being opened, and they subscribe liberally for the building of medical institutions. It may be hoped that this movement will continue and gather strength, both for the advantage of the Jains themselves and the country generally.

Kabirpanthi

[_Bibliography_: Right Reverend G. H. Westcott, _Kabir and the Kabirpanth_, Cawnpore, 1907; _Asiatic Researches_, vol. xvi. pp. 53-75 (Wilson's _Hindu Sects_); Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, article Kabirpanthi; _Central Provinces Census Report_ (1891), Sir B. Robertson.]

List of Paragraphs

1. _Life of Kabir_.
2. _Kabir's teachings_.
3. _His sayings_.
4. _The Kabirpanthi sect in the Central Provinces_.
5. _The religious service_.
6. _Initiation_.
7. _Funeral rites_.
8. _Idol worship_.
9. _Statistics of the sect_.

1. Life of Kabir.

_Kabirpanthi Sect_.--A well-known religious sect founded by the reformer Kabir, who flourished in the fifteenth century, and is called by Dr. Hunter the Luther of India. The sect has now split into two branches, the headquarters of one of these being at Benares, and of the other at Kawardha, or Damakheda in Raipur. Bishop Westcott gives the date of Kabir's life as A.D. 1440--1518, while Mr. Crooke states that he flourished between 1488 and 1512. Numerous legends are now told about him; thus, according to one of these, he was the son of a virgin Brahman widow, who had been taken at her request to see the great reformer Ramanand. He, unaware of her condition, saluted her with the benediction which he thought acceptable to all women, and wished her the conception of a son. His words could not be recalled, and the widow conceived, but, in order to escape the disgrace which would attach to her, exposed the child, who was Kabir. He was found by a Julaha or Muhammadan weaver and his wife, and brought up by them. The object of this story is probably to connect Kabir with Ramanand as his successor in reformation and spiritual heir; because the Ramanandis are an orthodox Vaishnava sect, while the Kabirpanthis, if they adhered to all Kabir's preaching, must be considered as quite outside the pale of Hinduism. To make out that Kabir came into the world by Ramanand's act provides him at any rate with an orthodox spiritual lineage. For the same reason [289] the date of Kabir's birth is sometimes advanced as early as 1398 in order to bring it within the period of Ramanand's lifetime (_circa_ 1300-1400). Another story is that the deity took mortal shape as a child without birth, and was found by a newly-married weaver's wife lying in a lotus flower on a tank, like Moses in the bulrushes. Bishop Westcott thus describes the event: "A feeling of thirst overcame Nima, the newly-wedded wife of Niru, the weaver, as after the marriage ceremony she was making her way to her husband's house. She approached the tank, but was much afraid when she there beheld the child. She thought in her heart, 'This is probably the living evidence of the shame of some virgin widow.' Niru suggested that they might take the child to their house, but Nima at first demurred, thinking that such action might give rise to scandal. Women would ask, 'Who is the mother of a child so beautiful that its eyes are like the lotus?' However, laying aside all fears, they took pity on the child. On approaching the house they were welcomed with the songs of women, but when the women saw the child dark thoughts arose in their heads, and they began to ask, 'How has she got this child?' Nima replied that she had got the child without giving birth to it, and the women then refrained from asking further questions." It is at any rate a point generally agreed on that Kabir was brought up in the house of a Muhammadan weaver. It is said that he became the _chela_ or disciple of Ramanand, but this cannot be true, as Ramanand was dead before his birth. It seems probable that he was married, and had two children named Kamal and Kamali. Bishop Westcott states [290] that the _Kabir Kasauti_ explains the story of his supposed marriage by the fact that he had a girl disciple named Loi, a foundling brought up by a holy man; she followed his precepts, and coming to Benares, passed her time in the service of the saints. Afterwards Kabir raised two children from the dead and gave them to Loi to bring up, and the ignorant suppose that these were his wife and children. Such a statement would appear to indicate that Kabir was really married, but after his sect had become important, this fact was felt to be a blot on his claim to be a divine prophet, and so was explained away in the above fashion.

The plain speaking of Kabir and his general disregard for religious conventions excited the enmity of both Hindus and Muhammadans, and he was accused before the Emperor Sikandar Lodi, by whose orders various attempts were made to kill him; but he was miraculously preserved in each case, until at last the Emperor acknowledged his divine character, asked his forgiveness, and expressed his willingness to undergo any punishment that he might name. To this Kabir replied that a man should sow flowers for those who had sown him thorns. Bishop Westcott continues:--"All accounts agree that the earthly life of Kabir came to a close at Maghar, in the District of Gorakhpur. Tradition relates that Kabir died in extreme old age, when his body had become infirm and his hands were no longer able to produce the music with which he had in younger days celebrated the praises of Rama.

"A difficulty arose with regard to the disposal of his body after death. The Muhammadans desired to bury it and the Hindus to cremate it. As the rival parties discussed the question with growing warmth Kabir himself appeared and bade them raise the cloth in which the body lay enshrouded. They did as he commanded, and lo! beneath the cloth there lay but a heap of flowers. Of these flowers the Hindus removed half and burnt them at Benares, while what remained were buried at Maghar by the Muhammadans."

2. Kabir's teachings.