The Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and

North Karnataka since the Late 19th Century:

Towards the Establishment of Collective Religious
Identity and a Digambara Jaina Community

A Thesis Submitted to The University of Manchester

for the Degree of PhD in the Faculty of Humanities

2011

SABINE SCHOLZ

SCHOOL OF ARTS, HISTORIES, AND CULTURES

LIST OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ……………….4
PREFACE………………………………………………………………5
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………6
1. INTRODUCTION..…………………………………………………….7
i. The Socio-Political Setting ……………………………………8
Research Questions and Argument…………………………………….10
i. The Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka……………………………………………………….13
Definition of some Key Terms: `Community´ and `Identity´…………..17
i. Community……………………………………………………...17
ii. Identity…………………………………………………………..20
Literature Review………………………………………………….…….23
i. The Dynamics of Religious Community Formation in India……23
ii. In Search of the `Jaina Community´……………………………26
iii. Establishing Community among the Digambaras of South
Maharashtra and North Karnataka……………………………….33
Methodology and Sources……………………………………………….35
Chapter Outline…………………………………………………………..39
2. THE WESTERN `DISCOVERY´ AND `DEFINITION´ OF JAINISM...42
Colonial Discourse and the `Construction´ of Indian Religions…………43
The Academic `Birth´ of Jainism………………………………………..46
The Orientalists’ Legacy…………………………………………………54
The Census and the Jainas as a `Distinct Community´…………………..59
3. THE LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY JAINA IDENTITY
DISCOURSE: APOLOGETIC WRITINGS AND THE NEED FOR
ORGANISATION AND REFORM ……………………….…………….74
First Efforts at Organising and Reforming the Jainas……………………76
Jainism `Defended´ and `Defined´ from Within……………………………82
The Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā……………………………………………96

i. Reviving a Jaina `Golden Age´…………………………………..96

ii. Educational Progress and Reform………………………………..102

2
 iii. Towards the Establishment of a `Digambara Jaina Community´..114
4. THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY:
THE `REVIVAL´ OF THE DIGAMBARA NAKED ASCETIC
TRADITION …………………………………………………………….123
The Digambara Ascetic Tradition during the 19th and Early 20th Century..124
Ācārya Śāntisāgar and the Re-Establishment of an Ascetic Order……….128
The Naked Digambara Monk: A `Living Symbol of Digambara Jainism´..138
The Naked Monk and the Intellectual Jaina Elite…………………………144
5. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY AND COLLECTIVE
RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AMONG DIGAMBARAS TODAY: THE
ROLE OF ASCETICS, PUBLIC RITUALS AND LAY
ORGANISATIONS………………………………………………………151
`Particular´ and `Routine´ Ascetic-Laity Interaction: The Different Roles
of Digambara Ascetics……………………………………………………152
`Fasting and Feasting´: The Role of Rituals and Festivals……………….168
Rhetoric and a `Re-imported´ Universal Approach: The Role of Lay
Organisations……………………………………………………………..176
6. ARE JAINAS HINDUS? POLITICS AND THE QUESTION OF
CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY ………….……….……….188
Minorities and the Indian Legal System…………………………………...190
The Jainas’ Campaigns for Nationwide Minority Status: ……………194
Phase One: Under British Rule………………………………………194
Phase Two: After Indian Independence………………………………204
The Sikhs, Buddhists and the `Jaina Case´………………………213
7. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………..222
GLOSSARY………………………………………………………………239
APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………..242
APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………………..245
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………..249
(Word Count: 85584)

3
Declaration
No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of
an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or
other institute of learning.

Copyright Statement
i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices) owns any copyright in it
(the “Copyright”) and he has given the University of Manchester the right to
use such Copyright for any administrative, promotional, educational and/or
teaching purposes.

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accordance with the regulations of the John Rylands University Library of
Manchester. Details of these regulations may be obtained from the
Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made.

iii. The ownership of any patents, designs, trademarks and any and all other
intellectual property rights except for the Copyright (the “Intellectual
Property Rights”) and any reproductions of copyright works, for example
graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis,
may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such
Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be
made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s)
of the relevant Intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions.

iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication

and exploitation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property
Rights and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available from
the Head of School of Arts, Histories and Cultures.

4
 PREFACE

This thesis owes its existence, as well as its inspiration, to the interdisciplinary
research project Jainism in Karnataka: History, Architecture and Religion. As a
research assistant in the DFG (German Research Council)-funded Emmy Noether
research group, I was given the opportunity to experience Digambara Jainism as a
living tradition in various areas of Karnataka and South Maharashtra. I am greatly
indebted to the DFG for their generous financial support. Furthermore, I would like
to thank Julia A.B. Hegewald, head of the research project and supervisor of this
thesis, for her guidance, support and patience. I would also like to express my
gratitude to the other members of the project, especially the post-doctoral research
associate Pius Pinto, who has been very helpful in the organisation of my field
research, and the student helper Julia Lauer, who was a great travelling companion.
Furthermore, I want to thank John Zavos, my second supervisor, for his valuable
advice and his patience.
This research would not have been possible without the great support provided to
me by local Jaina lay men and women. Since my first arrival at Gulbarga, North
Karnataka, I have been introduced into a very helpful social network of Jainas at
various villages and towns of Karnataka and the neighbouring area of Maharashtra,
who willingly showed me around Jaina temples and sites, answered my questions,
and allowed me to witness actual Jaina practices at their homes, in temples or at
festivals. I also wish to thank the Jaina ascetics, mainly Digambaras but also some
Śvetāmbaras, who patiently answered my questions and allowed me to observe
their daily practice. Although my research has been focused on Digambaras, I also
had the opportunity to meet and discuss with lay Śvetāmbaras, Hindus and
Muslims, who have been very helpful.
I am especially grateful to Manish Modi and Bal Patil at Mumbai who discussed
various aspects of Digambara identity with me, as well as to Sujata Sastri at
Solapur who introduced me to various Indian scholars and who was a great host.

5
 ABSTRACT
PhD, The University of Manchester
The Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka since the Late
19th Century: Towards the Establishment of Collective Religious Identity and a
Digambara Jaina Community

This thesis aims at locating the position of the Jainas within the Indian religious
landscape. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, novel concepts of
collective religious identities and the formation of exclusive communities among
religious lines have led to the establishment of the popular image of India’s
religious landscape as consisting of a Hindu majority and several religious
minorities. This model is based on exclusive, often antagonistic religious
categories. However, by discussing the position of the Jainas within the framework
of India’s religious pluralism, the present thesis attempts to question this popular
concept.
As will be argued, similar to members of other religious traditions, among Jainas
too the identity discourse of the intellectual elite has introduced broader supra-
locally, supra-caste-based concepts of community. However, this process of
collective identity and community formation has not been based on, in Harjot
Oberoi’s terms, the “construction of religious boundaries” (1994) between Jainas
and Hindus. These `blurred boundaries´ between Hindus and Jainas in the modern
Jaina identity discourse defy a concrete positioning of the Jainas within the
framework of India’s religious landscape.
This thesis will begin with the analysis of the late 19th and early 20th century Jaina
discourse of Western orientalists and intellectual Jainas, and its impact on the
`definition´ of `Jaina values´ and the Jainas as a `community´. Mainly focusing on
the regional sub-group of the Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka, the research will also discuss the impact of non-middle-class `agents´ in
the process of community building among Jainas. In this respect it will be argued
that lay-ascetic interaction and the performance of distinct rituals and festivals
largely contribute to the establishment of community among Digambara Jainas. The
strict practice of Digambara ascetics also adds the element of asceticism to the
`Jaina values´, which have been propagated by intellectual lay Jaina individuals and
organisations from the early 20th century onwards. These propagated `Jaina values´,
most prominently among them ahiṃsā and tolerance, make Jainism the most
suitable religion for modern times, and symbolise ancient Indian `values´ in their
`purest form´.
However, regarding the Jainas as a `community´, this Jaina discourse has
remained rather vague and abstract. This vagueness finds its most concrete
expression in the still undecided legal status of the Jainas regarding their inclusion
among the nationwide religious minorities.
In comparison to other Indian religious minority traditions, the Sikhs and
Buddhists in particular, the `Jaina case´ suggests a complexity of collective
religious identifications in the Indian religious landscape, which defies any fixed
model.

6
 1. INTRODUCTION

Clearly, then, the question of whether the Jains are a Hindu sect has
been in many eyes a controversial one and, indeed, differences in the
articulation of their identity can be found amongst the Jains themselves
throughout India today. Thus, a northern Digambara might be happy to
describe himself as a Hindu in that he might accept the term could have
an encompassing sense, whereas Shvetambaras in Gujarat and
Digambaras in Karnataka would be unlikely to call themselves anything
other than Jain and would be more insistent on the exclusivity of their
religion. Again, in Rajasthan, while many Jain merchants might often
subsume their identity as Jains within the broader and, depending on
context, more meaningful category of mahajan, the name of the
merchant caste to which both Jains and Hindus can belong, others
might be more conscious of their exclusive identity as Jains (Dundas
1992: 5).

Paul Dundas’s statement, taken from his important study The Jains (1992),
addresses the fluid, changeable and ambiguous character of religious and cultural
identity, held by Jainas of different local and sectarian backgrounds. This thesis
will take up the very question of the conception of a collective identity among a
regional sub-group of Jainas, the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka, in its historical development since the late 19th century.
With the emergence of new conceptualisations of collective religious identity and
the establishment of `community´ along religious lines from the latter half of the
19th century onwards, the modern popular image of the Indian religious landscape
is commonly conceived as consisting of a Hindu majority and several religious
minorities. This popular model is based on mainly exclusive, often antagonistic
religious categories, which find their expression not only in concepts of a Hindu-
Muslim dichotomy, but also in the post-Independence history of communal
conflicts, mainly between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians.
The present thesis aims at questioning the validity of this model, by analysing
developments among the Jainas, a religious group whose `position´ within the
Indian religious landscape has not been the focus of any comprehensive academic
research yet. As will be argued in the following chapters, among Jainas too the
identity discourse from the late 19th century onwards has led to a wider `shift´

7
towards supra-caste, supra-locally-based concepts of community and collective
religious identity. This wider `shift´ did not `replace´ other forms of collective
identities along sectarian, caste and regional lines. However, as will be argued in
this thesis, broader concepts of community and collective identity have developed
into a powerful intellectual concept. In this respect, like `Hindu´ or `Sikh´ the term
`Jaina´ similarly emerged as an important identity marker. At the same time,
however, as an independent, exclusive category, the term `Jaina´ has remained
vague and unspecific in its relationship to the term `Hindu´. Regarding Paul
Dundas’s statement cited previously, the very nature of a `Jaina identity´ has
remained fluid and ambiguous. The `Jaina case´, in comparison to other Indian
religious traditions (namely Sikhs and Buddhists) will be the focus of the present
thesis. Whilst, as will be argued, the Jaina identity discourse since the late 19th
century has developed and propagated a `self-definition´ based on specific `Jaina
values´, strict boundaries to other groups (most importantly the `Hindu majority´)
have not been established. In this respect, as this thesis aims to illustrate, the
position of the Jainas within the Indian religious landscape has remained vague and
blurred, suggesting a disruption of the popular concept of Indian religious pluralism
(as described above) as consisting of exclusive defined categories of a Hindu
majority and several religious minorities.

The Socio-Political Setting

From the early 19th century onwards, the area encompassing British India and the
Native States has witnessed a period of immense and substantial changes due to the
impact of the colonial system and the convergence of Western and Indian culture.
Western orientalism, education, philosophical and political ideas, as well as the
introduction of the decennial census, has contributed to the development of new
concepts of religious, cultural and national identity among members of the Indian
intellectual elite. The works of European orientalism have attempted to `define´
Indian religious traditions by use of the Western concept of `a religion´ as a
monolithic, uniform entity with fixed boundaries.

8
 At the same time, Western attacks, especially those from Christian missionaries
against what were considered `evil´ and `degraded´ social and religious practices,
provoked response from the newly emerging Western-educated Indian elite. The
first socio-religious Hindu reform movement, the Brahmo Samāj, was started in
1828 among Brahmins in colonial Bengal. In the course of the 19th century, further
Hindu reform movements came into existence in different areas of British India.
The main aims of these movements consisted in religious reform, most prominently
in campaigns against polytheism, idolatry and the religious monopoly of Brahmins,
as well as in the reform of popular social practices, such as abolition of child
marriage, support of inter-caste dining and marriage, and widow remarriage. These
ideas naturally did not stay confined to Hindu movements, but also had their impact
on the intellectual elite from other religious backgrounds.
Newly emerging concepts of exclusive religious systems and adherence to one of
these exclusive groups as an important `identity marker´ were substantially
strengthened by the introduction of the decennial census in British India from the
1870s onwards. In these, an individual’s caste and religion became important
census categories, and `community boundaries´ were shifted towards religious
lines. Clear-cut boundaries between these newly established exclusive communities
based on religion were constructed by several means. Firstly, leading intellectuals
set out to `define´ their religious tradition by determining its main values, rites, and
beliefs. However, this discourse on their own religious identity did not merely
consist in stating what their own religion was, but, equally importantly, depended
on stating what it was not. In this regard, what Harjot Oberoi (1994) has called the
“construction of religious boundaries” worked as an important means for the
establishment of a separate and distinct religious identity by dividing between `us´
and `them´.
The presentation of an alleged numerical decline of Sikhs, Hindus and Jainas in
the census data (created by rather confusing classifications in the census forms)
alarmed lay leaders of different religious backgrounds. In Punjab, radical members
of the Hindu Ārya Samāj and the Sikh Sabhā not only tried to `re-convert´
members of low castes back into the Hindu and Sikh fold but, more importantly,

9
contributed to the further growth of communal tensions by the creation of strict
boundaries between their own and other religious traditions.

Research Questions and Argument

Although constituting only a small minority, among Jainas too a Western-educated

intellectual elite aimed at positioning themselves and their religious tradition within
the broader Indian cultural and political framework of colonial British India. The
discussion of the dominant identity discourse produced by members of the Jaina
intellectual elite from the end of the 19th century onwards, as well as their efforts at
internal organisation, unification and reform, will focus on finding answers for the
following research questions: to what extent has the wider `shift´ from locally
confined, caste-based concepts of communities and communal identity to supra-
caste, supra-local (even pan-Indian or `universal´) communal religious
identifications found parallel developments among the Jainas? How did Jaina
intellectuals react to Western orientalist discourse, Western critical writings on the
Jaina tradition, and the introduction of decennial census takings? How have Jaina
lay leaders attempted to position their own tradition within the framework of Indian
religious pluralism? In what ways have modern, Western influenced, forms of
religious organisation contributed to shifting concepts of community and collective
religious identity among Jainas? How have non-middle-class `agents´, especially
the non-highly educated Jaina masses, been involved in changing the concept of
collective identity? To what extent has a `self-definition´ of the Jaina tradition as
an independent religious system depended on the “construction of religious
boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between Jainas and non-Jainas, especially Hindus?
In discussing these questions, the present thesis aims at positioning developments
among the Jainas within the broader context of the emergence of collective
religious identities in India. To what extent is the `Jaina case´ similar to
developments which have taken place among other Indian traditions, especially
Hindus and Sikhs? What has been different, and what have been the most likely
factors for that?

10
 As this research sets out to illustrate, crucial elements in the formation of
communal identities in colonial India have also found their counterpart in the
identity discourse among intellectual Jainas. Important among these elements is the
wider `shift´ from local caste-based to supra-local religious collective
identifications. Furthermore, the establishment of supra-caste, supra-local concepts
of community among Jainas has also largely relied on collective action in the
colonial public sphere and the usage of Western models of organisation.
Additionally, Western orientalist writings and critical attacks against Indian
traditions prompted similar reactions from Jaina intellectuals as among Indian
intellectuals from other religious backgrounds.
As the present study aims to show, we do find substantial parallel developments
among Jainas and non-Jaina Indian religious traditions; yet we are also confronted
with major differences. Unlike developments among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs (and
from the middle of the 20th century onwards also among Indian Buddhists), the
identity discourse among Jainas is missing the element of politicisation.
Furthermore, the usage of external symbols and the establishment of distinct
boundaries with Hindus have been far less accentuated in the `Jaina case´ than
among other religious groups in India.
Considering these important differences, an analysis of the emergence of supra-
local community building among Jainas does not merely contribute to the discourse
on identity formation in a colonial setting. The study of the `Jaina case´ can provide
valuable insights into the formation of collective religious identity among an Indian
religious tradition which has neither been part of the Hindu-Muslim dichotomy nor
has been exposed to aggressive communal tensions such as between Muslims,
Hindus, Sikhs, and a determined Christian mission in Punjab.
The major differences between developments among the Jainas and among other
Indian religious traditions, according to the main argument of this thesis, have been
caused by the interrelation between external and internal factors. External factors,
for instance, include the small number of Jainas and their distribution all over India;
unlike the Sikhs, who are also a minority but in substantial numbers reside in
Punjab, Jainas are scattered all over India. Whereas, among Hindus, Muslims and

11
Sikhs in North India, language has become an important constituent of collective
religious identity, Jainas do not have a distinct language spoken by Jainas all over
India. Furthermore, in their outward appearance and many social customs and
practices lay Jainas are not distinct from the surrounding Hindu majority. While
these factors have made an extensive usage of outward symbols (such as a spoken
`Jaina language´ or a certain area as a `Jaina homeland´ 1 ) as well as a growing
politicisation difficult, internal factors have further contributed to the blurring of
outward boundaries between Jainas and Hindus. Most important among these
internal factors has been the very nature of the dominant Jaina identity discourse
and the reformist efforts of Jaina leaders. Regarding this latter aspect, although 19th
century Jaina reformers started campaigns to `purge´ Jainism from alleged Hindu
elements, their ambitions have neither been carried out as systematically or
aggressively as among radical Sikhs nor has the movement against an alleged
`Hinduisation´ ever held a very high priority among the reformist ideals of Jaina
leaders.
More importantly, from the end of the 19th century onwards, Jaina apologetics
have tried to define the distinctiveness of the Jaina tradition not so much in outward
opposition to the Hindu tradition but, in more subtle ways, by presenting the Jainas
as the `real Hindus´. Eternal Indian spiritual and moral values, so they argue, were
developed in their purest form within the Jaina tradition. While vegetarianism and
the principle of ahiṃsā, non-violence, are highly valued in Indian traditions, Jainas,
so popular discourse goes, practise it at the most intense grade. The same,
according to Jaina apologetics, holds true for asceticism and the deliberate
limitation of one’s possessions. India’s `spiritual message´ to the world, therefore,
is contained in a pure form in the Jaina teachings which, again according to popular
Jaina discourse, makes Jainism much more important than the actual number of
Jainas would suggest.
This Jaina discourse, as will be argued in the present thesis, has been successful in
defining distinct `Jaina values´, which give the Jaina tradition a distinct `image´.
1
Although the Indian state of Gujarat, where the most important Śvetāmbara pilgrimage place,
Mount Shatrunjaya, is located, in the imagination of Gujarati Śvetāmbaras could be regarded as a
`Jaina homeland´, this notion is not shared by other Jaina groups, especially the Digambaras.

12
However, unlike in the case of the dominant identity discourse among intellectual
lay leaders of other religious groups (especially the Sikhs) the boundaries between
Hindus and Jainas have remained more blurred. Here, it has to be noted that
regarding socio-religious practices and traditions fluid boundaries do not only exist
between Jainas and Hindus, but also between other religious groups. However, as
will be argued in the following chapters, it is in the field of intellectual discourse -
or what can be called the way in which collective identity has been `imagined´ by
intellectual reformers - where boundaries between Jainas and Hindus appear to be
more fluid and less defined than the boundaries between Hindus and other religious
groups, especially Sikhs. As this thesis aims to show, these `blurred boundaries´
find their most concrete expression in the presently still undecided legal status of
the Jainas as an Indian religious minority on a nationwide level.

The Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka

The main focus of the present research will be an analysis of the processes of supra-
local identity formation among the regional Jaina sub-group comprising the
Digambara Jainas of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Although the Jainas
are a very small religious minority, they are far from constituting a uniform entity.
Jainas are mainly divided into two broader branches, Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras.
Among the latter, several further splits have taken place, which led to a division
between image-worshipping mūrtipūjaka and non-image-worshipping Sthānakvāsī
and Terāpanthi Jainas. Individual reform movements have also led to the creation
of several smaller Digambara sub-groups, such as the Tāraṇ Svāmī Panth.
Opposition to some temple rituals, modes of worship and especially the religious
authority of the pivotal figure of the bhaṭṭāraka as head of a Jaina monastery
caused a major division of the Digambaras into Bīspanthīs and Terāpanthīs;
however, this division is mainly confined to North India and the differences
between both groups have been decreasing in modern times. 2

2
For a short, but concise introduction to the different Jaina branches, see: Wiley (2004). For a
general account of different Jaina sects, see: Dundas (2002); Jaini (1979).

13
 Apart from sectarian differences, Jainas are divided into different castes, follow
local traditions of their particular region and are engaged in different occupations
which, in particular, substantially decide their social and economic status. Although
the Jainas, as a whole, appear as a rather wealthy group dominated by trading
business, Digambaras in South India (mainly North Karnataka and Southern
Maharashtra) have traditionally been engaged in agriculture, corresponding with a
lower economic status when compared with North Indian Jaina trading castes.
Considering all these differences, a general discussion of the emerging concept of
a `Jaina identity´ and `Jaina community´ seems to be problematic as there is a
danger of generalisation. Regarding the concept of collective religious identity
among Jainas, multiple `layers´ or `levels´ of identity have to be considered. On the
broadest level, the late 19th century discourse between Western orientalists, British
colonial officials and Jaina intellectuals aimed exactly at `constructing´ or
`defining´ a `general´ universal Jaina identity. Progressive lay reformers especially
actively propagated the idea of internal unity between Jainas of all regions, castes
and sects. Apologetic writings, as will be shown, focused on the `universal spirit´ of
Jainism, and sectarian disputes had no place in the writers’ universalistic outlook.
In some instances, such as the introduction of the census category `religion´, the
focus has also been confined to religious communities in the broader sense, such as
`Hindus´, `Sikhs´ or `Jainas´. In this regard, intellectual reformers from different
sectarian backgrounds were concerned with allegedly decreasing numbers of
`Jainas´, whether North or South Indian, Digambara or Śvetāmbara.
On a more narrow level, notwithstanding the efforts of progressive reformers and
their apologetic writings, sectarianism and caste-consciousness among Jainas
proved to be far more resistant than intellectuals had hoped. Besides all reformist
efforts, in practice the 19th century illiterate Maharasthrian Digambara farmer and
the Gujarati Śvetāmbara trader lived in two different worlds with hardly any
interaction (even if the latter had migrated to Maharashtra for business reasons).
That said, it seems to be more appropriate to discuss the concepts of supra-local
collective religious identity and community by focusing on the developments
among one regionally confined sectarian branch of the Jainas. The group to be

14
discussed combines predominantly rural agricultural Digambaras of different castes
who constitute what could be called the `Southern centre´ of Jainism - the Indian
regions of South Maharahtra and North Karnataka.
Within this thesis, research will further focus on a small but highly influential
group among the Jainas, namely the Western-educated professional middle-class.
Unlike the low educated or illiterate masses, members of the intellectual elite were
in a position to participate within the colonial discourse; furthermore, that elite, by
means of Western models of organisation and the publishing media, made active
use of the colonial public sphere. In this regard, professionals such as lawyers or
teachers considered themselves as legitimate representatives of the Jaina masses.
Although most of their reformist and apologetic writings, especially those
published in English, remained inaccessible to the majority of non-highly educated
Jainas, the small circle of intellectual reformers acted as `mediators´ between the
common people and what they regarded as the `real´ form of Jainism and the
concept of supra-local religious identity and community. In particular, the
reformers’ usage of the colonial public sphere, with pan-Indian networks, gradually
spread these new concepts of religious identity and religious communities also
among other classes of Jainas. 3
Although the importance of the intellectual elite within the process of collective
religious identity formation has been substantial, an analysis of identity formation
and community building among the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka shows that also other, non-middle-class-based, `agents´ have been
having an immense influence on the developments discussed. These important
factors, in the form of the `revival´ of the Digambara ascetic order, lay-ascetic
interaction and the performance of special rituals, will also be analysed in this
thesis. The impact of the Digambara ascetic order especially, whose members prior
to their initiation mainly belonged to a very different social and economic class
than Western-educated Jaina intellectuals, will be elaborated on. Although, as will
be demonstrated, the Digambara ascetics and professional middle-classes who

3
For the importance of the Indian professional middle-classes’ participation within the colonial
discourse and their usage of the public sphere, see: Zavos (2000: 8-16). For a study of the
development of the Indian middle-classes, see: Misra (1961).

15
dominated lay organisations pursue different, at times opposite, interests, both have
largely contributed to a broadened concept of community among Digambara Jainas.
Again, it is important to stress that among Jainas, as among other Indian religious
groups, multiple `layers´ of collective identity can be found. While, for instance,
Western-educated lay reformers aimed at constructing a unified supra-locally-based
`Jaina community´, more narrowly defined forms of collective identity, mainly
along regional, sectarian and caste-based lines still play a dominant role. In this
regard, this thesis does not want to claim that broader concepts of community along
religious lines, postulated by a Western-educated intellectual elite, have completely
`replaced´ other forms of community building. Rather, this research aims to
illustrate in what way developments from the end of the 19th century onwards have
contributed to new constructions and concepts of communities on a supra-locally,
supra-caste-based scale. These new concepts have not replaced, but co-exist with
other forms of collective identities, and most Jainas may regard these multiple
forms of identities as compatible. In this respect, a local Digambara of North
Karnataka may consider it of substantial importance that his child marries a spouse
from the same Digambara caste. At the same time, the same individual can be a
member of a Digambara organisation which represents Digambara Jainas of
different castes and regional backgrounds. Finally, when stating his religion in the
census takings, he may not mention the sectarian division of `Digambara´ at all, but
simply may call himself a `Jaina´. On the other hand, for determined lay reformers
and their declared aim to unify their own religious community the co-existence of
multiple identities may represent a contradiction which requires further efforts at
unification.
As already mentioned above, `multiple layers of Jaina identity´ - for instance
based on belonging to a specific caste, being Digambara or Śvetāmbara, among the
latter belonging to an image-worshipping or non-worshipping sub-group - largely
depend on the context in which they are used, `constructed´ or `imagined´. In this
regard, we also have to differentiate between what can be called `actual practice´
and intellectual discourse or `imagination´. While, for instance, in practice caste
still plays a rather important role regarding the arrangements of weddings, at the

16
same time the reformers’ discourse on the Jainas as a unified pan-Indian religious
community has become an important conceptualisation of community on a more
theoretical level. The same phenomenon, it has to be added, will be found among
other religious groups in India and is not confined to Jainas.
What this thesis will mainly focus on is the latter aspect, namely collective Jaina
identity as an intellectual construct. Though more narrow levels of collective
identity formation may dominate the practice of socio-religious customs, the
intellectual Jaina elites’ discourse on a supra-locally, supra-caste-based concept of
collective identity among Jainas has an important impact on the way community
and collective identity can be constructed. It may be argued that the discourse on
the Jainas as a unified pan-Indian religious community has not been successful in
overcoming the boundaries of castes and sects, and that the notion of the Jainas as a
supra-locally, supra-caste-based community is no more than an `intellectual
imagination´; nevertheless, this `intellectual imagination´ is not confined to a
theoretical level. This becomes clear in campaigns of Jaina associations and
individuals for nationwide minority status, as well as in publications and campaigns
aiming at the propagation of `Jaina values´. Therefore, though the concept of a
universal Jaina community may be `imagined´, it is an important element in the
construction of community and collective identity among Jainas today.

Definition of some Key Terms: `Community´ and `Identity´

Community
Before the next section, which will provide an overview of the important academic
literature about the dynamics of religious community formations in India in general
and on the establishment of community among Jainas in particular, some further
clarifications of terms are needed. In this introductory chapter, the phrases
`identity´ and `community´ have been constantly used, and it is these terms that
play a fundamental role within the framework of this thesis. Both phrases are part
of everyday language and are commonly understood in a similar way; yet, any
generally accepted definition is missing. This holds especially true for the term
`community´, which can be used in a sociological and a non-sociological sense (the

17
latter non-sociological usage does not concern the topic of this thesis and therefore
will not be discussed further). In a sociological sense, a community can be
described as a group of individuals bound together by having something in
common. 4 On a more concrete level, a community consists of all those sharing the
same geographical space, who are furthermore connected through a certain degree
of interdependency and social interaction (Johnson 2000: 53).
From the standpoint of the sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies (1963) the notion of
community became closely connected with “a fairly strong feeling of belonging and
mutual commitment based on a homogenous culture, shared experience, and close
interdependency” (Johnson 2000: 53). Seen, in a less concrete sense, from a
perspective of emotional belonging, a `feeling of community´ can exist between
individuals sharing the same interests, professions or religious beliefs.
Transcending geographical boundaries and the aspect of direct interdependency in
everyday practical life, this concept of community in a broader sense leads to
Benedict Anderson’s (1991) term of “imagined communities” and his definition of
a `nation´ as “an imagined political community” (1991: 6). `Imagined´, for
Anderson, implies that the community consists of members who do not actually
know each other or have ever met before, but nevertheless regard themselves as
bound together by “the image of their communion” (1991: 6). Although Anderson
focuses his analysis of `imagined communities´ on modern nation building, his
term of `imagined communities´ can be used in a much broader sense than the
establishment of nationalism. In this regard, he himself remarks: “In fact, all
communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps
even these) are imagined” (1991: 6).
Seen in the Indian colonial context, which marks the historical `starting point´ of
this thesis, I regard Anderson’s term as appropriate for the transformation leading
to the emergence of the concept of distinct, exclusive and universal religious
communities of `Hindus´, `Muslims´, `Jainas´ etc. For instance, the `construction´
of the Jainas or, more specifically, the Digambara Jainas, as an `imagined

4
For a short discussion of the term `community´ from a sociological perspective, see, for instance:
Abercrombie et al. (1988); Johnson (2000); Scott and Marshall (2009); Williams (1988).

18
community´ is marked by the gradual shift in concept from a local `caste identity´
to a more universal `Digambara identity´. 5 This `transformation´ of identity and the
concept of community leads from an exclusive focus on local caste affiliations to
the concept of a more symbolic connection with others, in different localities, who
have never met before. While the establishment of community among caste
members, especially of the same locality, found its expression in a high degree of
interdependency and social interaction regarding everyday life, the `construction´
of a more universal religious community relied heavily on a discourse similar to
that of modern nationalism. This discourse thus tried to define the `common´
history, tradition, values and symbols, which connected the members of the newly
emerging religious communities.
A further similarity in the establishment of communities, from more concrete
local interdependent village communities to `imagined communities´ such as
modern nation states or universal religious communities, is the marking of
boundaries between group and outsiders. These boundaries can have a very
concrete form, as in the case of geographic borders, village boundaries or rules of
intermarriage and interdining. In the context of this thesis, boundaries between
Indian religious communities have been much more fluid. Therefore, just as
`imagined communities´ often rely on what the historian Eric Hobsbawm (1983)
has called “the invention of tradition”, they may also require an `invention of
boundaries´ separating their members from outsiders. Here again, Oberoi’s (1994)
term the “construction of religious boundaries” comes to mind. The present thesis
will illustrate, to what extent their usage, or, to connect Hobsbawm’s and Oberoi’s
terms, the `invention of boundaries´, contribute to the establishment of distinct
religious communities. As we will see, in the case of the Jainas, `blurred
boundaries´ with Hindus have made the concept of the Jainas as a distinct,
independent religious community rather controversial.

5
It has to be stressed, however, that Anderson (1991: 12-19) regards the rise of nationally
`imagined communities´ as a `replacement´ of the older religiously `imagined communities´, such
as Christendom and Islam. Nevertheless, his above cited definition of `imagined communities´ as
groups of individuals “larger than primordial villages of face to face contact”, bound together by
“the image of their communion” (1991: 6) is considered appropriate to be used in the analysis of
the formation of collective religious identities in late colonial India.

19
 Within this thesis, the term `community´ will be used according to the short
discussion given above. By analysing developments among the Digambara Jainas
of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, the wider `shift´ from a more concrete
conception of community (expressed by caste barriers, rules of interdining and
intermarrying, and local geographic boundaries) to a more symbolic concept of a
`community of belonging´ (transcending caste and local geographical boundaries)
will be presented. In this regard, it will be considered appropriate to describe the
emergence of supra-local, supra-caste conceptions of community among Jainas (as
among other religious groups in colonial India) in Anderson’s sense as the
establishment of `imagined communities´. The emergence of the Jainas, or on a
more narrow level the Digambara Jainas, as an `imagined community´ has not
`replaced´ more traditional forms of community building, but has `added´ further
forms of possible collective identities to existing ones. In this regard, Anderson’s
concept of `imagined communities’ may not only be used to describe the
`imagination´ of pan-Indian religious communities, but also of smaller groups
among these larger units. In the case of the Jainas, for instance, the Digambaras are
also an `imagined community´, just as other supra-locally and supra-caste-based
groups. Here again, we find multiple possibilities regarding the conceptualisation of
community. This multitude of co-existing concepts of community is also reflected
in multiple forms of identity held by an individual or a group. This aspect will be
further discussed in the following section.

Identity
The close relationship between `community´ and `identity´ becomes evident in
definitions of community as a group of people who share “a common sense of
identity” (Scott and Marshall 2009: 1). Similar to the term community, `identity´
also constitutes a word in everyday language that proves to be difficult to define.
From an academic perspective, identity had first been a subject of psychology,
while later the sociological conception of an individual’s identity became the focus.
Other sciences, such as anthropology or inter-disciplinary cultural studies have also

20
contributed to the discourse on identity and the `self´. 6 The sociologist Stuart Hall
(1992: 275-277) outlines three different concepts of identity which can be
simplified as follows: first, the unchanging `self´ of the Enlightenment subject;
second, the more complex sociological subject forming itself in relation to its
surrounding culture; and, third, the post-modern subject defined “as having no fixed
essential or permanent identity” (1992: 277).
The post-modern concept of `identity´ has been the focus of academic works on
an individual’s search for identity in an era of post-colonialism and globalisation. 7
The complexity of the subject is illustrated in the following definition of `identity´
in the modern context:
Identity is about belonging, about what you have in common with some
people and what differentiates you from others. At its most basic it
gives you a sense of personal location, the stable core to your
individuality. But it is also about your social relationships, your
complex involvement with others, and in the modern world these have
become ever more complex and confusing. Each of us live with a
variety of potentially contradictory identities, which battle within us for
allegiance: as men or women, black or white, straight or gay, able-
bodied or disabled, `British´ or `European´…The list is potentially
infinite, and so therefore are our possible belongings. Which of them
we focus on, bring to the fore, `identify´ with, depends on a host of
factors. At the centre, however, are the values we share or wish to share
with others (Weeks 1990: 88).

This definition, although referring to the context of contemporary multicultural

Britain, nevertheless stresses important aspects which also lie at the basis of the
concept of identity used within the present thesis: `identity´ is not restricted to the
individual `self´, but, in the sociological sense, largely depends on the interaction
between the individual and its surrounding culture. This constant interaction not
only causes the formation of identity, but also its fluid character; furthermore,
identity not only helps the individual to locate him or herself within society, but, at
the same time, establishes what can be called a `community feeling´ with others

6
For a more comprehensive study of identity theories from various academic disciplines, see: Du
Gay et al. (2000); Holland et al. (1998).
7
See, for instance, the collected essays on identity and diversity published in: Rutherford (1990).

21
who share the same values. In this sense, a `collective identity´ can be shared by a
group of people bound together by the same system of values.
While the present thesis mainly focuses on these sociological aspects of identity
as produced in constant interaction between the individual and society, the post-
modern conception of identity as becoming increasingly fluid in a globalised world
is also taken into account. Within the historical context of the present thesis, the
impact of modernity on identity formation is of special importance. The cultural,
economic and political changes which occurred in colonial India over a rather short
period substantially contributed to what can be called an `identity crisis´ among the
members of the newly emerging Western-educated intellectual elite. Regarding this
`crisis of identity´ Kobena Mercer (1990: 43) remarks: “One thing at least is clear -
identity only becomes an issue when it is in crisis, when something assumed to be
fixed, coherent and stable is displaced by the experience of doubt and uncertainty.”
For members of the Western-educated Indian intellectual elite, the search for
their `own identity´ which had been `in crisis´ and the emergence of new concepts
of community were closely interrelated. In this regard, the conception of a distinct
religious identity fostered the idea of exclusive religious communities and vice
versa. The discussion of the emergence of exclusive religious communities,
therefore, cannot be separated from the analysis of changing identities. This then
becomes evident, for instance, in considering the shift of concept from a `caste
identity´ to a `Digambara Jaina identity´, propagated by Western-educated Jaina
intellectuals.
To summarise: `identity´, as used within this thesis, in the sociological sense, is a
complex interaction between an individual’s `self´ and surrounding society. Identity
is not a static, unchangeable entity, and may change over time. An individual will
furthermore hold several different identities at the same time, depending on his or
her various roles in society, and the `hierarchy´ of these identities may also shift
over time. Values held by a group of individuals establish a sense of belonging - a
`collective identity´ - shared by all members of the group. Although stressing the
sociological implications of the formation of `collective identities´, the present
thesis also acknowledges the importance of post-modern concepts focusing on an

22
individual’s loss of and search for identity in times of increasing globalisation and
social and political change.
It may not be out of place here to stress an individual’s multiple identities and a
`hierarchy of identities´. A Jaina, for instance, may identify him or herself as the
member of a specific caste, a specific regional sub-group, a Digambara or
Śvetāmbara, and more generally as a Jaina. Depending on the context and specific
circumstances, various identities will become more or less dominant. While
arranging a marriage, an individual’s caste may be much more important than any
broader concept of a collective Digambara or Śvetāmbara Jaina (sectarian) identity;
this focus on caste as the dominant identity marker may lose its importance in
instances of communal disputes about important pilgrimage sites, claimed by
Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras as belonging to their sectarian tradition; in a wider
sense, then, collective identity established along sectarian lines is superseded by the
stress on the concept of a supra-locally, supra-caste-based Jaina community in
campaigns for nationwide minority status. In this respect, the present thesis’ focus
on the development of the concept of a supra-locally, supra-caste-based collective
religious identity among Jainas does not suggest that multiple forms of identity and
community formations do not exist among Jainas.

Literature Review

The following subsections will provide an examination of academic works which

are relevant for the issues discussed in the present thesis. Before focusing on
research surrounding the establishment of community among Jainas in general, and
Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka in particular, important
academic contributions to the study of the dynamics of religious community
formation in late colonial India will be discussed.

The Dynamics of Religious Community Formation in India

The active role taken by members of the Indian intellectual elite within the colonial
encounter has been discussed in depth by various scholars whose works focus on

23
the emergence of the concept of a supra-local, pan-Indian Hindu community. The
growing dichotomy between Hindus and Muslims, which has taken on an
aggressive character in communal disturbances and riots, has been analysed in
research on the emergence of `communal identities´. The works of Gyanendra
Pandey (1990) and Sandria B. Freitag (1989) discuss the formation of religious
communities and their politicisation in the form of communalism in a North Indian
context. In The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India, Pandey
argues that communalism in India has to be regarded as a modern phenomenon,
whose emergence paralleled, and shared the same (colonial) context with modern
Indian nationalism. Although Pandey’s notion of the non-existence of larger supra-
caste collective religious identities in pre-colonial India is not undisputed, 8 his
discussion of a `shift´ from a caste-based to a religious concept of collective
identity shows an important development in the establishment of collective
religious identities in colonial India.
Sandria B. Freitag’s important Collective Action and Community: Public Arenas
and the Emergence of Communalism in North India analyses the profound impact
of collective action in the public sphere on the establishment of community. Like
Pandey, Freitag (1980) locates a change from a caste and village-based concept of
community to larger units of `religious communities´ which took place at the end of
the 19th century. Furthermore, Freitag’s research highlights the special significance
of symbols for the establishment of community:
The late nineteenth century in particular was marked by a wide range of
experimental explorations of the definition of the community behind
each of the labels. By the second decade of the twentieth century these
community identities had taken on a reality which could be expressed in
a newly developed vocabulary or idiom drawing heavily on religious
symbols (1980: 598).

The notion of representation within the colonial public sphere as an important

element of religious organisation has also been discussed in John Zavos’s The
Emergence of Hindu Nationalism in India (2000). Against the scholarly tendency to

8
See, for instance, Dipankar Gupta’s review (1993) of Pandey’s work, in which Gupta states that
according to his own opinion “the anti-cow slaughter agitations, for example, could not have
occurred without an identification with these larger unities” (1993: 341).

24
strictly divide between `reformist´ and `conservative´ or `traditional´ Hindu
movements, Zavos illustrates that both kinds of movements not only participated in
so-called `reformist´ or `modernist´ activities, but that the form of organisation of
the movements themselves was profoundly influenced by Western concepts.
While several scholars, including Freitag (1989) and especially Ayesha Jalal
(2000), discuss the emergence of the concept of an all Indian Muslim community,
`blurred boundaries´ between exclusive categories of `Muslim´ and `Hindu´
religious practice are analysed by Jackie Assayag (2004) in At the Confluence of
Two Rivers. Assayag’s study of contemporary Hindu and Muslim interaction in
religious worship in Karnataka is important as it shows that, in actual practice,
exclusive religious affiliations can be superseded by individual motives and
allegedly exclusive religious boundaries at times can be rather fluid.
The aspect of `blurred boundaries´, especially in popular worship, is also
discussed in Harjot Oberoi’s Construction of Religious Boundaries (1994).
Oberoi’s study (1994: 139-201) of the late 19th century identity discourse among
Sikhs of the Punjab illustrates the religious diversity in 19th century Punjab at a
time when fixed exclusive boundaries between `Muslim´, `Hindu´ and `Sikh´
worship had not yet hardened.
Identity formation in colonial Punjab in general has also been discussed by
Kenneth W. Jones in his writings on the Ārya Samāj (1976; 1981b; 1989: 95-103)
and other religious reform movements in Punjab (1989: 85-94; 103-121). The
concept of a distinct Sikh identity and community has been analysed by various
scholars 9 mostly with a special focus on the aspect of the politicisation of a separate
Sikh identity (Barrier 1988; Kapur 1989; Attar Singh 1988; Mohinder Singh 1988).
That the convergence of politics with the concept of exclusive religious
communities is a substantial element within the emergence of collective religious
identities has not only been demonstrated in publications on the Sikhs but also in
above mentioned works on communalism among Hindus and Muslims.

9
See, for instance: Barrier (1988); Kapur (1989); McLeod (1976; 1989); Attar Singh (1988);
Mohinder Singh (1988).

25
 Academic discourse on the formation of religiously based communities in
colonial India has, furthermore, stressed the use of symbols and symbolic action in
the public sphere as a significant factor in the establishment and representation of
religious collective identities. For example, the use of symbols has not only aimed
at constructing common interests, as in case of the cow protection movement
described by Freitag (1980). In addition, symbols could also be used to mark
distinct boundaries between one religious community and another. The latter aspect
is explicitly elaborated by Oberoi (1994), which makes his study of the dominant
Sikh discourse a profound contribution to the field of identity formation in the
setting of colonial North India.
While these works focus on the emergence of the concepts of religious
communities among Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs and aim at positioning these
groups within the modern Indian religious landscape, the Jainas have been largely
ignored within the context of Indian religious community formation. In this respect,
this thesis’s target is to provide a more comprehensive approach to the study of the
formation of collective religious identities in 20th century India through
incorporating the Jainas as a group whose position within the framework of
religious pluralism has remained blurred and vague.

In Search of the `Jaina Community´

Before discussing academic research on the establishment of community among
Jainas some general remarks about scholarly works on the Jainas and Jainism must
be made. As this thesis will further elaborate, the earliest 19th century academic
studies on the Jainas have mainly focused on philological studies of ancient texts.
In addition to philological works by Western orientalists, 10 from the first half of the
20th century onwards, various historical studies on the ancient and medieval history
of the Jaina tradition have been published.
Regarding the history of the Digambara Jainas in South India (especially
Karnataka) pioneering work consists of Bhasker Anand Saletore’s Mediaeval
Jainism (1938), and the research done by P.B. Desai (2001) which was first

10
The work of Western orientalists will be discussed in chapter two.

26
published in 1957 under the title Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs.
Both works are mainly based on inscriptional evidence which confines their focus
to the documentation of grants given by wealthy donors for the erection of religious
monuments or the maintaining of Jaina temples and monasteries. Ram Bhushan
Prasad Singh’s (1975) Jainism in Early Medieval Karnataka (c. A.D. 500-1200)
aims to go beyond the description of epigraphs by discussing changes in ritual
practice, religious belief and monastic organisation which had taken place during
the early medieval period.
Though pioneering in the field of medieval Indian history, at the time of their
publication, from the perspective of contemporary academic research these works’
most obvious limitation lies in their uncritical acceptance of the existence of fixed
homogenous religious communities in medieval India. This view of distinct
religious boundaries in medieval South India is disputed by more recent academic
research, such as Richard H. Davis’ (1999) critical study of Hindu-Jaina relations in
medieval Tamil Nadu which regards the religious environment of medieval South
India as much more dynamic and interactive than had been presented in earlier
historical research. 11
Regarding academic publications providing a general overview of the Jaina
tradition, Padmanabh S. Jaini’s The Jaina Path of Purification (1979) and Paul
Dundas’s The Jains, first published in 1992 and revised in 2002, can be considered
the most important contributions. While Jaini treats phrases such as `Jaina society´
(1979: chapter 9) as unproblematic terms, Dundas’s excellent study also
incorporates aspects such as the question of Jaina identity, reform movements of
the 19th century and fluid boundaries between Jainas and Hindus. Due to the
general introductory nature of Dundas’ work, the discussion of these aspects has to
remain short; nevertheless, the bibliography given by Dundas provides valuable
information for a deeper study of the question of collective identity and community
building among Jainas.

11
For the fluidity of religious boundaries in medieval South India, see also: Cort (1999a); Orr
(1999).

27
 From the 1990s onwards, some important publications from various academic
disciplines have been discussing this very question. Unlike Vilas A. Sangave, who
in his valuable sociological study Jaina Community: A Social Survey (1980) takes
the existence of a full-fledged and static `Jaina community´ for granted, a few
academic works have aimed at locating the emergence of the concepts of supra-
local, supra-caste collective identity and community among Jainas within the
colonial setting of the late 19th century. In “The Invention of Jainism: A Short
History of Jaina Studies” (2005), Peter Flügel not only provides a short but
important historical account of the beginnings of Jaina studies, 12 but also discusses
early Jaina reform movements and the growing importance of the term `Jaina´ as an
identity marker. Flügel’s “A Short History of Jaina Law” (2007) is a valuable
contribution regarding early Jaina reformers’ aims to prove the existence of a
distinct Jaina law, an issue which will be further discussed in chapter three of the
present thesis.
In Makers of Modern Indian Religion in the Late Nineteenth Century (2002),
Torkel Brekke dedicates one chapter to Jaina reform movements and the emergence
of the concept of a separate, exclusive Jaina community from the 19th century
onwards. In this valuable account, Brekke discusses important factors, such as the
impact of the census and identity discourse among Western-educated Jaina
intellectuals. Another historical account of organisational developments among
Jainas since the late 19th century is provided by James F. Lewis in his article “Jains
in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” (2001).
The works of Flügel, Brekke and Lewis are important for their summarising of the
main developments which contributed to the emergence of supra-local and supra-
caste religious collective identity among Jainas; research for the present thesis has
benefitted from these historical publications, which have been used as secondary
sources for the reconstruction of the late 19th and early 20th century Jaina identity
discourse. However, discussion given in this thesis aims at a more comprehensive

12
An informative account of the interaction between Western scholars and reformist Jainas
regarding the opening of Jaina libraries for academic research is found in Flügel’s article “Jainism
and the Western World: Jinmuktisuri and Georg Bühler and Other Early Encounters.” (1999).
Collaboration between Western orientalists and individual Jainas from the 19th century onwards is
also discussed in: Emmrich (2003).

28
analysis, presenting extensive primary sources, and locating developments among a
group of Jainas within the broader Indian context of religious pluralism.
Furthermore, the inclusion of contemporary anthropological material widens the
focus of the present thesis not only regarding the historical period under research,
but also regarding the `agents´ or factors, which have contributed to shifting
concepts of collective identity among Digambara Jainas.
During the last decades of the 20th century, the field of Jaina studies has been
largely enriched by the publication of anthropological research on contemporary
Jaina religious practice. The focus of these ethnographic studies has mainly been on
urban Jainas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, mainly of the Śvetāmbara branch. 13 These
anthropological works contribute in various ways to the discourse on religious
identity and the organisation of community among Jainas in the setting of
contemporary India. In general, anthropological research has sufficiently proved
that the stereotypical picture of the Jainas as a homogenous group, as is often held
among non-Jainas, has to be rejected. 14 James Laidlaw’s Riches and Renunciation,
furthermore, does not only explore social divisions among Jainas, but also the
fluidity of boundaries between Jainas and Hindus (1995: 94-103). Marcus Banks’
Organizing Jainism in India and England (1992) discusses “corporate Jain
identity” (1992: 3) among Jainas in Gujarat and the British diaspora by analysing
Jaina institutions and organisations in India and Britain. In conclusion, Banks
argues that although actual Jaina practice and belief show many divisions, an
underlying “ideal of cohesive ideology” (1992: 231) acts as a unifying factor for the
Jainas as a `community´.
Among publications of collected papers, Michael Carrithers’ and Caroline
Humphrey’s The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society (1991) has to be regarded

13
See, for instance: Babb (1996; 1998), focusing on religious rituals practiced by Śvetāmbaras in
Jaipur and Ahmedabad; Cort (2001), based on extensive field research among Śvetāmbaras in
North Gujarat; Humphrey and Laidlaw (1994), developing a theory of ritual based on the
Śvetāmbara rite of worship; Laidlaw (1995), who conducted field research among Śvetāmbaras at
Jaipur; Luithle-Hardenberg, who has been working on Śvetāmbaras in Gujarat (Luithle and
Lehmann 2003; Luithle-Hardenberg 2006); Reynell (1991), whose research was conducted among
Śvetāmbaras at Jaipur.
14
See, for instance: Banks (1986: 447); Laidlaw (1995: 83-119).

29
as a profound contribution to the discourse on the establishment of community
among Jainas. The various articles included in the publication discuss different
aspects of Jainas as a community, including the organisation of local Jaina groups,
boundaries to Hindus, and different `agents´ for the establishment of community.
Carrithers and Humphrey (1991a: 6-7) base their definition of `Jaina community´
on different criteria, including: a common set of beliefs and practices (significantly
different from that found in the surrounding society); an awareness of their own
identity as Jaina; a collective effectiveness in social, political or economic life; and,
finally, the ability to reproduce itself. All of these criteria, according to the
argument, will hardly be found in any local group of Jainas. Furthermore, some
groups will show more of the relevant criteria than others. Nevertheless, according
to the conclusion, “even if Jain communities are potential and imagined, they are by
no means unreal” (1991a: 12). Carrithers’ and Humphrey’s discussion is important
as, like the articles included in the publication, it presents the formation of
community among Jainas from various perspectives thereby leaving space for
different conceptualisations of community.
Another important publication of collected insightful anthropological and
historical research on `Jaina community´ and `Jaina identity´ is John Cort’s Open
Boundaries: Jain Communities and Cultures in Indian History (1999a). Covering
two geographical areas with a profound Jaina history - South and Western India -
the various essays contextualise identity formation and the relationship between
Hindu and Jaina traditions in different geographical and historical settings. By
stressing the active role taken by Jainas in their encounter with Hindu traditions, the
publication`s main contribution consists in its relocating of Jaina studies as an
important element in the study of the religious history of South Asia.
Among the anthropological studies on Jainism conducted since the last decades of
the 20th century, several scholars have focused their research on male and female
ascetic orders within different Jaina sub-groups. Pioneering in this field has been
Michael Carrithers’ study on Digambara ascetics, “Naked Ascetics in Southern
Digambar Jainism” (1989) which draws on field research conducted between 1982
and 1985 in the Kolhapur region of Maharashtra. In this publication, Carrithers

30
analyses the role of ascetics for the establishing of community among the
Digambaras of South Maharashtra. In addition, a year previously, Carrithers (1988)
had examined the impact of two Digambara ascetics during a communal conflict
which focused on the Jaina pilgrimage site of Bahubali, near Kolhapur, from 1983
onwards.
Drawing on the work of Carrithers (1989), John E. Cort, in his article “The
Svetambar Murtipujak Jain Mendicant” (1991), gives an excellent comparison of
the hierarchical structure of Śvetāmbara and Digambara ascetic orders. In a further
article, “The Gift of Food to a Wandering Cow: Lay-Mendicant Interaction Among
the Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains” (1999b), Cort defines the renunciation practiced
by Jaina renouncers “as a socially interactive practice” (1999b: 89) expressed in
“frequent interaction between the mendicants and the laity in both the private and
the public spheres” (1999: 93). The ritual of giving food to Digambara ascetics is
discussed by Robert J. Zydenbos (1999) who, while giving a comparison between
scriptural and actual practice, draws on ethnographic evidence from the South
Karnataka area. The work of Peter Flügel (2003; 2009) focuses on ascetics of the
non-image-worshipping Śvetāmbara sect of the Terāpanthī, while his article
“Demographic Trends in Jaina Monasticism” (2006), based on extensive
demographic data, presents a profound overview of all present Jaina ascetic groups.
Female Jaina ascetics have been covered in studies by N. Shanta (1997), which
focuses on Jaina nuns in general, Savitri Holmstrom (1988) and Anne Vallely
(2002) who discuss Śvetāmbara Terāpanthī nuns.
The academic research on Jaina ascetics provides substantial evidence of the
profound role of ascetic-lay interaction for the establishment of community among
groups of Jainas. Regarding the present thesis, especially the works of Carrithers
(1988; 1989) and Zydenbos (1999) have been valuable secondary sources since
both focus on Digambara ascetics in the geographical setting of South Maharashtra
and Karnataka. While Carrithers’ account of Digambara monks in the Kolhapur
area has been very inspiring, the ethnographic material collected during field
research for this thesis suggests important developments which have taken place
since the time of Carrithers’ field study in the mid 1980s. These developments, as

31
will be shown in chapter five of this thesis, have contributed to a more complex
field of lay-ascetic interaction. Therefore, the present research, though indebted to
previous studies - especially Carrithers’ (1989) - will present novel and important
material concerning the roles of Digambara ascetics for the establishment of
community among Digambaras Jainas of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka.
The above mentioned anthropological studies, as well as publications from other
academic subjects, have aimed at discussing the processes of identity formation and
community building among groups of Jainas from different perspectives. One
aspect analysed, especially in ethnographic research, is the formation of collective
identity through the performance of Jaina temple worship, rituals and festivals
(Babb 1996; Banks 1992; Cort 2001; Humphrey 1991; Laidlaw 1995). Interaction
between lay Jainas and ascetics, as an important factor for the development of
collective identity, is, in addition to the above mentioned works focusing on Jaina
ascetics, also discussed in Laidlaw’s study (1995) of Śvetāmbaras in Northwest
India and Cort’s Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India (2001),
based on field research among Śvetāmbaras in North Gujarat. Other aspects of the
formation of collective identity among Jainas, analysed in academic research, are
the role of women in the establishment of community and the `reproduction´ of
Jaina values to the younger generation (Carrithers and Humphrey 1991b; Kelting
2001; Reynell 1991); the impact of devotional songs (Kelting 2001); and Jaina
pilgrimage (Luithle-Hardenberg 2006). Apart from religious practice, the concept
of collective religious identity among Jainas also finds its expression in a distinct
Jaina temple architecture and Jaina art (Hegewald 2009).
While this subsection has aimed at presenting an outline of recent academic
publications discussing aspects of `Jaina identity´ and `Jaina community´ in
different geographical settings, it is in the following subsection that more specific
research on the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka will be
discussed.

32
Establishing Community among the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka
As the review of anthropological research on the Jainas shows, most studies have
focused on the Śvetāmbara Jainas mainly residing in North and West India; the
rural Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka have largely been
ignored in sociological and ethnographic research. A few notable exceptions,
however, must be mentioned. Among sociological studies, Vilas A. Sangave’s
previously mentioned Jaina Community: A Social Survey (1980) includes
discussion of the Digambaras of Maharashtra and Karnataka as do Sangave’s
selected papers published under the title Facets of Jainology (2001).
Robert J. Zydenbos’ historical and anthropological research has not only focused
on lay-ascetic interaction among Digambaras in Karnataka (1999), as already noted
above, but also discusses historical developments which have led to a decline of
Jaina influence in the region from the late medieval period onwards (1986) and the
aspects of goddess worship among Digambaras, especially in the Karnataka area
(2000).
For the present thesis, the work of Michael Carrithers has been of special
importance not only in regard to Carrithers’ studies (1988; 1989) of the impact of
ascetics on the formation of community among the Digambaras of South
Maharashtra. Based on extensive field research in the South Maharashtrian
Digambara centre around Kolhapur, Carrithers’ articles discuss various aspects of
community building among Digambaras in South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka which are also important elements within the present thesis. “The
Foundations of Community among Southern Digambar Jains: An Essay on
Rhetoric and Experience” (1991), included in The Assembly of Listeners, is an
invaluable study of the establishment of collective identity through the rhetoric of
lay organisations and the foundation laid by Digambara institutions. In “Concretely
Imagining the Southern Digambar Jain Community, 1899-1920” (1996), Carrithers
demonstrates the impact of collective action taken by lay Jaina reformers within the
public sphere on the concept of a supra-local, supra-caste Digambara community.

33
 In his discussion of both aspects - the impact of lay reformers from the late 19th
century onwards, as well as the role taken by Digambara ascetics as `leaders´ and
`ideal Jainas´ - Carrithers’ work has been an important secondary source for this
thesis. Although the present research is highly indebted to Carrithers’ pioneering
studies (and most of his findings will be confirmed here) this thesis aims at going
beyond the analysis given by Carrithers. One aspect of this `going beyond´ has
already been mentioned in regard to lay-ascetic interaction. Here, original and
novel material will be presented, demonstrating substantial changes which have
taken place since the mid 1980s, and which have made the role of the ascetic within
contemporary Digambara Jainism more complex. Additionally, while mainly
focusing on the same geographical and sectarian framework as Carrithers’ studies,
this thesis aims at a broader conceptualisation and location of developments among
one regional sub-group of Jainas within the wider framework of the emergence of
supra-local, supra-caste religious-based communities on the Indian subcontinent.
The present study aims at contributing original material to the discourse on the
emergence of collective religious identities in India from the end of the 19th century
onwards, by discussing developments among a (hitherto academically ignored)
Indian religious group, the rural Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka. A combination of historical and anthropological research will provide a
more comprehensive study of the formation of collective identity among a group of
Jainas, incorporating various factors into the analysis. In this regard, impacts on
both ends of the social strata - the intellectual elite on the one hand, and the
illiterate farmer on the other - will be taken into consideration. The originality of
the present research, furthermore, consists on its focus on, in Harjot Oberoi’s
(1994) term, the “construction of religious boundaries” as an important means for
the establishment of exclusive religious communities. Therefore, the discussion of
the impact of the `intellectual construction´ of boundaries between different
religious groups will, for the first time, aim at locating the Jainas within the broader
framework of the dynamics of religious community formation and religious
pluralism in late colonial and post-Independence India.

34
 Methodology and Sources

Methodologically, the present thesis combines historical with anthropological

research, thereby aiming at a chronological reconstruction of the emergence and
development of new concepts of supra-local and supra-caste collective religious
identities among a regional sub-group of Jainas. Taking the late 19th century as the
historical `starting point´, the period leading up to the end of the British colonial
rule - which witnessed the first apologetic writings of Jaina reformers, the
establishment of the first Jaina organisations, and the `revival´ of the Digambara
naked ascetic tradition - constitutes the main focus of historical research. This time
period is of special interest for an analysis of the emergence of modern supra-local,
supra-caste collective religious identities on the Indian subcontinent. Focusing
historical research in this specific timeframe aims at locating developments among
the Jainas within the broader framework of the dynamics of religious community
formation in colonial India from the late 19th century onwards.
Main primary sources covering this period are the writings of Western orientalists
and other Europeans, consisting mainly of missionaries, trying to `frame´ and
`define´ Jainism and its alleged core values. The different volumes of the decennial
Indian census takings (referring either to the whole of British India or individual
districts) not only provide (more or less reliable) statistical data about the numerical
strength of various religious communities, their educational standard, and economic
status; but, more importantly, are a valuable source regarding the establishment of
the Jainas as an independent `religious category´.
Among the primary sources used, the English apologetic writings of early Jaina
reformers hold a very important position. These writings have either been
published in book form, or have been printed in the main English language media
outlet of progressive Jaina reformers - The Jaina Gazette, a monthly magazine
published from the year 1900 onwards. Reflecting the contemporary historical,
political and social background in which the respective articles were written, the
various issues of The Jaina Gazette are a valuable source for the reconstruction of
the Jaina identity discourse of the early 20th century. They also provide insight into

35
contemporary political and social changes, as well as developments among other
Indian religious communities. In addition, the magazine is an important source for
locating developments among Jainas within the broader Indian context.
Furthermore, articles published in the magazine show the difficulties reformers
experienced in their efforts to overcome the popular focus on caste. In this regard,
The Jaina Gazette is an invaluable historical source illustrating the prevalence of
various concepts of collective identity and community formation among different
sections of the Jainas.
Other written sources providing information about the historical and political
setting and the Jainas from the end of the 19th century onwards are mainly confined
to official documents and publications produced under the British colonial
administration. Among the published sources, the various district gazetteers are not
only valuable for statistical information, but also for their descriptions of local
castes and customs. They are especially important for their presentation of `popular
practices´ - as found in local customs and caste restrictions - and the academic
concept or `imagination´ of supra-locally and supra-caste-based religious
communities - illustrated in the classifications used in statistics and other entries.
Besides census reports and district gazetteers, a few selected works such as Anjilvel
Matthew’s (1979) biography of the Maharastrian Jaina educationist Bhaurao Patil
and Annasaheb Latthe’s (1924) biographical account of Shahu Maharaj of
Kolhapur contain information about the economic, social and educational condition
of South Indian Digambara Jainas during the late colonial period.
Some further information is found in the popular biographies of the prominent
Southern Digambara ascetic Śāntisāgar published in vernacular Indian languages.
For the present thesis, several shorter Hindi language biographies of Śāntisāgar,
written by Digambara ascetics, as well as Sumerucandra Divakar’s (2006) officially
authorised account of the ascetic’s life, were used to gain some insight into
contemporary religious practices and what will be called the `revival´ of the naked
monk tradition. Although these biographies can resemble hagiographic writings
rather than scientifically reliable sources, they are of substantial value for
constructing a picture of the impact the figure of Śāntisāgar has held within the

36
imagination of Digambaras, especially those of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka.
Some material concerning the relationship between Jainas and the British
authorities - for instance regarding the free wandering of naked Jaina ascetics - is
contained in the India Office Records held by the British Library. All these
historical written sources are used to reconstruct a picture of Jainism and the Jainas
created in the writings of Western orientalists and other Western publications, as
well as the Jaina identity discourse found in the apologetic books and articles
written by the early Jaina reformers. Furthermore, the discussion of what will be
called the `revival´ of organised groups of naked Digambara monks takes other,
non-middle-class `agents´ and their impact on community building among
Digambara Jainas into account.
The study of historical primary and secondary written sources establishes the
basis for anthropological studies conducted during three periods of field research
between January 2006 and July 2007. Most of the field research took place in the
area of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra (with shorter stays at other parts of
Karnataka and Maharashtra as well as the cities of Mumbai and Delhi). The
material obtained comprises documentation of domestic and temple worship,
special rituals and festivals, lay-ascetic interaction, and the conduct of interviews
with lay Jainas and ascetics. Apart from anthropological field notes, interviews and
picture material, otherwise unavailable written sources were obtained, mainly in
Hindi, in the form of small booklets and brochures regarding popular Digambara
monks and nuns, pilgrimage places, and Jaina institutions and organisations. Some
of the material (in the form of written and oral sources) contributed to the
reconstruction of Jaina movements and the `revival´ of the naked monk tradition
during the early 20th century. Other information, especially that provided by
personal interviews, helped in gaining a picture of the concepts of Digambara Jaina
identity and the establishment of community among contemporary Digambaras in
South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Although most of the interview partners
and informants were Digambaras, whenever possible conversations with non-

37
Digambara Jainas and non-Jainas were also initiated, discussing their personal
impressions about Digambaras or Jainas in general.
Since a considerable period of time was spent documenting individual Digambara
ascetics and their lay-followers, as well as the conduct of special Jaina rituals, the
field research substantially contributed to the discussion of the role of ascetics and
festivals for the establishment of community among Digambaras.
Individual Jainas provided valuable material about new Jaina organisations, such
as the Young Jains of India (established in 2005) and contemporary petitions for the
inclusion of the Jainas among India’s nationwide religious minorities. Regarding
some contemporary issues, such as Jaina organisations founded in the Western
diaspora, and the modern discourse on the legal recognition of the Jainas as a
statewide and nationwide religious minority, the use of material published on the
internet in the various forms of discussions forums, newspaper articles or personal
blogs proved to be helpful. In some instances, personal communication with the
respective authors via e-mail helped to clarify the points expressed in the online
material.
This combination of historical and anthropological research aims at presenting a
comprehensive picture of developments which have taken place among the
Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka since the end of the 19th
century. Written historical sources, such as the biographies of the ascetic
Śāntisāgar, are complemented by material obtained during field research, in the
form of oral sources, conducted interviews and picture material. In particular, for a
discussion of the present day impact of the early 20th century `revival´ of the naked
ascetic tradition, anthropological research on the actual daily routine of ascetics and
their interaction with lay followers has provided substantial information.
Throughout the present thesis, historical and anthropological research
complement each other in locating developments among a sub-group of Jainas
within the broader context of late colonial and post-Independence India.

38
 Chapter Outline

Chapters two and three of the present thesis aim to conceptualise the developments
analysed in the following chapters, which have led to a `shift´ in concept from a
local caste-based to a supra-local Digambara identity. In this regard, chapter two
will discuss what will be referred to as the 19th century orientalist `discovery´ and
`construction´ of a religious entity called `Jainism´ and the concept of a universal
`Jaina community´. In particular, the writings of 19th century Western orientalists
and their impact on the concept of Jainism as a `universal homogenous religion´
will be analysed. Furthermore, the role of the decennial census (introduced from the
1870s onwards) on the formation of new concepts of religious communities will be
elaborated.
While chapter two focuses on this discourse among Western orientalists and
colonial officials, chapter three will discuss the reaction of Jaina intellectuals and
their first efforts at defining, representing and organising their own religious
tradition. The chapter aims at illustrating the ways in which Jainas themselves
reacted and contributed to Western concepts, as described in chapter two. As
chapter three argues, the `blurred boundaries´ between Jainas and Hindus in the
modern Jaina identity discourse have origins in the first English apologetic writings
and presentations of Jaina intellectuals.
In addition to analysis of the first apologetic English Jaina writings, chapter three
will go on to discuss the impact of the first modern Jaina organisations on the
establishing of community. In this respect, the processes of supra-caste and supra-
local community building will be analysed by the example of a reform movement
established by Digambaras at the end of the 19th century in North Karnataka - the
Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā. 15 The discussion will illustrate the extent to which
reformist ideas, popular among Indian intellectuals of the late 19th and early 20th
century, have entered this Digambara organisation, and in what way its leaders’
efforts towards organisation and representation in the public sphere have
contributed to the development of a broader concept of community among

15
Can be literally translated as `South Indian Jaina Organisation´.

39
Digambaras. Incorporating both aspects of the intellectual Jaina elite’s activities -
the propagation of `Jaina values´ through apologetic writings, and the establishment
of broader concepts of community through Western models of religious
organisation - chapter three is considerably longer than the other chapters.
However, I consider it appropriate to combine these two aspects within one chapter,
since both elements are closely interwoven and the chapter’s `main protagonists´ -
members of the Western-educated intellectual Jaina elite - were active in both
fields.
Chapter four will present an important development within Digambara Jainism of
South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, which did not take its origin among the
professional middle-class, but among mainly illiterate agriculturists. With the re-
emergence of groups of naked wandering Digambara ascetics during the first
centuries of the 20th century, a new religious authority developed. This new
authority, it will be argued, substantially contributed to the broadening of the
concept of community among Digambaras of the region and beyond the
geographical borders of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Furthermore, ways in which
the `revival´ of the Digambara naked ascetic tradition added the element of
asceticism to the `Jaina values´ propagated by lay Jaina reformers will be discussed.
In chapter five different constituents of Digambara Jaina identity in a modern-day
context will be analysed. As the chapter argues, the most concrete form of
Digambaras as a community finds its expression in the interaction between lay
Digambaras and ascetics and in the performance of distinct Digambara rituals. The
discourse of the early Jaina reformers (discussed in chapter three) has proved
persistent, in as far as the `image´ of Jainism as the most suitable religion for
modern times is still found in the rhetoric of lay organisations today. This `image´
of Jainism, however, remains abstract regarding clear-cut boundaries between
Jainas and Hindus.
Finally, in chapter six, these `blurred boundaries´ will be discussed in their most
concrete aspect - the still undecided contemporary status of the Jainas as a
nationwide Indian religious minority. The chapter will present arguments used in
official petitions written by Digambaras for their inclusion among religious

40
minorities. In comparisons to developments among other Indian religious groups
which have been officially included among the religious minorities (especially
Sikhs and Buddhists), the `case´ of the Jainas will be analysed including external
and internal factors which have contributed to the `blurred boundaries´ between
Jainas and the Hindu majority.
In conclusion, chapter seven will summarise the impact of different factors on the
broadening of the concept of collective religious identity among Digambaras of
South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. Whilst, according to the main argument
presented in this thesis, the discourse of identity among the Jaina intellectual elite
has successfully produced a certain `image´ of Jainism and the Jainas, it has not
established clear boundaries between Jainas and Hindus. Whereas the rhetoric of
Jaina lay organisations has proved to be persistent in representing Jainism as the
most suitable universal religion for modern times, this `image´ of Jainism and the
Jainas still remains abstract concerning external boundaries separating Jainas from
Hindus. Regarding the establishment of community among Digambara Jainas, its
most concrete embodiment is found in lay-ascetic interaction, as well as the
conduct of distinct rituals and festivals. Finally, the undecided legal status of the
Jainas concerning their inclusion among India’s nationwide religious minorities has
been the result of different internal and external factors which differentiate the
`Jaina case´ from developments among other Indian religious groups.

Setting the historical `starting point´ of this research, the following chapter will
introduce early Western orientalist works on the Jaina tradition, published from the
second half of the 19th century onwards, and analyse orientalist discourse on the
Jainas and their religious tradition. Furthermore, the impact of the decennial census
on the emergence of new concepts of supra-local religion-based communities in
colonial India will be discussed.

41
 2. THE WESTERN `DISCOVERY´ AND
`DEFINITION´ OF JAINISM

Of all the sects the Jains are the most colorless, the most insipid. They
have no literature worthy of the name. They were not original enough to
give up many orthodox features, so that they seem like a weakened rill
of Brahmanism, cut off from the source, yet devoid of all independent
character. A religion in which the chief points insisted upon are that one
should deny God, worship man, and nourish vermin, has indeed no
right to exist; nor has it had as a system much influence on the history
of thought (Hopkins 1902: 296-297).

This coarse account of the Jainas 16 by the American Sanskrit scholar Edward
Washburn Hopkins, although in its tactlessness certainly surpassing other negative
statements of its time, reflects some of the main stereotypes about the Jaina
tradition. The description of the Jaina religion as a dry, life-negating ascetic
tradition can still be found in modern popular images. To discover its origins, one
has to go back to the 19th century, when a separate religious entity called `Jainism´
or `Jinism´ 17 slowly started to be developed by the combined forces of orientalist
research and intellectual Jainas reacting to Western ideologies and new concepts of
religion and religious identity. This is not to say that Jainism as a religious,
philosophical and cultural tradition had not existed before. In fact, the Jaina
scholarly tradition has a long history of polemical writings in which the Jaina
system was defended and clearly demarcated to other religious systems. However,
the definition of Jainism as a coherent religious system, based on European
concepts 18 is a quite recent development, which had its origins in the 19th century.
Around the same time, new concepts of an individual’s religious identity began to
spread among the Indian intellectual elites. Under the British administration, an

16
The Sanskrit term Jaina derives from jina, a spiritual conqueror. A Jaina is the follower of a
religious path, which was taught by a line of human teachers, the Jinas or Tīrthaṅkaras. Jaina can
also mean “pertaining to the Jina” (Flügel 2005: 3, footnote 9). The use of the term Jaina and the
vernacular form Jain as a self-designation seems to be a development which started only in the
19th century (Flügel 2005: 3). For the term Jain and Jaina, see: Dundas (1992: 3); Flügel (2005:
2-5).
17
For the terms `Jainism´ or `Jinism´, see: Flügel (2005: 2, footnote 5); Glasenapp (1925: 1);
Schubring (1935: 3, footnote 7).
18
For a discussion of the development of the term `religion´ and its plural form `religions´ in the
West, see: King (1999a: 35-61); Smith (1991: 15-50).

42
increasingly elaborated system of census taking was introduced on the Indian
subcontinent. The census takers focused on the religion, caste, sect and race of
every individual, thereby creating more or less fixed categories into which every
person had to fit.
The present chapter will focus on the Western `discovery´ and `definition´ of
Jainism as a distinct separate religion, based on Western concepts. The discourse of
Western orientalists, historians and administrators will be the basis for the
discourse among Jaina intellectuals themselves, which will be taken up in the
following chapter.
Before the first works of Western scholars on the Jainas and their tradition will be
discussed, some further clarifications regarding the colonial discourse on Indian
religious traditions are necessary, in order to avoid misleading interpretations of
`Jainism´ as a mere abstract orientalist `invention´ without any real substance.

Colonial Discourse and the `Construction´ of Indian Religions

The Jaina tradition with its specific practices, beliefs, institutions and philosophical
system was certainly not `invented´ by the Western orientalist discourse; nor have
the Jainas themselves merely acted as passive absorbers of Western concepts. The
first aspect is clearly illustrated in the long history of the Jaina textual tradition
defining the Jaina system. Regarding the latter point, the work of European scholars
largely depended on the cooperation of local lay followers and ascetics. The same
holds true for other Indian religious traditions, which had come into the focus of
Western orientalist research earlier than the Jaina tradition, most prominently what
has become known as `Hinduism´.
Since the first publication of Edward Said’s influential Orientalism: Western
Conceptions of the Orient in 1978, various academic publications have contributed
to the discourse on the hegemonic Western `construct´ of the Orient. During the last
decades of the 20th century, the new historical approaches of post-colonial theory
and subaltern studies have furthermore challenged traditional Eurocentric academic
research.

43
 While Said (1978) confined his discussion of the colonial construction of the
Orient as the `other´ to the Islamic world, Ronald Inden’s Imagining India (2000)
examined the impact of colonial legacies in the academic field of Indology. In his
harsh critical analysis Inden (2000) argues that Indological research had mostly
failed in acknowledging an active, rational role taken by Indians themselves within
the colonial encounter. 19 Already several decades before Inden’s critical discussion
of Indological scholarship, cultural interaction in the colonial setting of British
India had been the subject of academic research. One of the earliest and most
influential contributions is David Kopf’s British Orientalism and the Bengal
Renaissance, first published in 1969. Kopf amply illustrates the impact of different
`colonial agents´, namely orientalists, Anglicisers and evangelical missionaries, on
the concept of `Hinduism´. Though path-breaking at the time of publication, Kopf’s
work, as rightly remarked by Brian Pennington (2005: 10), has its limitations based
on a historical conception, which regards cultural impacts in colonial settings as
travelling along `one-way streets´. As Inden two decades after Kopf rejected the
academic reduction of the Indian subject to the role of passive absorber of Western
ideas, 20 recent studies in the field tend to regard impacts as flowing in both
directions (Pennington 2005: 10). Furthermore, as Pennington adds, colonialism
can no longer be simplified as “the effect of collective attitudes, intentions, and
policies”, but rather “as a largely unconscious, unintended system of often
contradictory, contested power arrangements that pervaded the British/Indian
encounter at every level” (2005: 10).
Academic discourse on colonial encounters in the setting of British India from the
1960s onwards has, as one of its main aims, focused on a discussion of the term
`Hinduism´ and the role of different `agents´ in its alleged `construction´. Various
publications focus on the impact of so-called `Hindu reform movements´, from
Rammohun Roy’s Brahmo Samāj, founded in 1828, onwards, and mainly regard
influences in the form of Western orientalist scholarship, philosophy and Christian

19
For Inden’s critical discussion of what he refers to as “Orientalist discourse” (1986: 401), see
also: Inden (1986).
20
For a fierce counter-criticism, see Kopf`s (1992) harsh review of Inden’s Imagining India,
published in the Journal of the American Oriental Society.

44
concepts as responsible for the emergence of `Hinduism´ as a monolithic universal
religion. 21 From the perspective of post-colonial theory, Richard King’s (1999)
influential Orientalism and Religion analyses how colonial discourses have shaped
the concept of the `mystic East´. The academic discourse on the `constructed
nature´ of Hinduism has also found its expression in various publications focusing
on an etymological analysis and definition of the terms `Hinduism´ and `Hindu´. 22
Within this discourse some scholars regard the term `Hinduism´ as nothing more
than a theoretical construct. 23 An especially radical position, as taken by Robert E.
Frykenberg, regards the uncritical acceptance of the term as “not only erroneous,
but […] dangerous” (1997: 82).
While colonial impact on the emergence of the concept `Hinduism´ is not denied,
various scholars express different theories about the level of Western impact. In this
regard, Brian Pennington’s (2005) work again has to be mentioned, since the very
title of his important study Was Hinduism Invented? reflects the academic
controversy about the `constructed nature´ of Hinduism. After a short presentation
of the different positions taken by scholars regarding the alleged orientalist
`invention´ of Hinduism as an essentially meaningless category, Pennington (2005:
171-172) argues that without an already existing `base´ on which orientalists could
`construct´ the category Hinduism, their work would not have made any sense. He
therefore concludes:
A gaping absence of indigenous critique of the category “Hindu” itself
must suggest, at the very least, a ready acceptance of the label among
many Hindus and that the concept itself corresponded to some elements
of Indian self-understanding. It seems even more likely that the idea, if
not the label, was already common Indian currency. The British did not
mint this coin; they traded in it because Hindus handed it to them. The
historical role of the colonizer was not to invent Hinduism either by
blunder or by design, but to introduce an economy of concepts and

21
For publications on the so-called `Bengal Renaissance´ and the Brahmo Samāj, see for instance:
Damen (1983); Jones (1989); Killingley (1993); Kopf (1969;1979); Lavan (1981); Pankratz
(2001); Poddar (1970; 1977); Robertson (1995); Van M. Baumer (1975).
22
See, for instance: Sharma (2002), and the collected papers in Günther-Dietz Sontheimer’s and
Hermann Kulke’s Hinduism Reconsidered (1997). For the orientalist `construction´ of the term
`Hinduism´, see: King (1999); Pennington (2005); Smith (1991); Sugirtharajah (2003).
23
See, for instance: Frykenberg (1997: 82); Stietencron (1997: 7-10).

45
 power relations that dramatically enhanced the value of such identity
markers (2005: 172).

Although Pennington focuses on the terms `Hindu´ and `Hinduism´, his

conclusions are also important for the study of other Indian religious traditions
within the colonial discourse. In this regard, it would also be misleading to regard
the categories `Jaina´ and `Jainism´ as Western `inventions´ per se. As already
mentioned, Western orientalist scholarship did not only largely depend on the
cooperation of Indians, intellectual Jainas themselves joined the discourse on the
nature of Jainism and the Jainas as a separate religious community, thereby
defining the `main characteristics´ of the religious category `Jainism´. The latter
aspect will be further discussed in chapter three. For the present chapter it is
important to note that the discourse of Western orientalists, missionaries and census
officials, analysed in the following sections, did not `create´ Jainism where there
had been nothing `Jaina´ before. The main impact of the orientalist discourse rather
consisted in the introduction of new concepts of religion and religious identity,
profoundly contributing to the emergence of religious communities as exclusive
categories and collective identity markers.
The following section will discuss the beginnings of European philological
research on Jaina texts, which eventually led to the academic establishment of
`Jainism´ as a separate religious category.

The Academic `Birth´ of Jainism

The German scholar Walther Schubring stated the year 1807 as the “birth year” of
academic research into Jainism. 24 In this year Colin Mackenzie’s collected reports
on the Jainas were published under the title Account of the Jains (1807a) in Volume
nine of the Asiatic Researches. In the same volume, extracts of his journal from
1797 (Mackenzie 1807b) and that of Francis Buchanan (1807), followed by H.T.
Colebrooke’s Observations on the Sects of Jains (1807), dealt with accounts of the
Jainas. While Mackenzie and Buchanan limited their writings to the description of

24
“Das Geburtsjahr der Jaina-Wissenschaft ist 1807“ (Schubring 1935: 1).

46
Jaina cosmology, mythology and religious practices, Colebrooke, basing his
Observations on their works as well as his own research, focused on the Jainas as
“a sect of Hindus” in relation to “the followers of the Vedas” and the “Baudd’has”
(1807: 288-289).
The word `Jain´, in its plural use made widespread by Colebrooke’s article
(Flügel 2005: 4), can, in different variations, already be found earlier in European
traveller and missionary accounts of the 17th and 18th century. 25 The first Western
translations and editions of ancient Jaina texts only became published from 1847
onwards. 26 The second half of the 19th century witnessed the growing involvement
of German scholars in the field of Jaina studies. Among the earliest ones, mention
must be made of Albrecht Weber (1825-1901), who wrote several influential works
on ancient Jaina texts. 27 His work and that of other German scholars owes much to
Georg Bühler (1837-1898) and his collection of manuscripts, accomplished during
years of travel in search of old Indian texts. 28 Bühler acted as one of several
scholars in British service, who were authorised to search Indian libraries and
purchase valuable material for government institutions. In this way, duplicate
copies were made available for Western universities and their scholars (Schubring
1935: 4). The search for manuscripts in ancient Jaina libraries was to a great part
only made possible through the help of some eminent Jaina ascetics and their
influence over local Jaina groups. 29

25
See: Flügel (2005: 3-4). For accounts of the Jainas, written by authors of the 16th, 17th and 18th
centuries, see: Zachariae (1977).
26
In 1847 Otto Böthlingk and C.P.H. Rieu published the Abhidhanacintamani of the Śvetāmbara
scholar Hemacandra in Sanskrit and German. Shortly afterwards, in 1848, the British missionary J.
Stevenson’s English translation of the Kalpa Sutra and Navatattva were published in London.
27
For further information about Albrecht Weber and his work, see: Stache-Rosen (2000: 69-72);
Winternitz (1991: 346-356).
28
For Bühler and his collecting work, see: Emmrich (2003: 366-368); Schubring (1935: 4-5);
Stache-Rosen (2000: 88-90).
29
Bühler, for instance, owed his success in gaining access to the famous Jaina library of Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan, mainly to his friendship with the influential Jaina ascetic Jinamuktisūri (Emmrich
2003: 366-367). The sometimes questionable attitudes and methods of Western and Indian
scholars regarding the opening of Jaina libraries for scientific research are discussed in: Emmrich
(2003: 366-370).

47
 The history of the Western study of Jainism can be found in most introductions to
Jainism and has also been dealt with by some authors in greater detail. 30 Here it is
more important to examine the approaches, theories and methodology used by the
early scholars working with Jaina material. First of all, what most of the writings on
Jainism, produced by Western scholars during the 19th century, had in common,
was their exclusive philological approach. As was the case with other Indian
traditions, the interest of European scholarship was mainly confined to texts. 31
Furthermore, the study of Jaina scriptures was firstly taken up for other reasons
than the study of Jainism as such: “The history of Western Jaina studies reflects the
influence of scholars who looked to Jainism for that which was other than Jainism
itself - for Buddhism, Ajivikism, 32 historical facts, art, linguistics, etc” (Jaini 2000:
33). While early Western scholars tended to consider the value of Jaina scriptures
mainly in regard to the study of the languages they were written in, Jaina texts
became also instrumental for the study of Buddhism, in whose mighty shadow
Jainism remained for a long time. Although acknowledging the importance of Jaina
studies for their own sake, Ludwig Alsdorf in 1965 still remarked:
Yet, especially for the Buddhologist, the knowledge and comparative
study of Jinism is of great importance. In many cases, the ancient Jain
texts can contribute just as much, if not more, in the elucidation of the
old, `original´ Buddhism that can the late Tibetan, Chinese and
Mongolian translations of Buddhist texts […] (2006: 6).

But while for Alsdorf the study of Jaina texts as an instrument for the better
understanding of Buddhism was just one possible approach, 33 during the 19th
century most scholars considered Jaina studies merely complementary for research
into other fields, which were seen as more important.

30
For short accounts, see: Folkert (1993: 23-33); Glasenapp (1925: 2-5); Schubring (1935: 1-17).
More details can be found in: Alsdorf (2006), who deals with the achievements, neglects and
future tasks of Jaina studies.
31
For the textual focus of Western religious studies, see: Folkert (1993: 53-76); King (1999: 62-
81).
32
The Ajivikas were an ascetic order sustained by a community of lay followers. They already
existed at the time of the 24th Tīrthaṅkara, Mahāvīra, and evidence of them can still be found in
the 13th century CE. See: Dundas (1992: 25-26).
33
Alsdorf went on stating: “However, the more I am convinced of the usefulness of Jain studies
for the study of ancient Buddhism, the less I should like to see Jain philology to be considered as
only a complementary science of Buddhology” (2006: 10).

48
 Interaction between Westerners and Jainas were mainly limited to the purchase of
manuscripts and philological work on these texts (Emmrich 2003: 360). Field
research and a detailed description of Jaina lay practices remained neglected. 34 In
the eyes of European scholars, this neglect was acceptable, since the `real´ or
`original´ form of a religious tradition had to be found in the ancient texts, anyway,
and not in the popular practices of lay men and women which were seen as
corruptions of the ancient ideals laid down in the scriptures. Therefore, the essence
of Jainism was considered to lie in the manuscripts which were studied. These
manuscripts dealt mainly with the ascetic order and emphasised the value of austere
practices. While some scholars openly expressed their dislike of the texts they
studied, 35 most Western writers laid down the picture of Jainism as a life-negating,
colourless tradition of ascetics, which only stood out against other Indian traditions
through its “wilder” mythology (Wilkins 1887: 103), the “sad extravagance” of its
“external asceticism” (Mitchell 1905: 206), its “grotesque exaggeration” of non-
violence (Hopkins 1902: 296) and, in the missionary view of Mrs. Sinclair
Stevenson, “the pathos of its empty heart” (1915: 289). The focus on certain Jaina
customs, considered peculiar by Western observers and often misunderstood,
strengthened the picture of Jainism as a strange philosophical system with a
grotesquely exaggerated stress on the principle of non-hurting. 36 The neglect of

34
Mrs Sinclair Stevenson’s Heart of Jainism, first published in 1915, was the first detailed
account of Jainism based on extensive field research among Śvetāmbara Jainas in Gujarat. Due to
Mrs. Stevenson’s Christian background as a member of the Irish Mission in Gujarat, the book
shows much missionary zeal and therefore got criticised by Jaina intellectuals, such as the popular
Jaina lawyer and reformer Jagmander Lal Jaini, who published a fierce review in 1925, which will
be discussed in chapter three of this thesis. Nevertheless, Mrs. Stevenson’s book found a
widespread readership and has been reprinted several times.
35
Dislike of the Jaina literature was not only expressed by scholars with a very negative opinion
about the Jaina tradition, such as Hopkins. Albrecht Weber’s comment about the Śvetāmbara texts
he worked with, criticising them for their vastness, monotony and intellectual scantiness (1883:
240), “in time became received wisdom” (Dundas 1992: 7).
36
Up to the present day, the wearing of a mouth-shield (muhpattī) and the brushing of the floor
before sitting or lying down are stereotypes presented in many popular accounts of the Jainas.
However, only a minority of the Jainas wear the muhpattī (among the Śvetāmbara sects of the
Sthānakvāsī and Terāpanthī, ascetics only remove it while eating, whereas Śvetāmbara
mūrtipūjaka mendicants use it to cover their mouth when preaching or reciting sacred texts).
Brushing the floor before sitting or lying down is also only practiced by ascetics. An example for
an often misunderstood Jaina tradition is sallekhanā, the ritual of fasting to death. This ritual is
controlled by very strict regulations and may only be performed under special circumstances, such

49
research into lay practices reduced Jainism, as defined during the 19th century, to a
strict ascetic system of austerities, in its `real form´ only followed by a small
number of monks and nuns. The Jaina scriptures became regarded as dry and
lifeless, full of complicated classifications, with no real literary value.
But not all Western scholars of Jainism approached their subject with a negative
attitude. Among the Germans, who took an interest in Jaina studies from the last
decades of the 19th century onwards, Hermann Jacobi (1850-1937) dedicated not
only much of his time to the edition and translation of Jaina scriptures, but also
took a very sympathetic approach to the subject of his studies.37 He visited India
twice, the first time in 1873-74, when he had the opportunity to accompany Georg
Bühler on his journey to Rajasthan in order to obtain manuscripts (Stache-Rosen
2000: 118). Jacobi’s name as a pioneer of academic Jaina studies is well established
in the history of Jainology, as well as among Jainas up to the present day. 38 From
the first accounts on the Jainas, they had either been considered a heretical Hindu
sect, or a branch of Buddhism. The latter view is expressed in the Report on the
Census of the Madras Presidency, 1871:
The Jains are now the small remnant of the professors of a religious
creed that was once dominant in India, and which, spreading to other
eastern lands, is the prevailing faith of upwards of 400 millions of the
human race.
In the land of its birth Buddhism is dead and it is now represented
solely by the few survivors of the Jaina sect […] (Cornish 1874: 114-
115). 39

as a terminal disease. Many Western authors, however, have misinterpreted sallekhanā as

religiously sanctioned suicide. Regarding the practice, Hopkins, in his usual tactless way, stated
the following: “Asceticism should be practiced by monk and nun, if possible. But if one finds that
he cannot resist his passions, or is disabled and cannot endure austerities, he may commit suicide”
(1902: 291).
37
For a short account of Hermann Jacobi’s life and works, see: Stache-Rosen (2000: 118-120).
38
In interviews with Digambara Jaina ascetics and lay followers, conducted during ten months of
field research in Karnataka and Southern Maharashtra, Jacobi’s name was frequently mentioned,
when I asked my interview partners if they could name some non-Jaina scholars of Jainism.
39
The view that Jainism was a branch of Buddhism was held by several scholars, such as Albrecht
Weber and H.H. Wilson. The main reasons for the theory were the similarities found between the
Jaina and Buddhist tradition, and the assumption that Jainism was the younger one and therefore
must have been a schismatic sect of Buddhism. For further details, see: Bühler (1963: 18-19,
especially footnote 11).

50
What made Jacobi become a pioneer of Jaina studies, apart from his important
translations of Jaina scriptures, was the fact that he convincingly argued for the
antiquity of Jainism over Buddhism, and thereby laid the academic foundation for
the establishment of Jainism as an independent religious tradition. In the
introduction to his English translation of the Jaina Akaranga Sutra and Kalpa Sutra,
published in F. Max Müller’s Sacred Books of the East series, Jacobi set out to
prove the independence of the Jaina tradition from Buddhism:
Two sects which have so much in common could not, it was thought,
have been independent from each other, but one sect must […] have
grown out of, or branched off from the other. This à priori opinion has
prejudiced the discernment of many critics, and still does so. In the
following pages I shall try to destroy this prejudice, and to vindicate
that authority and credit of the sacred books of the Gainas to which they
are entitled (Jacobi 1964: iv).

By comparing the accounts of the Buddha’s and the last Tīrthaṅkara Mahāvīra’s
life, Jacobi concluded that there was no reason to hold on to the popular orientalist
theory that Mahāvīra’s life story had been invented or modeled on the example of
the Buddha’s biography. While, according to Jacobi’s argument, the resemblances
between both personalities were due to the fact that both lived the life of ascetics,
Jacobi showed a number of differences between both life stories. Regardless of
other similarities between the Jaina and Buddhist tradition, Jacobi laid stress on
particular differences, especially concerning philosophy. He therefore concluded
“that Gainism is as much independent from other sects, especially from Buddhism,
as can be expected from any sect” (1964: xlvi-xlvii). 40
Jacobi’s efforts not only put Jaina studies as an independent academic subject on
a firm ground, 41 but also proved to be an important tool in the intellectual Jaina
elite’s efforts to establish the Jainas as an independent religious community. The
latter point will be discussed in greater detail in chapter three of this thesis.
Regarding Western approaches to Jainism and Jaina studies, the work of Jacobi also

40
For Jacobi’s detailed argumentation, based on a thorough study of Jaina and Buddhist textual
sources, see: Jacobi (1964: ix-liii). For Jacobi’s work, see also: Glasenapp (1925: 3-4); Jaini
(2000: 24); Schubring (1935: 5).
41
“In a sense, then, up to Jacobi’s time there was no `Jainology´ as a field that could be readily
delimited” (Folkert 1993: 27).

51
had its impact in another field: through his work Jacobi underpinned the
Śvetāmbara claims to possess the oldest Jaina canonical works (Emmrich 2003:
360). Right from its first beginnings, Jaina studies had been focused, for several
reasons, on the Śvetāmbara tradition. One important reason for this development
can be seen in the Śvetāmbaras’ more liberal attitude towards their scriptures. 42
Therefore, the scriptures made available for Western scholars were mainly
Śvetāmbara works. In terms of interaction between Europeans and Jainas, the
contacts were mainly restricted to some individual Śvetāmbara ascetics 43 and their
followers, who encouraged Western research by providing textual materials and
explaining Jaina doctrine and practice.
In the published correspondence between the Śvetāmbara ascetic Vijayendrasūri,
Vijayadharmasūri’s spiritual successor, and Western scholars, Digambaras are
hardly mentioned, and it is only the German scholar Helmuth von Glasenapp, who
mentioned Digambara ascetics at all, while enquiring about their organisation. 44
The condition of the Digambara ascetic tradition in the 19th and early 20th century
will be discussed in chapter four. It is sufficient here to say that contact and
interaction between Western scholars and Jaina ascetics were limited to Śvetāmbara
monks. Therefore it is not surprising that Śvetāmbara doctrine and scriptures were
considered the more authentic tradition.
Hermann Jacobi’s study of ancient Jaina and Buddhist texts had led him to the
conclusion that not only Mahāvīra, but also Pārśvanāth, the 23rd Tīrthaṅkara, was a
historical person. The proposed historicity of Pārśvanāth not only found acceptance
among most Western scholars, but also contributed to the establishment of

42
Christoph Emmrich considers the long history of reform movements within the Śvetāmbara
tradition as crucial for this more liberal attitude (2003: 360-361).
43
Apart from the already mentioned Jinamuktisūri, who proved helpful to Bühler in opening up
the Jaina library in Jaisalmer, mention must be made of Vijayarājendrasūri (1827-1906),
Vijayānandasuri (also known as Muni Ātmārāmjī, 1837-1897) and Vijayadharmasūri (1868-1922)
(Emmrich 2003: 369-370). For details about Vijayānandasuri, see: Brekke (2002: 139-143); Jaini,
Lala Jaswant Rai (1918: III-VI). For Vijayadharmasūri, see: Brekke (2002: 135-139).
44
“How are the Digambara monks organised? I am told, that there are only very few naked monks
living solitarily in the jungle […]” (Glasenapp 1960: 62).

52
Jainism’s antiquity, which was to play an important role in the Jaina identity
discourse discussed in this thesis. Jacobi’s further assumption, however, that
Pārśvanāth did wear clothes and only Mahāvīra in later times made absolute nudity
compulsory for a male ascetic, indirectly underpinned the Śvetāmbara claim to be
more authentic than the Digambaras. Since Śvetāmbara ascetics wear white robes,
while fully initiated Digambara monks move around completely naked, Jacobi’s
assumption of Pārśvanāth having worn clothes could be used as an argument for the
greater antiquity of the Śvetāmbara tradition. 45 Regarding the Western study of
Jainism, Jacobi’s argument seemed to further justify the academic neglect of the
Digambara tradition (Jaini 2000: 27-29). Several modern scholars rightly stress the
fact that “Western Jaina scholarship, then, has been essentially Śvetāmbara
scholarship” (Jaini 2000: 28). 46
According to the Western definition of a religion, based on the model of the
Semitic traditions, a `holy book´ or, at least, a fixed corpus of sacred literature had
to lay down the essence of a religious tradition. Orientalists, therefore, also tried to
discover and `define´ the `holy books´ of the religious traditions they found in
India. Regarding the Jainas, it became common belief that the Śvetāmbara canon
consisted of 45 texts. But, as Kendall W. Folkert (1993: 46-47) has pointed out, this
list has but one source, Georg Bühler, who had employed a well-educated Jaina
ascetic for the task. Bühler’s list was accepted by other Western scholars and,
perhaps even more important, by Jainas themselves who introduced it into their
tradition: “The point to be made out of all this is that Bühler’s list transmitted to
European scholarship more than a number of texts arranged in a certain order. It
also transmitted the notion of a fixed `canon´, with all the nuances borne by the
term” (Folkert 1993: 47). The `definition´ of a fixed Śvetāmbara canon, which was
in this form not accepted by the Digambaras, 47 further stressed the assumed

45
For Jacobi’s interpretation and its impact on other scholars, see: Jaini (2000: 27-30).
46
See: Alsdorf (2006: 120-122); Emmrich (2003: 360-361); Folkert (1993: 30-31); Jaini (2000:
27-30); Schubring (1935: 6).
47
The Digambara texts, on the other hand, were considered a “secondary canon” (Folkert 1993:
79), `imitating´ the Śvetāmbara canon. See: Folkert (1993: 79).

53
authenticity of the Śvetāmbara tradition and could be taken as a means to decide
whether other Jaina traditions had to be considered `orthodox´ or a later `heresy´.
Regarding his research on the Western canonisation of the Jaina scriptures, Folkert
concludes:
Western scholars have treated the Jain scriptures as a closed canon, on
the model of the Bible, dating from the fifth century C.E. Scholars have
therefore tended to treat deviations from this closed canon as
indications of `heresy´ or of sectarian tendencies. However, my own
research indicates that the standard treatment may be in error (1993:
88). 48

The Orientalists’ Legacy

After the concept of Jainism as a defined religious entity had been established
among the academic circle of Western orientalists during the last decades of the
19th century, many misrepresentations, based on the mainly exclusive focus on
textual evidence and the neglect of field research into lay practices, remained. The
popular picture of Jainism as a dry, rigid, life-negating ascetic system, only focused
on the otherworldly, the attaining of spiritual liberation, survived far into the 20th
century. The `real essence´ of the Jaina tradition was, according to the orientalist
approach, considered to be written down in the ancient texts, whereas practices and
beliefs, which did not agree with the textual sources, were seen as corruptions from
the `original´. Jainism, once `discovered´ and `defined´ by Western scholars, was
treated as a religious entity, which, in its core, had remained unchanged for several
thousand years. Where changes had appeared, they were explained as `heresies´ or
the influence of other religious traditions, mainly Hinduism.
The popular modern picture of Jainism and its adherents, the Jainas, has also been
influenced by the Western academic focus on the Śvetāmbara tradition and North
and Western India, where some Śvetāmbara monks and their mostly wealthy lay
followers had cooperated with Western scholars. As has been shown in chapter one,

48
In Scripture and Community, collected essays, Kendall W. Folkert deals in detail with the
phenomenon of `sacred scriptures´ and the canonisation of the Jaina texts. See: Folkert (1993: 35-
94). For the canonisation of the Jaina scriptures, see also: Emmrich (2003: 259-365).

54
when in more recent times philological research was combined with
anthropological work on lay Jaina religious practices and lay-ascetic interaction,
most of the field research conducted also remained confined to urban Śvetāmbaras
of Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is therefore hardly surprising that the stereotype of the
Jaina lay follower as an urban-based, well-to-do tradesman still dominates the
popular concept. The focus on the Jaina class of urban wealthy businessmen,
combined with the orientalists’ stress on severe asceticism as the core value of
Jainism, had led the sociologist Max Weber to state a close similarity of the Jainas
to the Christian Puritans of his The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 49
Certainly, it is true that a substantial number of Jainas, Śvetāmbaras as well as
Digambaras, belong to trading castes, and a majority of these Jaina families belong
to the wealthy class. The popular concept of the typical lay Jaina as an influential,
rich trader, however, ignores the fact that a substantial number of Digambaras are
comparatively much less well off regarding their economic status. Most of these
Digambaras reside in the rural areas of modern North Karnataka and Southern
Maharashtra, the regional focus of this study. For centuries, their family occupation
has been farming, sometimes accompanied by small-scale trading. The orientalists’
legacy, therefore, not only carried the misconception of a homogenous religious
tradition, labelled as Jainism, but also contributed to the concept of `the Jainas´ as a
rather homogenous group. The `elaboration´ of the latter concept, namely the idea
of a universal `Jaina community´, was largely influenced by the introduction of the
census in British India, and got further refined through the discourse among Jaina
intellectuals. The impact of the census on the formation of the concept of supra-
local, supra-caste collective religious identity among Jainas will be discussed in the
next section of this chapter. Before moving on, the influence of Western orientalist
scholarship, as summarised on the preceding pages, will be the focus of discussion.
One substantial factor has already been stated: the Western academic approach to
the Jaina tradition led to the construction and definition of Jainism as a uniform and
universal religion, whose adherents, the Jainas, were bound together into a distinct
group. This simplified Western concept had a substantial impact on the newly
49
For this comparison, see: Weber (1996).

55
emerging Indian Western-educated intellectual elite, whose members tried to get to
terms with the environment of the colonial times.
The orientalists’ writings, furthermore, caused different reactions on part of the
Jainas. The citation of Edward W. Hopkins at the beginning of this chapter
certainly is a rather drastic example of a Western scholar’s hostility towards his
subject. 50 Nevertheless, Hopkins was in agreement with other, mainly British
authors, such as the already cited W.J. Wilkins or Murray Mitchell, who both
included a paragraph about Jainism in their accounts of Indian religions. As in the
case of Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson, author of The Heart of Jainism, who had come to
Gujarat as the wife of a Christian missionary, a substantial number of other English
accounts of Indian religions also reflect a strong Christian and missionary bias. 51
The negative representation of Indian religions, therefore, does not come as a
surprise. Apart from the Christian bias represented in many Western orientalist
writings, Western orientalist discourse, as postulated by Said (1978), was also used
to legitimate imperialistic and colonial suppression of the Eastern world by Western
forces. The men (and sometimes women, as in the case of Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson)
who, under the British rule, had come to India and used their experiences abroad to
inform a Western readership about the customs and beliefs of the Indian population
were, in most cases, either missionaries or British civil servants. In neither case,
however, did they come completely unbiased regarding a feeling of Western
(including Christian) superiority. It is not the place here to discuss Said’s theory
about the relation between colonial power and orientalist discourse. Neither is it the
place for some unreflected generalisations, for not all British orientalist writings
about Indian religions, among them the Jaina tradition, were without any sympathy

50
Interestingly, Hopkins, in later years, partly renounced his harsh judgment, after he had visited
India and had met groups of Jainas himself. This change of opinion is expressed by Hopkins in a
letter to the Jaina ascetic Vijayendrasūri, written in 1924, in which he states: “I found at once that
the practical religion of the Jains was one worthy of all commendation and I have since regretted
that I stigmatized the Jain religion as insisting on denying God, worshipping man, and nourishing
vermin as its chief tenets without giving due regard to the wonderful effect this religion has on the
character and morality of the people. But as is often the case, a close acquaintance with a religion
brings out its good side and creates a much more favourable opinion of it as whole than can be
obtained by a merely objective literary acquaintance” (1960: 92).
51
W.J. Wilkins belonged to the London Missionary Society, while J. Murray Mitchell was a
reverend.

56
for their subject. Negative statements against Indian religious beliefs and practices,
however, are reflected in many orientalists’ works. These writings naturally
provoked a reaction among Indian intellectuals. Apologetic works in defence of
what was considered their own religious tradition had first appeared among Hindus
who had been the primary target of Christian missionary attacks. Although their
confrontation with Western, and especially Christian attacks had been considerably
milder than the one against Hindus and Sikhs in colonial Bengal and Punjab, some
Western-educated Jaina intellectuals took writings such as Mrs. Sinclair
Stevenson’s as an affront to their religious tradition and answered in defence. In
this way, the first English apologetic Jaina writings, addressed to a non-Jaina and
mainly Western audience, were produced. These works, as will be shown in chapter
three of this thesis, not merely served the cause of representing (and defending) the
Jaina tradition to non-Jainas, but furthermore substantially contributed to the
Jainas’ own discourse about a collective Jaina identity and the core values of
Jainism.
To understand another, equally important reaction that Western orientalism
provoked on the part of the intellectual Jaina elite, Edward Said is again a relevant
focus. Since the first publication of Said’s Orientalism critics have repeatedly noted
that his work especially focuses on French and British orientalism, while German
orientalists and their discourse go unnoticed. 52 Germans, however, were not only,
as Suzanne Marchand remarks, “the most important orientalist scholars between
about 1830 and 1930” (2001: 465), but have been immensely influential in the field
of Jaina studies. The German scholars, who studied Jaina scriptures and in some
cases had the opportunity to visit India themselves, had neither a missionary nor an
imperialistic background. It is true that scholars such as Albrecht Weber
complained about what was regarded as the monotonous style of Jaina scriptures.
Generally speaking, however, the most important figures among German
orientalists interested in Jaina studies 53 took a rather sympathetic and positive

52
For some recent examples, see: King (1999b: 148-149); Marchand (2001: 465).
53
In this regard, apart from Hermann Jacobi and Georg Bühler, the names of Ernst Leumann
(1859-1931), Walther Schubring (1881-1969) and Helmuth von Glasenapp (1891-1963) have to
be mentioned here.

57
approach to their subject of study. From the perspective of Jaina intellectuals,
however, more importantly, scholars like Hermann Jacobi had established Jainism
as an independent, ancient and distinct Indian religion and could therefore be cited
as authorities for the independent status of Jainism. As will be shown in chapter six
of the present thesis, the works of German orientalists are still cited as proof of
Jainism’s independent status in recent petitions for the granting of nationwide
religious minority status to the Jainas. Progressive Jaina lay leaders from the
beginning of the 20th century onwards have never been tired of praising the work of
German scholars, first among them Jacobi. This attitude of praise, combined with
critical remarks on alleged misrepresentations of Jainism, is illustrated in the
following statement, taken from The Jaina Gazette, the English language organ of
progressive Jaina leaders:
Some have branded Jainism as an Atheistic religion, some have
regarded it as an off shoot of Buddhism, some have confounded it with
Charvakas, some have gone the length of saying, that it originated after
Shankaracharya and some have stigmatized it as a religion without any
philosophy. Some were so bold as to say that Shri Parshwanath and
Mahabir were mythological personages, and the real founder of Jainism
was Gautam Budha.
Our educated bretheren, the flower of our community, bore all these
insults patiently, and never cared to contradict the false statements of
the orientalists. Who then dispelled this misunderstanding? A German
scholar came forward and announced to the world that Jainism is as old
as the Vedantic religion, and that Shri Parshwanath and Mahabir were
historical personages (Kesraichand 1910: 3).

During his visit to India in 1914, Hermann Jacobi was honoured with the title Jaina
darśana divākar (`sun of the Jaina philosophical system´) by the All India Jaina
Association, “in recognition of his eminent service to the cause of the Jaina
Philosophy, and his epoch-making researches on the antiquities of Jainism”
(Prasada and Jaini 1914: 40), as remarked in The Jaina Gazette. At a time, when
the antiquity of a religious tradition, as well as its distinctiveness, were used as
important ideological tools in the emerging discourse on separate religious
communities in India, the work of Jacobi and his successors received an
enthusiastic welcome on the part of the small Jaina intellectual elite.

58
 What has been called the `orientalist legacy´ in this paragraph had, however, not
only a strong impact on Jaina intellectuals. The classifications and definitions of
orientalist scholars also served as an important academic basis for further
elaborated classifications. These were undertaken by the British administration
through the introduction of the decennial census system on the Indian subcontinent.
The methods and definitions used, as well as the data delivered by the census
enumerations, were to play an influential role in the emergence of the concept of
distinct collective religious identities and the idea of separate religious communities
in India.

The Census and the Jainas as a `Distinct Community´

In 1801, with the first census taken in Britain, the institution of counting the
population according to certain criteria every ten years was started. From 1850 the
British had been planning to carry out a census in British India. Besides some first
efforts to produce gazetteers and take census data in some provinces, which had
already started during the first decades of the 19th century, the first general census
of the inhabitants of British India was attempted in 1872. 54
What is important for the study of the emerging conception of distinct collective
religious identities and separate religious communities during the 19th century is the
fact that the British census takers focused on a classification of the population
according to castes and religions: “It was felt by many British officials in the
middle of the nineteenth century that caste and religion were the sociological keys
to understanding the Indian people” (Cohn 2000: 242). But to classify into special
categories, definitions were needed. The work of Western orientalists had tried to
define Indian religious traditions according to the European concepts of `a religion´
and its plural, `religions´. In this way, the terms `Hinduism´ and `Buddhism´ were
created, followed by `Sikhism´ and `Jainism´ as further `-isms´. The adherents of
these more or less constructed religious entities were called `Hindus´, `Buddhists´,

54
Initially, the first general census was planned for 1861, but the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857
and its suppression intervened. For the first census takings in India, see: Cohn (2000: 225-254);
Conlon (1981: 103-117); Jones (1981a: 73-98); Martin (1981: 61-63).

59
`Sikhs´ and `Jainas´. These definitions, however, proved to be rather tricky when
put into practice. Census enumerators soon found out that any given definition was
very likely to prove less clear-cut than expected. In case of the question, who
should be regarded as a `Hindu´, in 1872 the following instructions were given to
the enumerators in the Bombay Presidency: “All believers in the Vedas must be
entered as Hindoo, and so, too, must those wild tribes - as Bheels - whose original
religions are lost, and who now, to all intents and purposes, are Hindoo by Religion
though not by Race” (Census of the Bombay Presidency 1872, Part I: 97). Here, the
phrase `Hindu´ is used in two aspects, `race´ and `religion´, which does not really
help in clarifying the definition of a `Hindu´.
In the same census, the Jainas were placed under the category of `Buddhists.´ 55
This reflects the impact of Western orientalist scholarship, which at that time still
tended to consider the Jainas a branch of Buddhism. First doubts about this
classification, however, had already been raised. In the Report on the Census of the
Madras Presidency, 1871 (Cornish 1874) and the Report on the Mysore General
Census of 1871 (Lindsay 1874) Jainas are also classified as `Buddhists´, but in the
latter volume some doubts about this classification are already mentioned:
It is doubtful whether Jains ought to be called Buddhists, as various
authorities allege they refuse to acknowledge Budda as their teacher,
while others assert that Budda or Vishnu in his 9th avatar is merely the
Sanskrit name for the Supreme Being worshipped by the Jains of
Mysore in his Kanarese name of Jainisvara. Be this as it may, they are
generally called Buddhists and considered heretics by orthodox Hindus,
whilst they in return profess to be upholders of the ancient primitive
religion and deny the supremacy of Brahmans (Lindsay 1874: 28).

The census of the Bombay Presidency, taken in 1872, lists Jainas under the
category `Buddhists´, and, regarding the rather high literacy rate among `Buddhists´
of the presidency, it is remarked: “Our so-called BUDDHISTS are most of them

55
See the several volumes of the census of the Bombay Presidency of 1872 (Government of
Bombay 1875a; 1875b; 1875c). The only exception is found in the table General enumeration of
people in Southern Division (Poona, Ahmednuggur, Rutnagherry, Belgaum Zillahs) 1845,
Dharwar Zillah April 1846, where Jainas are listed under “Shrawuk and Jain”, while the category
`Buddhist´ is not mentioned at all (Government of Bombay 1875b: Statement A: 5). The phrase
`Shravuk´ is most probably an English adaptation of the word śrāvaka (literally `a listener´, a lay
follower of Jainism).

60
engaged in trade, so it is not surprising that the percentage of their educated males
is as high as 43, 64” (Government of India 1875b: 197). The phrase “our so-called
BUDDHISTS” reflects the growing tendency among academic scholars, to consider
Jainas the adherents of a separate religious tradition.
The Indian Census of 1881 eventually introduced further categories and among
them Jainas were listed separately (Government of India 1892). Officially, then, as
Jainism was no longer considered a branch of Buddhism, the Jainas ceased to be
categorised as a Buddhist `sect´. However, although theoretically counted as a
separate religious community, their identity remained blurred in the following
census takings. It seemed to be more a matter of indifference on the part of the
Jainas, than on part of the census takers. Already in 1883 the exactness of the
enumerations regarding those persons, who belonged to the Jaina religion, was
doubted: “Many Jains have, however, undoubtedly given their religion as Hindoo,
and in some cases, though these are not many, I am inclined to think the
enumerators have returned as Hindoos persons who really stated their religion to be
Jain” (Plowden 1883: 23). The reason stated for this tendency introduces the
difficulty of distinguishing the concepts of `religious´ and `cultural´ identity: “As
the followers of the Jain creed are generally held, and themselves generally claim,
to be Hindoos, this is not surprising; nor is the error of importance, for the domestic
and social economy of the Jains differs little from that of the orthodox Hindoo”
(Plowden 1883: 23). The fact that many Jainas stated their religion as `Hindu´
caught the attention of the census takers during the following census operation. In
the report on the census of the Bombay Presidency of 1891 “considerable confusion
in the entry of Jain and Hindu” is mentioned, so that “[i]t has not been uncommon
to find a man recorded of the Hindu religion and of `Jain caste.´ Of course, there is
no such thing as a Jain caste […]” (Drew 1892: 44). The following two census
takings of the Bombay Presidency from the years 1901 and 1911 are silent on the
issue, but remark a steady decrease of persons numbered among the category `Jain´
(Edwardes 1901: 22; Mead and Macgregor 1912: 56).
For the census takings of the Bombay Presidency of 1921, the enumerators got
instructed that “Jains should be entered as Jains and not as Hindus, even though

61
they themselves regard themselves as such” (Sedgwick 1922: 61). Furthermore it
was stated: “In the case of Jainism it is doubtful whether any student of
comparative religion could possibly class Jainism as a sect of Hinduism. Yet it is a
fact that many Jains regard themselves and are regarded as Hindus” (Sedgwick
1922: 68). The reason for this state of affairs was seen in the confusion of the terms
`Hindu´ and `Indo-Aryan´. While `Hindu´, according to the census administrators,
described the member of a religious community, Hindus as well as Buddhists,
Sikhs and Jainas were to be classed as `Indo-Aryan´ regarding their `race´: “It
therefore comes to this that Indians often use the term Hindu for what we call in the
Census Indo-Aryan. Yet as a religion Jainism is definitely distinct” (Sedgwick
1922: 68).
This distinctness in terms of religion, first stated by orientalists and, following
their writings, by the British census administrators, does not seem to have been of
much importance for most of the Jainas, as the above mentioned citations show. It
is doubtful, if the mass of the population really bothered about the answers they
gave to the census enumerators. 56 The average Indian had more immediate
concerns than the religious categories constructed by Europeans based on their idea
of `a religion´ as a well-defined, closed system, whose adherents formed a
community with fixed boundaries. But the census and its stress on classification
and definition nevertheless had a strong impact on Indian society, as Bernard S.
Cohn states:
If there was a direct effect of the census on the mass of the Indian
population, it was on the enumerators. To carry out the census in the
late nineteenth century at least half a million Indians had to be involved
in the process, and it was probably more than that. […] The Indians
who mainly on a voluntary basis made the census possible were a
highly significant group as they were literate and educated, even if only
at a primary school level (2000: 248).

56
If they were questioned at all. In this regard, Bernard S. Cohn remarks: “I suspect in many
instances that the questions weren’t even asked and that many of the enumerators filled in the
forms on the basis of their knowledge of their neighbours- particularly on questions of caste,
language and religion” (2000: 248). Similar statements were made in interviews with Jainas in
Karnataka and Maharashtra, conducted for the present thesis. Regarding the census takings,
several Jainas expressed the opinion that also nowadays many enumerators do not bother much
about asking questions, but fill in the forms according to their own assumptions.

62
The data collected in the census did not matter to the average villager, but it did to
members of the educated Indian elite in towns and cities. 57
The census takers’ classifications according to caste and religion did not remain
limited to the counting of members, but were extended to nearly all fields of human
life. Therefore, the members of the specific castes and religions were compared in
several social and economic aspects, such as their professions, the average marriage
age, the proportion of widows, their educational standard and the degree of their
literacy in English. That the newly defined religious communities, however, were
not homogenous groups, but showed substantial local differences, was reflected in
the census data itself, as the following example of the variation of the literacy rate
among Jainas shows: the census of the Bombay Presidency taken in 1911 revealed
a huge gap in the degree of literacy between the merchant classes of Jainas in
Gujarat and trading centres such as Bombay, and the mostly agriculturist
educational backward Jainas in the area of the modern South Maharashtra and
North Karnataka. While the first, as a rather wealthy trading community, naturally
showed a high rate of male literacy, the educational backwardness of the rural
Southern Digambaras found its expression in a very low literacy rate. Regarding
these differences, the report on the census data for the Bombay Presidency of the
year 1911 offered the following comment:
There are two great bodies of Jains in the presidency, in Gujarat […]
and the Southern Maratha […] Country. The former are traders, the
latter cultivators, and the influence of their occupation is directly
reflected in their educational statistics [...]. […] there is probably no
ethnic connection between these two centres of the Jain religion. The
Jain in the Karnatak is indistinguishable both in appearance and dress
from the local cultivators, and the comparatively low ratio of literacy is
due to racial causes (Mead and Macgregor 1912: 140).

This statement is interesting for its usage of `ethnic´ and `racial´ categories. The
Southern Digambaras, accordingly, differed from the Jaina merchant classes of
Gujarat not only in terms of occupation, but also in their `ethnic´ origin.

57
For further information about the formation of caste sabhās (literally `associations´, `meetings´)
in towns and cities, and their petitions for the change of their caste status, see: Cohn (2000: 248-
249).

63
Notwithstanding these rather significant differences, both groups, however, were
still categorised as belonging to the same, namely the `Jaina community´. Here, we
meet with a quite contradictory approach to classifications taken in the census
operations: the entries in the different census takings are rather precise in stating
regional differences in main occupation, as well as educational and economic
background. The various district gazetteers furthermore provide very detailed
descriptions of local socio-religious customs, marriage patterns, religious practices
and beliefs. In this regard, significant differences between, for instance, a wealthy
Sthānakvāsī moneylender of Gujarat and an illiterate Digambara farmer of North
Karnataka become obvious. In most aspects both seem to have more in common
with those sharing the same regional, occupational, economic and social
background, and in real life most probably there would hardly be any social
interaction between the two. Nevertheless, according to the census classifications,
the Gujarati trader and the Kannadigan farmer belonged to the same category, for
both of them were members of one religious community, the Jainas. What
constituted the connecting link was the adherence to the same universal religion,
Jainism, as defined by Western orientalism.
When we ask, however, in which way a Jaina differed from a Hindu, the answers
provided by the orientalists’ writings and the census entries remain abstract and
rather blurred. In general, as stated by Jacobi and other scholars following him,
Jainism was a distinct religious tradition for the reasons that its philosophy was
different from Buddhist as well as Hindu philosophical traditions, and the Jainas
(along with the Buddhists) rejected the authority of the Vedas (Jacobi 1964;
Glasenapp 1925). Furthermore, as highlighted in general accounts of the Jainas, not
the Hindu gods, but the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras were the main centre of worship, while in
daily life the utmost stress was laid on the non-harming of any kind of life. These
points are found, for instance, in W.J. Wilkins’ short account of the Jainas’ main
principles:
They deny the divine origin and infallible authority of the Vedas; they
hold that certain saints have, by a life of purity and self-mortification,
attained not only to an equality with, but even superiority over, the

64
 deities commonly worshipped by the Hindus; and they show excessive
regard for all forms of animal life (1887: 99).

While for Wilkins the mentioned criteria were at least sufficient to differentiate the
Jainas “from the main body of Hindus” (1887: 99), 58 for orientalist scholarship and
the categories used in the census, this scanty definition was enough to make
distinctions between Hindus, Buddhists and Jainas.
In practice, however, census data from different localities, as well as detailed
anthropological descriptions, as collected for the district gazetteers, presented a
more complicated picture. Just as the main occupation of Jainas varied across
different regions, so did the languages spoken, the dress worn and the customs
locally practised. To give one example: the gazetteer of the Belgaum District, first
published in 1884, had the following to say about the local (Digambara) Jainas.
They are divided into four castes, the “Shetváls, Chaturthas, Bogárs, and
Panchams”, whose members do not intermarry. Regarding their professions they
are traders, agriculturists or labourers, while some are in government service. From
their outward appearance “men and women look like Lingáyats” and their native
language is the local Kanarese (Campbell 2001: 102). They “have their own priests
and do not employ Bráhmans” but do “keep the regular Hindu holidays” (Campbell
2001: 103). In contrast to these descriptions, we read the following about Gujarati
Jainas, who had come to the Belgaum area as traders. Apart from their native
language, “Gujaráti mixed with Hindustáni”, most of them also speak Hindustani
and Marathi. Economically they are “well-to-do people” working as shopkeepers,
merchants and money-lenders. The men wear the “Gujarát- Váni turban.” They
conduct their marriages with caste fellows from Gujarat, have “their own Gujarát
Bráhman priests […] keep most Hindu fasts and feasts, and during the Diváli
holidays in November worship the goddess Lakshmi in their shops” (Campbell
2001: 101). About the social intercourse between local Jainas and Jaina immigrants
from West India, it is stated: “The Gujarát Jains do not dine or have any social
intercourse with the Belgaum Jains” (Campbell 2001: 101).

58
Wilkins (1887) considered Jainas, along with different groups of Sikhs, a Hindu sect.

65
 These citations clearly illustrate that Southern Digambaras and Gujarati Jainas did
not have too much in common. The above cited descriptions also show that a
definite distinction between Jainas and Hindus is difficult to make. In both cases,
the Jainas described are in many important aspects such as profession, language,
outward appearance and forms of worship hard to distinguish from Hindus of the
same local and professional background.
Apart from the theoretical level of orientalist definitions, in practice it remained a
difficult, if not impossible task, to define a clear-cut boundary between Hindus and
Jainas. This difficulty not only finds its expression in rather doubtful presentations
of sudden decreases of the Jaina population, as reflected in various census takings,
but lingered on in confusing and contradictory classifications of the Jainas in
official documents. In this regard, although listed as a separate religious community
from the 1882 census onwards, Jainas are still classified as members of a Hindu
caste in the Belgaum and Dharwar District Gazetteers of 1884 (Campbell 2003;
2004).
The Jainas’ religious distinctiveness, as highlighted by scholars like Hermann
Jacobi, and their classification as a separate religious community in the census
takings from 1882 onwards, naturally did not lead to the sudden emergence of a
distinct collective Jaina identity, expressed in clear-cut boundaries between Jainas
and Hindus. These boundaries, as will be argued in the following chapters, have
remained rather vague and blurred. However, the notion of Jainism as a separate
religious tradition, and the Jainas as a distinct religious community (however
blurred the boundaries between Jainas and Hindus in practice may have been) was
registered among the small Western-educated Jaina elite, whose members
responded to the data collected in the census. The fact that the Jainas (as other
newly defined religious communities) were far from being a homogenous group,
was more or less ignored, while the main message proposed and received was the
new concept of distinct religious communities, among which the Jainas had their
place. As Kenneth W. Jones puts it:
[…] [T]he census reports provided a new conceptualization of religion
as a community, an aggregate of individuals united by a formal
definition and given characteristics based on qualified data. Religions

66
 became communities mapped, counted, and above all compared with
other religious communities (1981a: 84).

Along with the new concept of community based on the adherence to a universal
religion, the census data opened the door to comparisons between these newly
defined religious communities. Although, on the whole, the Jainas’ level of
education, in comparison with other religious communities, was quite high at the
end of the 19th century and kept improving during the first decades of the 20th
century, the census takings revealed one fact that alarmed reform-minded Jaina
intellectuals. Not only compared with the male literacy rate within the Jaina
community, but also in comparison to all other communities, the very low degree of
female education among Jainas stuck out: “Compared to the males, there are less
female learners among the Jains than among any other class” (Drew 1892: 114).
This state of affairs was hardly a matter in which Western-educated Jaina
intellectuals would take pride. The same held true for census data regarding the
average marriage age and the proportion of widows. While child marriage had been
a common practice in India, the census of 1881 revealed a comparatively low
marriage age among “Jains and other Hindoos” (Plowden 1883: 68). Furthermore,
it showed that the Jaina community had the highest proportion of widows out of all
communities (Plowden 1883: 68). Thirty years later, the census of the Bombay
Presidency presented a similar picture, and it was stated: “The Jains do not allow a
widow to take a second husband so they naturally show a higher proportion of
widows than the Hindu castes some of which allow re-marriage” (Mead and
Macgregor 1912: 116).
These rather sobering census data regarding the low degree of female education,
the low marriage age and the high proportion of widows among Jainas stuck out
when compared with the high degree of male literacy and economic success among
the Jainas. Therefore, as topics like female education, abolition of child marriage
and campaigns for widow remarriage, since the second half of the 19th century,
became urgent reform goals for the Indian Western-educated elites, Jaina reformers
also took their stand against what were considered `social evils´, as will be further
discussed in chapter three of this thesis. Although the census data presented, for the

67
first time, statistical information about the proportions of these `social evils´ and
their prevalence among the newly defined religious communities, they would also
have been noticed regardless of any census. Here the census can be rather seen as
an indicator of the dimensions these practices had in Indian society, and, more
important, among the different religious communities. In this way, the census data
could stimulate social reformers and could also be used by them as proof for the
need of social reform.
The census operations, however, also presented a trend, which most probably
would have gone unnoticed without the statistical data, for in most cases it owed its
very existence to the data collection itself. This phenomenon, which caught the
attention of the census takers and alarmed members of the Indian intellectual elite,
was the picture of steadily decreasing, or, to put it more dramatically, `dying´
religious communities. Since the census administrators took keen interest in
numbers, the increase or decrease of the population, again divided into different
religious communities, was measured and interpreted with great care. For the
Indian intellectual elite, more importantly, the power of their respective community
was seen in its numerical strength. Especially at a time, when constitutional
changes brought more democratic rights, the numerical strength of a community
was equal to political power (Jones 1981a: 95).
Among Hindu intellectuals, Christian conversions were considered a major threat
which led to numerical decrease. The actual steady decline in the number of Hindus
counted in the decennial census collections was caused by several factors. Apart
from conversions, a main factor for the decline was the further elaboration of the
census classifications and the changing definitions of a `Hindu´. In this regard, the
so-called `Hindu community´ first `lost´ the Sikhs and the Jainas, who were
considered separate communities in the census from the 1870s and 1880s
onwards. 59 Regarding the lowest section of the social hierarchy, a number of the
so-called `untouchables´, along with tribals, were converted to Christianity. When,

59
This `loss´ of Sikhs and Jainas, however, occurred gradually and was no coherent process.
While Jainas, as shown above, in many cases remained within the `Hindu´ category, a number of
Sikh groups were also still considered Hindus after the census had introduced a separate category
`Sikh´. For more details on the Sikhs and the census, see: Oberoi (1994: 207-213).

68
at the beginning of the 20th century, separate census categories for the
`untouchable´ castes were considered, Hindu leaders became even more alarmed,
fearing a further numerical decline of the Hindu community (Jones 1976: 305).
This threatening trend, an apparently steadily decreasing Hindu population, while
the Muslim community prospered and increased in number, was highlighted in the
census data.
Among the Sikhs, the decennial census data of the Punjab presented a tendency,
which led, in Harjot Oberoi’s words, “to the birth of a powerful colonial myth”
(1994: 212), predicting the steady decrease of the Sikh population. This decline in
numbers, alarming the British administration as well as Sikh intellectuals, was,
however, neither caused by an increase in conversions to Christianity, nor in a
lower fertility rate among Sikhs. As census officials by 1931 had slowly begun to
realise, the decline in Sikh numbers owed its existence to unreliable census data.
Oberoi (1994) has shown that the definition of a `Sikh´ turned out to be
problematic, just as the definition of a `Jaina´ was. In the case of the Sikhs,
however, the British administration was furthermore led by the preconception, that
only those persons who by wearing certain symbols and sticking to certain rules of
behaviour were physically identifiable as `Sikhs´, should be counted in the
category. This concept, further publicised by radical Sikh leaders, led to the
exclusion of a substantial number of groups, whose members did not adhere to the
propagated `Sikh ideal´ (Oberoi 1994: 207-213).
As already mentioned above, the numbers of Jainas counted in the census
enumerations did not prove to be any more reliable. The census data presented a
picture of an alarmingly decreasing Jaina population. In the Indian Census of 1911
it was stated: “Since 1891 the number of Jains has been steadily diminishing, and a
loss of 5.8 per cent in 1901 has now been followed by one of 6.4 per cent” (Gait
1913: 126-127). The diminishing numbers of persons counted as Jainas from 1891
to 1911 created special attention on the part of the census administrators. While the
decrease in several provinces was explained by emigration of Jaina merchant
classes or the local outbreak of diseases (Gait 1913: 127), the main reason for the

69
declining numbers was seen in the popular tendency among Jainas to consider
themselves Hindus:
As already stated, the Jains form an integral part of the Hindu social
system and are thus often disposed to regard themselves as Hindus. In
quite recent times a number of them have joined the Arya Samaj. In the
Punjab, United Provinces and Bombay they are prone to take part in
Hindu festivals, and are likely gradually to become merged in that
religion (Gait 1913: 127).

Whether the decline was real, through conversions and lower birthrates, or, more
likely, caused by wrong enumerations, the trend alarmed leading Jaina intellectuals,
who feared the extinction of their already very small community. In his “An Open
letter to Jain Brothers”, published in The Jaina Gazette in May 1910, Manilal
Hakemchand expressed his concern in the following appeal:
Thus now our decline and fall has been tremendous. Diminished in
numbers, reduced in strength we exist only in name and form an almost
negligible quantity in the sum total of humanity. […] [T]he leading and
influential minority of the most loyal, quiet and law abiding community
of Jains should have no serious difficulty in obtaining a representative
of theirs in the Council of the Governors and that of the Viceroy; and
why should there not be higher posts in the Government, to be given to
deserving Jains? But only if we approach the Government as a Jain
community, as a nation, as an assemblage of people with common
interest, and not separately in the name of the different sub-divisions of
a community (Hakemchand 1910: 2).

Hakemchand did not only mention the Jainas’ “decline and fall”, but also what he
considered a necessary step for gaining strength, namely the striving for unity and
cooperation among the Jainas. The topic `unity equals strength´ has played an
important role for Jaina leaders, which will be further discussed in chapter three of
this thesis.

The threat of numerical decline, which found its alarming expression in the
census data, naturally also had its impact on other allegedly `declining
communities´, namely Hindus and Sikhs. Both groups, more confronted with the
threat of Christian conversion, in course of time developed their own systems of
`re-converting´ former members or outcasts back into their fold. At the same time,

70
however, it was felt, that the own community had to be defined and internally
unified. This could take the form of a rather aggressive self-definition in opposition
to other religious communities, which, for instance, found its expression in the
growing propagation of a Hindu-Muslim antagonism. To stress the distinctiveness
of their own religious tradition, more radical reformers among Hindus and Sikhs
aimed at creating boundaries between their communities and outsiders. This could
be achieved through the use and propagation of languages, myths, rituals and
outward symbols. When we look at the reactions of intellectual Hindu, Sikh and
Jaina leaders we find similarities but also differences. These differences also
existed between members of the same religious community, for there have been
many different ideas about how to define each community. When we compare,
however, the reactions of, for instance, radical Ārya Samājists and Sikhs of the
Punjab with that of Maharashtrian lay Jaina leaders, we have to take into
consideration various different factors. While the Punjab generally presented a
more aggressive atmosphere in religious competition, strongly influenced by a
determined Christian mission, Maharashtra, as the centre of the Non-Brahmin
movement, witnessed a stronger political antagonism between Brahmins and Non-
Brahmin castes, among them the Jainas. When Hindus pushed for Hindi as a
national language and radical Sikhs began to propagate Punjabi as the `Sikh
language´, the Jainas, as a tiny minority spread among the whole of India, had no
spoken language which could be used as a specific `Jaina language´. To give one
more example: while the Sikhs, with their last guru’s establishment of the khālsā, a
kind of religious order, had a system of outward symbols which could be
propagated as essential for a distinct Sikh identity, Jaina lay men and women were,
from their outward appearance, indistinguishable from Hindus of their specific
region. These differences will be further discussed in following chapters. Here,
however, it is important to stress that the census data, and especially the picture of
`declining communities´, caught the attention of Indian intellectuals belonging to
different religious traditions. What these men had in common, was their active
participation in the discourse on new concepts of universal religions and separate
religious communities. New concepts and ideas, propagated through the

71
orientalists’ works and the classifications of the census administrators, had a strong
impact on the discourse among Indian intellectuals. The writings of Western
orientalists prompted, as has been mentioned in the previous section and will be
further discussed in chapter three, different reactions among Indian intellectuals.
While some Western philological and historical works could be used to prove the
antiquity and distinctiveness of their own religious tradition, alleged
misrepresentations had to be rectified by apologetic writings.
The census, furthermore, provided reform-minded Western-educated intellectuals
with data concerning the extent to which what they regarded as `social evils´ were
being practised within their respective communities. The concept of these separate
religious communities, some of them allegedly threatened by extinction, called for
internal unity and the establishment of a distinct common religious identity.
The example of allegedly `dying communities´, mentioned above, illustrates that
concepts of collective identity and the formation of community heavily rely on
specific circumstances. While multiple forms of identity were (and still are)
prevalent among members of all of the newly defined religious communities,
specific external factors and developments have contributed to at times similar, at
times different constructions of collective religious identity by intellectual leaders
of various religious groups. The need to propagate internal unity was felt by Sikhs,
Hindus and Jainas alike. The focus on external boundaries, however, had a higher
priority among Hindu and Sikh leaders in the Punjab where community formation
became more and more entwined with politics and political representation. This
politicisation of collective religious identity will be further discussed in chapter six
of this thesis. Here, it is important to stress that multiple identities and `blurred
boundaries´ between their own religious group and outsiders are not a `unique
feature´ of the Jainas. Although radical Sikh leaders propagated the ideal of the
easily recognisable initiated member of the Sikh khālsā as the `real Sikh´, other
forms of identity still exist among Sikhs. In this respect, an exclusive `unified Sikh
identity´ is also largely based on the theoretical `construction´ or `imagination´ of
the intellectual elite. In the case of the Sikhs, however, their radical reformers have
been more successful in presenting this `imagination´ of the Sikhs as a unified,

72
distinct community not only to Sikhs, but especially to non-Sikhs, as will be further
discussed in chapter six.
Referring back to Manilal Hakemchand’s already cited “An open Letter to Jain
Brothers”, published in 1910, the phrase of “a Jain community […] an assemblage
of people with common interest” (1910: 2) is used. Hakemchand’s exact definition
of the Jainas as a `community´, bound together by common interests, remains
unclear in this appeal. The following chapter aims at providing more clarity about
the Jaina discourse among men like Hakemchand, Western-educated Jaina
intellectuals, and their definition and propagation of a separate, unified `Jaina
community´ and a collective `Jaina identity.´

73
 3. THE LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY JAINA IDENTITY
DISCOURSE: APOLOGETIC WRITINGS AND THE NEED
FOR ORGANISATION AND REFORM

It is well to recognise that the Jainas are not a bagful of castes and sects
with diversified cultures, conceptions and creeds. Jainism is not, and
has never been at any time in the past, and never will be in the future, a
religion of castes and sub-sects, a mere cult of castes, if I may be
permitted to put this. There is one doctrine, one religion, one culture,
one community of the Jainas, and also one Law (Champat Rai Jain
1941: 19-20).

This statement was written by the lawyer Champat Rai Jain (1867-1942), one of the
most ardent Jaina apologetic writers of the first half of the 20th century. Its message
is simple: Jainas form a uniform body bound together by the adherence to “one
doctrine, one religion, one culture […] and […] one Law” (1941: 19-20). Jain’s
main concern, here, was to argue for the official acknowledgement of a separate
`Jaina law´. In this context the claim that Jainism at all times had been a uniform
religion, governed by one universal law and unaffected by the concepts of caste and
sect, became a crucial argument. The definition of Jainism as a universal religion,
which held an important message for the whole world, had already been highlighted
in Champat Rai Jain’s earlier apologetic works. In the present chapter, the work of
Champat Rai Jain and other Western-educated Jaina apologetic writers and
reformers will be discussed. Who were these men, under which circumstances did
they act, and what were their contributions to the concept of a supra-caste, supra-
local Jaina community and collective Jaina identity? The first part of this chapter
will be dedicated to these questions, while the main aim is to demonstrate that the
early apologetic writings in English built an influential foundation for the
construction of a specific `image´ of Jainism and the postulation of special `core
values´ universally stressed by Jainas. This definition of Jainism, however, was not
founded on the propagation of qualitative differences between Jainism and
Hinduism. The missing focus on the “construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi

74
1994), as will be argued in course of this thesis, largely contributed to rather vague
boundaries between Jainas and Hindus.
The second part of the present chapter will present a small case study about a
reformist Digambara Jaina organisation, the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā (`South
Indian Jaina Association´), which was founded in the area of the present North
Karnataka and Southern Maharashtra in 1899 and is still existing today. It is true
that the reform-minded Jaina intellectuals, who started their campaigns for internal
unity and social reform from the end of the 19th century onwards, shared a similar
economic, educational and professional background, and propagated cooperation of
various Jaina groups. Champat Rai Jain’s earlier cited postulate, which portrayed
the Jainas as unaffected by the concepts of `caste´ and `sect´, however, seemed to
derive from a Jaina reformer’s wishful thinking, not from historical reality.
Although the need for unity and cooperation was part of the reformers’ agenda, in
actual practice the first Jaina organisations were restricted to, or at least dominated
by, members of the same sectarian division, and, in many cases, also the same
caste. 60 Furthermore, the work of most associations was confined to different
regions. The chosen example, the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā, is noteworthy in
several respects. Although restricted to Digambaras of the area which under British
rule was known as South Maharashtra, its sphere of influence nevertheless included
a relatively large area, comprising the present districts of South Maharashtra and
North Karnataka, with its centres at Kolhapur, Belgaum, Sangli and Hubli. Like the
leaders of other Jaina and non-Jaina reform movements, its members mainly
belonged to a small intellectual elite, supported by some wealthy reform-minded
merchants. The Digambara population of the area, however, in the majority
consisted of illiterate or poorly educated agriculturists, with their educational and
economic standard differing from Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras in North and West
India. In this respect, a case study of the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā is suitable for
illustrating the general features the association shared with other Jaina and to some
extent also non-Jaina organisations founded at the end of the 19th century, as well

60
The practice of caste among Jainas will be discussed later in this chapter.

75
as the organisation’s specific features, caused by its individual historical and
regional context. The example of the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā during the first
decades after its establishment intends to explore how successfully its leaders’
reformist ideas were put into practice. As will be argued, social reform has met
only with very limited success, while the association mainly contributed to the
establishment of the concept of a more universal supra-regional and supra-local
collective Digambara identity. This conceptualisation did not `replace´ regional,
sectarian and caste-based forms of collective identities. However, by introducing
broader concepts of community among Digambara Jainas, irrespective of caste and
region, the terms `Digambara´ and `Jaina´ developed into important identity
markers.
The following section will generally introduce the first efforts at organisation and
reform among Jainas of different regions and sects.

First Efforts at Organising and Reforming the Jainas

Much has been written about modern Hindu reform movements, such as the
Brahmo Samāj, the earliest of its kind, founded by Rammohun Roy at colonial
Calcutta in 1828. 61 The impact of the British colonial system on young Bengalis,
and the emergence of a new class of Western-educated young intellectuals,
popularly placed under the phrase `Bengal Renaissance´ has also been discussed at
length by Indian and Western historians, 62 and shall not be repeated here. The
interaction between the Indian elite and Western agents has naturally been neither
restricted to Bengal, nor to Hindus.
When it comes to reformist activities among intellectual Jainas, however,
information is rare. A main reason for this has already been mentioned. As a tiny
minority, Jainas were distributed over the whole territory of British India and the
Native States. Though regional centres with a higher Jaina percentage of population

61
Among the richness of sources about the Brahmo Samāj and its leading members, see, for
instance: Damen (1983); Jones (1989: 30-39); Killingley (1993); Kopf (1979); Lavan (1981);
Pankratz (2001); Robertson (1999).
62
See, for instance: Jones (1989); Kopf (1969); Poddar (1970; 1977).

76
did exist, unlike Hindus and Sikhs, Jainas nowhere formed a numerically influential
part of the population. Nevertheless, Jainas naturally did not remain aloof from the
cultural, intellectual and political developments which prompted the emergence of a
new definition of `identity´ and `belonging´ along religious lines. The Jaina
discourse and its means of communication generally shared its main features with
the discourse among leaders of other newly defined religious communities. First of
all, like other modern religious reform movements, the first Jaina organisations
were founded and led by a small intellectual elite. Their early apologetic writings
were addressed to Westerners and Western-educated Indians, who could
communicate in English.
Among the important Jaina lay leaders of the early 20th century, lawyers played
an influential role. They had been among the first Jainas who had taken to
university education and had not only a profound knowledge of the English
language, but had, in some cases, also spent some time abroad in Europe and North
America. From the 1880s onwards, the first modern Jaina organisations came into
existence at urban centres. Most of these associations, in their structure largely
influenced by the model of modern Western organisations, were exclusively meant
for members of one specific caste and their influence was confined to one locality.
Some others, however, aimed at representing all Jainas of one specific sect. In this
regard, in 1893 the Bhāratavarṣīya Digambara Jain Mahāsabhā was founded at
Mathura. The image-worshipping branch of the Śvetāmbaras followed suit and
established the Jain Śvetāmbara Conference at Bombay in 1902. The Śthānakvāsī,
finally, founded a nationwide lay organisation, the Akhil Bhāratavarṣīya
Śvetāmbara Sthānakvāsī Jain Conference, at Morvi, Gujarat, in the year 1906. 63
Though formed along sectarian lines, cooperation among the different Jaina sects
was set as a desirable goal by all three organisations. A step in this direction had
already been taken in 1895 by the formation of the Jain Young Mens’ Association
by young intellectuals of different Jaina branches. It is important to see these
organisations, and especially the newspapers which, in vernacular languages and in
63
For more information about nationwide Jaina organisations, see: Farquhar (1999: 329-335);
Lewis (2001: 366); Wiley (2006: 41-42).

77
English, were published by them, as an important public platform for lay Jaina
leaders and reformers. The spread of printing presses in India during the 19th
century had not merely contributed to the rising production of books and
pamphlets. With the emergence of the mass media in the form of newspapers and
magazines it had also provided a powerful public forum for the discourse among
the Indian intellectual elite. From the end of the 19th century onwards, `community
newspapers´ served as the organ for lay leaders among the different religious
traditions. Newly established Jaina associations followed the example of other
modern organisations and started publishing magazines, such as the Hindi Jain
Gazette (Bhāratavarṣīya Digambara Jain Mahāsabhā) and Jain Mitra (published by
the Bombay Digambara Jain Sabhā, established in 1895). Some vernacular Jaina
newspapers were also published by individuals, such as the Marathi monthly Jain
Bodhak published at Solapur by the Digambara merchant Seth Hirachand
Nemichand Doshi (1856-1938), or the Urdu monthly Jain Pracharaka and the
Hindi Jain Pradipa published at Devaband (Uttar Pradesh) by Babu Jyotirasadaji
Jain (1882-1937). 64
Among Jaina periodicals, The Jaina Gazette, established as the English
mouthpiece of the Jain Young Mens’ Association, provides an especially
interesting insight into the reform goals and mindset of progressive intellectual
Jainas at the beginning of the 20th century. The Jain Young Mens’ Association,
whose name was changed into Bhārat Jain Mahā Mandal (`All India Jain
Association´) in 1910, was the public forum for progressive Western-educated lay
Jainas. The different volumes of The Jaina Gazette, published from the year 1900
for several decades up to the time after independence, contained sophisticated and
popular articles about Jaina doctrine, philosophy and history, as well as appeals to
their readers for social reform and the raising of educational standards, especially
regarding English education, among Jainas. The publishers considered the motto
`unity is strength´ important, as it was seen as the only way to gather political and
social influence, and ensure the survival of the Jainas as a community. Therefore,

64
For more information about the first Jaina periodicals, see: Farquhar 1999: 330; Lewis 2001:
367-368; Sangave 2001: 62; Wiley 2006: 41-42.

78
publishing of articles which could offend the members of other sectarian divisions
was condemned, and cooperation between all Jaina groups became the maxim of
the Jain Young Mens’ Association. 65 Right from its beginning, The Jaina Gazette’s
direct impact was naturally confined to a small circle of Western-educated
progressive Jainas. Since it was this group which produced most of the reformist
Jaina leaders who tried to reform and define Jainism, The Jaina Gazette provides
important source material for an analysis of the late 19th/ early 20th century Jaina
identity discourse.
One important reform movement started at the end of the 19th century, which
finds some documentation in various issues of The Jaina Gazette, was the
movement for the printing and translating of religious scriptures. The interest of
Western scholars in the rich literary heritage of Indian religious traditions had its
impact on Indian intellectuals, who welcomed the Western scholars’ approach to
make religious scriptures also accessible for lay men and the general (literate)
public. Among the Jainas, some liberal minded Śvetāmbara ascetics and reformist
lay men started to collect ancient literature for printing and preservation. This
undertaking was opposed by more conservative Jainas, who feared the pollution of
their sacred scriptures through contact with non-vegetarians and objected to the use
of printing presses for religious reasons. 66 Furthermore, many Jainas considered
religious manuscripts objects of worship rather than study. This ritualistic approach
to the scriptures made the task of collecting and printing religious texts a difficult
one. The so-called Śāstra-mudrāṇa virodhī āndolana (`Anti-Scripture-Printing
Movement´) was led by traditional Jaina scholars and was also supported by the
main organisation of the Digambaras in North India, the Bhāratavarṣīya Digambara
Jain Mahāsabhā based at Mathura (Sangave 2001: 62). The Jaina Gazette, however,
represented a forum for the supporters of printing and publishing of religious

65
See: “Annual Report of the Jain Young Men’s Association of India now called Bharat Jain
Maha Mandal for the Year 1909 (Read at Jaipur Anniversary in Hindi on 22nd January 1910).” In:
The Jaina Gazette, Vol.VI, No. 6 and 7, February and March 1910: 1-5.
66
Since the use of printing presses was considered harmful for microorganisms, the process of
printing violated the Jaina principle of ahiṃsā, non-hurting towards every living being.

79
scriptures. In 1910, the reformist Jaina activist, Ajit Prasad, for some time editor of
The Jaina Gazette, used the magazine to make the following appeal:
Hundreds and thousands of our Shastras are, as a matter of fact […]
locked away, buried down, encased in dark, dreary holes […] and there
they lie, rot and are every moment being transformed into the excreta of
those forms of life which live on paper and Tar-patra. While this speedy
destruction of our sources of right knowledge, our springs of divine
inspiration, is proceeding apace, we Jains strut proudly and feel
glorified in our high deeds of religious merit in forced fastings and
shows of wealth and pomp. It is high time that we should know better,
and turn our attention to acts nobler and higher (1910: 9). 67

The example of the controversy about the printing of religious scriptures

demonstrates that among the members of the newly founded Jaina organisations
there was no uniform approach to reform. Although the structure of these Jaina
associations was largely influenced by Western models of organisations, the
opinions of the individual members regarding social and religious reform varied,
and some organisations were more conservative or progressive than others.
Referring back to the progressive fraction’s campaigns for the translation and
publication of religious scriptures, reformers not only criticised the physical neglect
of the Jaina scriptures, but also the Jainas’ indifference towards Jaina studies. For
this purpose, the achievements of Western scholars were praised and set into sharp
contrast with the alleged ignorance and lack of interest prevailing among Jainas.
Naturally, Jaina reformers did not act within a cultural vacuum, uninfluenced by
developments taking place around them. While efforts were made to reform and
strengthen the Jainas as a community, activities among Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh
groups caught the special attention of intellectual Jainas. As mentioned in chapter
two, the `tale of the declining Jaina community´ had a profound impact on
members of the intellectual Jaina elite. What had to be done? One answer to this
question was provided by a comparison with other religious groups: “Look to other
communities. They have done much for the salvation of their religion. […] But we
Jains have done nothing in this direction, and have lagged far behind in this

67
Further information about the movement for the preservation and printing of Jaina scriptures is
given in: Chand (1911: 1-44; 55-61); Flügel (2005: 5); Lewis (2001: 367-368); Sangave (2001:
70).

80
progressive age” (Kesraichand 1910: 2). What others, with Western help, had
achieved, and what Jaina reformers considered crucial for the “progressive age”
(Kesraichand 1910: 2), is further explained in the article “To adopt means to spread
our principle of Ahinsa, and to bring non-Jains into the fold of Jainism”, published
in The Jaina Gazette in 1910. Since I regard it as of special importance for the Jaina
discourse, it will be cited in detail:
In this age of materialistic tendencies, it is very difficult to find out
means for the spread of Religion. But fortunately for us, this difficulty
has been almost solved by the Theosophical Society. It has done much
for the regeneration of all religions in general and Hinduism in
particular. During the short space of three decades, the Society has
worked wonders and has branches established all over the world. This
is a living example of what patience and system can do.
But this became possible only when the educated took it into their head,
with every reverence for Hinduism, to study it, to expound the
principles on modern system and to put their labour of several years’
deep study, within the easy reach of all. But the Western scholars had to
pioneer the reform. They paved the way and others followed.
I think we shall have to do nearly the same. We shall have to look to the
help of the Western scholars for the systematic expounding of our
religious principles to suit the requirements of the modern educated
Jains, and then we shall be able to stand on our own legs.
The condition of our religion is simply pitiable at present. We cannot
find a single scholar amongst us […] who can uphold the cause of
Jainism and keep its prestige in these changed times (Kesraichand
1910: 3).

What the Jainas, according to this statement, lacked most, were scholars, who not
only studied the Jaina texts in depth, but, more importantly, could explain the Jaina
principles within the context of modernity, and therefore show their relevance for
the modern world. The first step in this direction had been accomplished by
translations of ancient texts into English and some Indian vernacular languages.
However, it was felt that more was needed. The task of explaining the Jaina
principles to Western-educated Jainas and non-Jainas was taken over by some
progressive Jaina intellectuals who composed the first apologetic writings in
English and delivered speeches to a Western or Western-educated audience.

81
 Jainism `Defended´ and `Defined´ from Within

The first of these speeches was not only delivered in front of a Western audience,
but in the West itself, when the Gujarati-born Śvetāmbara lawyer Virchand R.
Gandhi (1864-1901) represented Jainism at the World’s Parliament of Religions
held at Chicago in 1893. Gandhi was a lay scholar of Jainism, had received a
degree from Elphinstone College, Bombay, and had been appointed the first
honorary secretary of the Jain Association of India in 1885. Originally, the
Śvetāmbara ascetic leader and scholar Vijayānandasūri (1837-1896), known by
Western scholars because of his willingness to support their academic studies of
Jaina texts, had been invited. Due to his ascetic vows, however, which did not
allow travel by any mechanical conveyance, Vijayānandasūri appointed Gandhi as
a representative. 68 Gandhi, well-versed in Indian as well as Western philosophy,
gave several speeches during the Parliament. Afterwards he followed invitations
from some American theosophical, spiritual and liberal Christian groups, and
delivered further lectures on Jainism and Indian philosophy at different places in
the United States. In the following years, Gandhi visited the United States again
twice, in 1897 and 1899, and established several associations, such as The Gandhi
Philosophical Society and The Society for the Education of Women of India.
During his visit to England, Gandhi delivered further lectures on Jainism and
deeply influenced the English man Herbert Warren, who wrote an explanation of
Jainism, based on Gandhi’s lectures, entitled Jainism in Western Garb, as a
solution to Life’s great Problems.
What was the message, this first `representative of Jainism´ delivered to a
Western audience? First of all, Virchand Gandhi’s speeches echoed the
theosophical and universalistic atmosphere of the Parliament. He introduced
himself “as simply the mouthpiece of Muni Atmaramji [Vijayānandasūri], the
learned high priest of the Jainas in India” (Gandhi 1964: 2), representing “Jainism,
68
In order to answer questions about the Jaina tradition, put to him by the conference organisers,
Vijayānandasūri wrote a book in Hindi, which, in its English translation, got published under the
title The Chicago-Prashnottar (or Questions and Answers on Jainism for the Parliament of
Religions held at Chicago U.S.A. in 1893).

82
a faith older than Buddhism, similar to it in its ethics, but different from it in its
psychology, and professed by a million and a half of India’s most peaceful and law-
abiding citizens” (1964: 1). Along with providing an introduction to Jaina
philosophy and metaphysics, Gandhi’s lectures defined a Jaina as “a follower of
Jina, which is a generic term applied to those persons […] that have conquered the
lower nature - passion, hatred, and the like - and brought into prominence the
highest” (1964: 16). Jainism, Gandhi explained, shared with other Indian traditions
the doctrine of transmigration, which was best fitted to explain suffering in the
world, and which had been the doctrine held in the East and West alike, before the
church of the middle-ages managed to suppress it (1964: 60-61). Jainism, as
presented by Gandhi, was a religious system in harmony with science and reason.
Its philosophical doctrine of anekāntavāda, or the doctrine of many-sidedness,
reconciled different standpoints into one universal truth (1964: 23). God, according
to the Jaina tradition, was no personal being, but spiritual energies, inherent, yet not
fully developed, in every living being. Therefore, Jaina worship was free from
selfishness, “the object” of Jaina prayer “is not to receive anything from that entity
or from that spiritual nature, but to become one like that” (1964: 29). This
`becoming´, however, had to be achieved without any supernatural help, but by the
improvement of someone’s own personality. Dynamic self-improvement, again
according to Gandhi, was the base of Jaina philosophy, for the “Jainas are the
advocates of the development theory; hence their ideal is physical, mental, moral
and spiritual perfection” (1964: 77). Since the goal of highest spiritual perfection
was held by every living being, Jainas paid the highest respect to every life form:
“Live and let live is their guiding principle. Ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ- Non-injury is
the highest religion” (1964: 83).
Virchand Gandhi’s message was positively received among an audience of
intellectuals, who looked to the `mystic East´ for spiritual inspiration and a
universalistic and logical approach to religion. Jainism, according to Gandhi,
offered a scientific system, free from blind belief and based on the principle of
gradual self-perfection and the highest morality.

83
 Although among the Parliament’s Indian delegates Swami Vivekananda and his
interpretation of Vedanta gained the highest prominence, Virchand Gandhi’s
lectures also contributed to the popular idea of India as the ancient home of
spirituality and universal religion. Gandhi’s contribution to the Parliament, as well
as his following lectures and founding activities, were not merely the representation
of Jainism. He came as a delegate of Jainism, but his expositions also revealed him
as deeply influenced by theosophical ideas prevalent among intellectual circles of
his times. Furthermore, Gandhi made it clear that he considered himself not merely
a representative of Jainism, but a representative of India. During the Parliament, he
severely criticised the Reverend George F. Pentecost, who had attacked the alleged
Hindu custom of prostitutes being employed by temples. Hindu society, so Gandhi
argued, was aware of some few doubtful cases and was engaged in abolishing these
practices. The “un-Christian spirit” (1964: 10) of Pentecost’s attack, furthermore,
prompted the following response of Gandhi:
I am glad that no one has dared to attack the religion I represent. It is
well that they should not. But every attack has been directed to the
abuses existing in our society. And I repeat now what I repeat every
day, that these abuses are not from religion, but in spite of religion, as
in every other country. […] If the present abuses in India have been
produced by the Hindu religion, the same religion had the strength of
producing a society which made the Greek historian say: `No Hindu
was ever known to tell an untruth, no Hindu woman ever known to be
unchaste.´ And even in the present day where is there a more chaste
woman or a milder man than in India? (1964: 10-11)

This statement shows Virchand Gandhi as an ardent defender of what he calls “the
Hindu religion” (Gandhi 1964: 11). Although Gandhi seems to distinguish between
Jainism as the religion represented by him, and the Hindu religion attacked by
Pentecost, boundaries between `Hindu´ and `Jaina´ remain fluent and blurred in
Gandhi’s usage. Hindus, Jainas and Buddhists form one society, and it does not
seem to matter to Gandhi, if this society may be called Indian or `Hindu´.
The ambiguity of categories also found its reflection in contemporary American
newspaper articles about Virchand Gandhi, in which he variably was described as
“Hindu philosopher and scholar”, representative of “the Jainist sect”, preacher of
“the universal brotherhood of man”, and “Jain Hindu” (Gandhi 1964: 90-92). This

84
ambiguity, however, will hardly have mattered to Virchand Gandhi himself and his
audience, since the spirit of universal religion, preached by Gandhi, Vivekananda
and others, was meant to transcend any sectarian divisions.
Virchand Gandhi’s exposition of Jainism as a scientific and rational religion had
much in common with the apologetic writings of some other progressive Jainas,
who, like Gandhi, had also attained university degrees and were qualified lawyers.
One of the most active among these young intellectuals was the North Indian
Digambara Jagmander Lal Jaini (1881-1927). Jaini forged an impressive
professional career with degrees from Allahabad and Oxford, was trained as a
Barrister-at-law, and at the time of his death in 1927 held the position of President
of the Legislative Council at Indore. He attained an M.A. degree in English and
from 1904 until 1927 he intermittently acted as editor of The Jaina Gazette. As a
member of the Royal Asiatic Society he engaged himself in the translation and
publication of several ancient Jaina texts. Jaini’s activities as author and publisher
also included some English works about Jainism, such as his Outlines of Jainism,
published by Cambridge University Press in 1916, and Jaina Law, published in the
same year. In 1909, he established the Jaina Literature Society, London, with
Herbert Warren as secretary, followed by an association called Mahavira
Brotherhood or Universal Fraternity founded in London in 1913. Given the
universalistic outlook of their members, who were attracted to the concepts of
vegetarianism, progress and universal religion, Peter Flügel is right when he
characterises these and later Jaina organisations founded in Europe during the first
half of the 20th century in the following words: “The character of these societies
[…] resembled the Theosophical Societies and it would not be out of place to call
their members `Jain Theosophists´ “(2005: 8).
Although in 1893 at the World’s Parliament of Religions Virchand Gandhi had
been able to declare himself “glad that no one has dared to attack the religion I
represent” (1964: 10), after the publication of Mrs. Sinclair Stevenson’s The Heart
of Jainism in 1915, Jagmander Lal Jaini certainly could not. In 1925, Jaini
published a fierce review of Stevenson’s work. His defence of Jainism is an
interesting source, for it provides us with Jaini’s main concepts about Jainism as a

85
religious system, which, in his opinion, was misunderstood by Stevenson and other
Westerners. According to The Heart of Jainism, the Jaina tradition was `ritual´
rather than `religion´, leaving its followers spiritually unsatisfied, and was
unsuitable for the needs of modern men:
The more one studies Jainism, the more one is struck with the pathos of
its empty heart. […]
The younger Jainas are worried by the old ascetic ideal that is placed
before them. They feel, even when they can hardly express it, that the
ideal needed for modern life is the development, not the negation, of
personality; they are also increasingly bewildered by the conflict
between modern science and their own faith. […]
But it is when talking to the older men and women that one realizes
most how restless and dissatisfied they are at heart, since the ideal their
religion offers them is a ritual rather than a personal holiness
(Stevenson 1915: 289-290).

These Western stereotypes of Jainism as a ritualistic, life-negating tradition, in

which any kind of change or development of an individual’s personality had no
room, were strictly opposed by Jaini. According to him, Jainism did not lack in any
Christian values, but, on the other hand “[t]he Jainas have already got what Christ
gave as his teachings. But the Mammon and Mars-mad followers of Christ need to
understand and follow the noble doctrines of ahimsa and daya” (Jagmander Lal
Jaini 1925: 42). Regarding the assumed conflict between science and the Jaina
religion, Jaini remarks:
Once again science is everyday pushing back the secular history of
India, unearthing the past-glories of many a civilized Empire, the very
fact of which lies unread in the oblivious bosom of the past. I for one
am not afraid of science knowing Jainism. I fear rather that the
custodians of Jaina truth will keep it from Science and thus delay the
progress of Science and happiness of Humanity (1925: 45).

Social and religious decline did not have its roots in Jainism itself, but was part of
the general “national […] decline” India had been suffering (1925: 50). But, on the
whole, the Jainas were “still remarkable for their sober, law-abiding, peaceful and
prosperous lives” (1925: 3).
Jaini’s review is worth citing, for his argumentation has much in common with the
writings of other Jaina reformers of his time, and in some aspects is still used today.

86
Confronted with the attacks of Christian missionaries, the reaction of Jaina
apologetic writers, like Jaini, resembled those of Hindu leaders. Their own religious
tradition was presented as compatible with the Christian teachings, or as superior to
Christianity.
The already cited North Indian Digambara Champat Rai Jain, like Jaini a
Barrister-at-Law, and an ardent Jaina reformer, aimed to show in his various
English works the basic unity of all religions. But he did not stop there. According
to him, among all religions, Jainism held the most superior position, since it was the
only rational and scientific tradition which did not use allegories and therefore did
not need interpretation: “As a matter of fact, the Creed of the Tirthamkaras
furnishes the only platform where all other creeds may meet and be reconciled to
one another” (Champat Rai Jain 1928: 429). From the 19th century onwards the
conflict between traditional religion and modern science had become an important
topic. Theosophists and Unitarians rejected religious myths, superstitions and
empty rituals, considering the real essence of religion compatible with reason and
science. The proof of the scientific validity of their own religious tradition,
therefore, became an urgent need for Indian religious reformers. When Champat
Rai Jain praised Jainism as the religion which was best suited for modern times, he
appealed to the perfect compatibility between Jainism, science and reason:
Most of the religions of the world, however, have only dogma and myth
to offer, in place of the scientific thought, which alone can satisfy the
demands of reason, and from which alone can flow the desired good,
under all circumstances. Jainism differs from all other religions, in so
far as it is a perfectly accurate, definite and exact science, free from
misty and mystic ritual, unholy superstition and fear-engendering
devotion. It does not ask its devotee to accept its teaching on the
authority of anything other than Reason, and invites all to understand
the nature of the subject before pinning their faith on it (1950: 5).

Since men did not owe their existence to a creator god, the Jaina religion had not
been founded by a divine act of revelation: “In Jainism alone will the seeker find a
complete answer […]. Religion is founded by MAN. It is a perfect science”
(Champat Rai Jain 1929: V). When Christian missionaries, Theosophists or
Unitarians objected to Jainism for its alleged atheism and idol-worship, the

87
argument of the man-made religion could also be used in defence. In a lecture given
in 1901, Lala Benarsi Dass, headmaster of Victoria College, Lashkar (Gwalior),
had already remarked:
Our God is the highest being, the highest standard for our copy, the
highest ideal for our imitation. And that God is our own soul after it has
attained Nirvana. […] Those men greatly err who call us Nastikas
[`atheists´]. Certainly they are wrong, totally wrong. […] We believe in
God (1902: 57-58).

The images in Jaina temples did not symbolise any supernatural beings, but human
beings, who had attained perfection. Therefore their worship was not, according to
Dass and other Jaina writers after him, idol-worship, but “ideal-worship” (Dass
1902: 72). Not the idol was the object of worship, the ideal of meditation,
represented by the statues, was the focus of veneration. Dass’s argumentation
against Jainism being an atheistic system, in which human beings were the centre
of worship, is still frequently used today. 69 While the need to put one’s own
religious tradition on the same level with Christianity, or show its superiority to the
latter seems not to be felt anymore, the compatibility between Jainism, reason and
science, however, interestingly still dominates Jaina accounts of their tradition.70
Since Virchand Gandhi had called the Jainas “India’s most peaceful and law-
abiding citizens” (1964: 1), the picture of the Jainas as a very small, but
nevertheless important community has been painted by several Jaina leaders. As
“sober, law-abiding, peaceful and prosperous” (Jagmander Lal Jaini 1925: 3), the
Jainas were of substantial importance for the national welfare. Although only a very
small minority, the Jainas’ influence in economics and business was profound.
Besides being an important factor in the economic progress of the country, Jainas
were also portrayed as morally advanced, loyal and law-abiding citizens. To

69
Many educated lay Jainas interviewed during field research in Karnataka and Maharashtra
argued in a similar way.
70
The main emphasis is placed on newly discovered physical laws already being expressed in the
teachings of the Tīrthaṅkaras. Regarding ethics and practice, vegetarianism is praised as the
healthiest diet. These arguments were frequently recounted by Jaina lay followers as well as
ascetics (without a direct request for their opinion about the compatibility of Jainism and science)
during field research, and are also found in several popular books about Jainism. See, for example:
Mardia (2002); Parikh (2002); Upādhyāya Muniśrī Kāmakumār Nandī (no date).

88
underpin this, the South Maharashtrian Digambara Annasaheb Latthe (1878-1950),
who was to make an impressive political career and as a leading member of the
Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā will be further introduced later in this chapter, in his An
Introduction to Jainism, first published in 1905, cited the proportion of prisoners in
jail for the year 1891. According to him, “the proportion of jail-going population is
a good index to the moral condition of a community” (Latthe1964:35). Since the
statistics showed the lowest proportion of prisoners out of the main religious
communities among Jainas, he concluded “that the Jains stand highest in morality”
(1964: 36).
But, according to the Jaina leaders, Jainism had more to offer than followers with
high morals, who worked hard for the progress of the Indian economy. In an
academic surrounding, in which antiquity was considered equal to originality, the
historical proof of Jainism’s great antiquity became an important topic. As
mentioned in chapter two, orientalist works, especially Hermann Jacobi’s, were
used to demonstrate the historicity of the 23rd and 24th Tīrthaṅkaras and, at the same
time, to establish the independence of Jainism from Buddhism. Therefore, the
Jainas could claim their tradition to be one of the oldest indigenous Indian
religions, which made them one of the most ancient religious communities in India.
From the first half of the 19th century onwards, legal cases have taken place in
which Jainas tried to enforce a particular `Jaina Law´ for Jainas. Since several Jaina
leaders, such as Jagmander Lal Jaini and Champat Rai Jain, were lawyers by
profession, the independent religious status of Jainism, according to their opinion,
also included a separate `Jaina law´, distinct from the Anglo-Hindu law, codified
through the efforts of the British administration. What Jaina reformers claimed to
be a uniform law, accepted by all Jainas, was more a collection of local traditions,
mostly dealing with customs of inheritance and adoption. Nevertheless, Jaina
reformers aimed at compiling and enforcing a unified Jaina law, to further unite the
Jainas. 71 To support their cause, the distinctness of Jainism as a separate religious
tradition, as established by Jacobi and others, was stressed.

71
For the Jaina leaders’ efforts to create an independent Jaina law, see: Flügel (2007).

89
 But when Champat Rai Jain, as cited at the beginning of this chapter, presented
the Jainas not only as a separate community, but also as a homogeneous group with
“one doctrine, one religion, one culture”, therefore forming “one community”
(1941: 20), the declaration was rather far from reality. This becomes clear when the
Jaina leaders’ strenuous efforts for unity and cooperation between different Jaina
sectarian divisions, and within these divisions between different Jaina castes, are
studied. The various issues of The Jaina Gazette give testimony to the rather
uncooperative attitudes among different Jaina sects, whose members were criticised
for wasting their time, money and energy arguing with each other. 72 Regarding
caste exclusivism, prevalent among Jainas regardless of their sect, the practiced ban
on intermarriage was considered a possible reason for the alleged numerical decline
of the Jaina population 73 and a hindrance to the gaining of political influence
The issue of caste among the Jainas of the 19th and early 20th century will be
further discussed later in this chapter. Here, it is important to note that progressive
Jaina reformers considered a lack of unity, as well as of a central, nationwide
authorative body, the main obstacle for the gaining of a political voice and the
securing of their own interests. In this regard, the achievements of other religious
communities were repeatedly praised in The Jaina Gazette. In an article called
“Jainism at stake”, published in 1930, the author Anant Pershad Jain defines the
missing of an active central religious organisation as the “greatest drawback”
(1930: 81) of the Jainas, who he compares with the Ārya and Brahmo Samāj. Both
organisations, according to Jain, had not only successfully made converts, spread
around the country and gained political influence, but had “regained the lost power
and prestige of their forefathers” (1930: 82). All this, Anant Pershad Jain
concludes, had been possible within a rather short period through good organisation
and cooperation (1930: 82).
The Ārya Samāj was mentioned several times in The Jaina Gazette, and its
members’ achievements were praised as significantly greater than that of the Jainas.
A short notice in 1930, for instance, reported that at the celebration of the

72
See, for instance: Hakemchand (1910).
73
See: Latthe (1912: 39-43).

90
anniversary of an Ārya Samāj educational institution, the sum of 150 000 rupees
had been collected. In contrast to this, according to the short note, Jainas spent
many thousands of rupees for what reformers regarded as `unnecessary´ activities,
like pompous religious processions and excessive temple building. At the same
time, however, the Jainas proved to be unable (or rather unwilling) to support a
Jaina high school. 74 This notice reflects the general tendency among progressive
Western-educated lay leaders to regard the `progress´ of their respective religious
community through social reform and education as much more important than the
performance of expensive public demonstrations of religion.
Regarding other Indian religious communities, not only the efforts of Ārya
Samājis are praised, but also Sikhs and Buddhists gain a positive entry in The Jaina
Gazette, and are shown as examples for excellent organisation and administration
of their religious institutions and funds. While the Jainas, according to Ajit Prasad,
failed to take care of their old and precious temples, the efforts of the Buddhist
Mahabodhi Society had led to the erection of a Buddhist temple at the historical
place of Sarnath (near Benares). 75 “Will the Jains”, as stated in Prasad’s final
appeal, “think of establishing a committee like the Shiromani Gurudwara
Prabandhak Committee of the Sikhs and carry through the Indian Parliament a Bill
like the Sikh Gurudwara Act?” (Prasad 1931: 210).
The dilemma, in the eyes of progressive Jaina reformers, can best be described
like this. Although Jainism, due to the works of Western orientalists, had been
academically established as not only an independent, but also one of the oldest
indigenous Indian religions, a lack of unity and activity on the part of the Jainas
prevented them from gaining political power and influence. Though their religion,
as popularly presented by men such as Jagmander Lal Jaini or Champat Rai Jain,
was based on perfect science and the highest ideals of morality, which made it
ideally suited for modern times, Jainas were declining in numbers, while religious

74
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XXVI, No.12, December 1930: 253.
75
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha attained spiritual enlightenment while meditating
under a Bodhi tree in an area which later became Sarnath.

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organisations such as the Ārya Samāj proved to be very successful in attracting new
members.
What progressive lay Jaina leaders, however, through their discourse in apologetic
writings and speeches, had achieved, was a definition of the Jaina tradition which
was very much in line with popular Western intellectual concepts of their time. The
focus on non-violence, vegetarianism, spiritual self-perfection, rationality and
universalism attracted some Western intellectuals, such as the already mentioned
Herbert Warren, and F.W. Thomas, Sanskrit professor at Oxford. Outside some
small intellectual circles, whose members, in Peter Flügel’s phrase, can be
described as “Jain Theosophists” (2005: 8), Jainism, however, did not gain any
influence in Europe and North America.
Jainism, as defined by the Western-educated intellectual Jaina leaders of the early
20th century, was a distinct and separate religious system, not only older than
Buddhism, but one of the oldest indigenous Indian religious traditions. As a
community the Jainas, although very small in number, in terms of their economic
success and law-abiding, loyal attitudes, represented an important segment of the
Indian society. As a religious system Jainism was shown to be compatible with
reason as well as modern science. This aspect, combined with the Jainas’ stress on
peace and ahiṃsā, made it, according to the reformers, the perfect universal
religion, best suited for modern times. The following citation of Jagmander Lal
Jaini from 1921 exemplifies the Jaina reformers’ argumentation:
Every body in all the four corners of the globe is groaning against all
the miseries, political, social, economic and of all kinds. Many
remedies are prescribed and tried. But only one can cure, and that
always comes from Jainism. America saves herself from ruin by going
dry: Jainism has taught the strictest abstinence from all intoxicants for
thousands of years. India is to be led. M. Gandhi rises to lead it in a
most difficult stage; he charms all hostility into silence, or inactivity.
What makes him so harmless and so exempt from the hostility of all?
His non-violence or ahimsa, which is the first step and a sine qua non
of the life, thought, speech and action of all rational beings according to
Jainism. Let the world read its riddle and misery in the light of the mere
A.B.C. of Jainism in an unprejudiced attitude of sympathy and faith;
and it will at once find the cleanest, clearest solution to its riddle and
cure for its misery (1921: 304).

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It will be seen in course of this thesis, how the early Jaina reformers’ definition of
Jainism has been carried on in the Jaina discourse up to the present day.
Here, however, the question remains: how did Jaina reformers define the Jainas
as a community in their relationship to the Hindu majority? It has been shown that
many Jainas used to regard themselves and were regarded by others as Hindus in
the census takings, which alarmed reformers who feared the extinction of the
Jainas. The aim of the reformers, then, was to show that Jainism was not a heretical
branch of Hinduism, but “a quintessential Indian religion that preserved the most
valuable aspects of ancient Indian culture” (Brekke 2002: 144). These “most
valuable aspects” were mainly seen in the Jaina principle of ahiṃsā and, related to
it, the habit of vegetarianism, found also among non-Jaina Indians. In this regard,
the already cited Lala Benarsi Dass in 1901 provided a quite original definition of
the term `Hindu´:
Gentleman, remember we are Hindus. We are the descendants of those
who were Hindus or from whom him or himsa was du or dur, i.e., away;
(him= himsa and du= dur, i.e., away.) Hindus were not those who
originally lived on the banks of the river Indus. Hindus were those from
whom himsa was away (1902: 75).

According to this definition, Jainas were the `real´ Hindus. Without going as far as
Dass did in this statement, Jainism, in the argumentation of Jaina reformers,
represented the `purest´ and `best´ of ancient Indian culture. Rather than emphasise
the differences between Jainas and Hindus, Jaina leaders stressed the original
`Indianness´ of their tradition and the cultural contribution it had made to the whole
Indian society. In this way, Jainas and Hindus could be seen as sharing the same
cultural heritage, while at the same time the originality and independence of the
Jaina tradition could be postulated.
This independence, however, did not, in the eyes of most lay Jaina leaders, find its
right expression when it came to official recognition. Issues of The Jaina Gazette
from the year 1921 document the reformist Jainas’ protests about Dr.H.S. Gour’s
so-called `Hindu Code´, compiled on commission of the Government, in which
Jainas were included under `Hindu Law´. In a lengthy article protesting against the
`Hindu Code´, Jagmander Lal Jaini tried to define the word `Jaina´:

93
 A Jaina is a man who believes that the soul of man or any living being
can, by proper training etc., become omniscient like the soul of the
Jina, Conqueror of all passions; that the world consists of six eternal,
uncreated, indestructible substances; and that the path to eternal
freedom lies along the triple road of right belief, right knowledge and
right conduct as disclosed in the Jaina sacred books, in accordance with
the tradition of Lord Mahavira. This is the essential minimum. If a man
falls short of this, whoever he may be, he is not a Jaina (1921: 299).

This definition merely focuses on belief and leaves aspects of practice, such as
rituals etc., completely aside. In this context, a Jaina could only be distinguished as
such if he stated his personal belief to be in accordance with the Jaina teachings
stated by Jaini. How, then, would the relationship between `Hindu´ and `Jaina´ be
defined?
If a Hindu be defined as one born in India, or at the best one born in
India and who was not a Mahomedan or Christian by birth then
certainly every Jaina is a Hindu.- Some say Hindu is one from whom
injury (Him-sa) is removed (Du-r). If this is so, only Jainas are the first
and best Hindus; whereas meat eating, hunting Hindus will not be
Hindus at all. Others say,-a Hindu is one who owes allegiance to the
Vedas or the Brahman. There again Jainas are not Hindus.
Really it is an idle and futile problem. It all depends on what you
mean by a Hindu. Let the Hindus agree upon one universal definition of
a Hindu, and then it would be easy to answer the question whether a
Jaina is a Hindu (Jagmander Lal Jaini 1921: 299).

In Jaini’s conclusion, this lack of a valid definition for `Hindu´ makes `Hinduism´
and `Jainism´ two separate entities: “Why is Hinduism so eager to claim Jainism as
a part of its fold? Hinduism is vague, indefinite, diplomatic here and there. Jainism
is always clear, definite and absolutely uncompromising with error” (1921: 303).
The alleged “clear” and “definite” nature of Jainism nevertheless does not prevent
the boundaries between `Hindu´ and `Jaina´ from being blurred. Jaini certainly
makes a point when he lays the blame for this on the lack of a universally accepted
definition for the term `Hindu´. However, the discourse of Western-educated Jaina
leaders did not help in clarifying the confusion between `Hindu´ and `Jaina´ which
has been carried on in some legal documents and proceedings up to the present day.
In all probability, it was never meant to do so. The apologetics of men such as
Virchand Gandhi, Champat Rai Jain or Jagmander Lal Jaini aimed at showing the

94
timeless and universal spirit of Jainism. In this context, sectarian disputes would
have been rather out of place. While addressing a Western or strongly Westernised
audience, an aggressive construction of boundaries between Jainism and other
traditions was neither in the interest of the authors and narrators, nor their readers
and listeners. What was regarded as more important by reform-minded lay leaders
was the `construction´ of the Jainas as a unified community and “not a bagful of
castes and sects with diversified cultures, conceptions and creeds” (Champat Rai
Jain 1941: 19), as the reformist writer Champat Rai Jain had argued. This uniform
character was largely based on the `imagination´ of the Jaina reformers, and in
actual practice diversity along regional, sectarian and caste-based lines remained.
This `imagination´, however, proved to be significant in the establishment of a
broader form of collective identity, as will be argued in the next section. Here, it is
important to note that while the Jaina reformers’ aims at propagating the concept of
the Jainas as a uniform religious community had much in common with reformist
developments among Hindus, Sikhs and others, the way in which this concept was
constructed was mainly influenced by external circumstances and the individuals
leading the dominant discourse. As was shown in this section, the dominant Jaina
identity discourse was led by intellectuals whose religious outlook was strongly
influenced by theosophical concepts and universalistic ideals of religion. This
discourse focused on the presentation of Jainism as a universal, scientific,
completely rational and tolerant religion, which combined `the best´ Indian
spirituality had to offer, and showed Jainism as a tradition which was best suited for
modern times. It did not, however, contribute to a clear distinction between
`Jainas´ and `Hindus´, which, as will be discussed in chapter six of this thesis,
would prove problematic in the Jainas’ later campaigns for the official religious
minority status.
In the second part of the present chapter, the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā, a
Digambara reform movement, and its impact on the establishment of a supra-local,
supra-caste-based concept of community among Digambara Jainas will be
discussed.

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 The Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā

Reviving a Jaina `Golden Age´

Those Jain visionaries who were moved by the poor and pitiable
position of the then Jain community were prompted by an ardent desire
to promote the interests of the community. They established the
institution, then called Dakshin Maharashtra Jain Sabha, on 3rd April,
1899, at Shri Kshetra Stavanidhi (Belgaum District, Karnataka State,
India). They had before them the lofty and laudable goal of starting
renaissance in the social, cultural, educational and industrial fields.
There-by they hoped to regain the past glory by rejuvenating and
activating the society towards the achievement of all-round
development (Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā 1993).

The above cited text is taken from a leaflet of the Dakṣiṇ Bhārat Jain Sabhā, 76
published in 1993. It contains several interesting phrases, which make it worth
being cited. The “poor and pitiable position” of the Digambaras of South
Maharashtra and North Karnataka, which desperately required a “renaissance […]
to regain the past glory” (DBJS 1993) strongly resembles the picture of history as it
had been drawn by Hindu reformers before. Here, the approach is similar to the
historical development of what had come to be called Hinduism. A once glorious
past had to be restored by a `renaissance´. One of the first Indian reformers to argue
that `original Hinduism´ as found in the Vedanta, had been free from alleged later
`degradations´ such as polytheism, idol worship and socio-religious practices like
polygamy and satī 77 was the Bengali Brahmin Rammohun Roy. In his translations
and expositions of Shankara’s commentaries on the Vedanta, Roy addressed an
English as well as a Bengali audience. 78 Influenced by Christian Protestant
concepts of an apostolic Christianity which had been corrupted in later times and,

76
Originally called Dakṣiṇ Mahārāṣṭra Jain Sabhā, the organisation changed its name into Dakṣiṇ
Bhārat Jain Sabhā after 1963. In the following, I will use its short form, DBJS, regardless of the
period referred to.
77
The burning of the widow along with her deceased husband’s corpse. The practice of satī,
though popular only among a few high castes, was among the first Indian customs which got
strongly criticised by Westerners and Indian reformers.
78
The English and Bengali editions, however, differed due to the fact that each audience had a
different social, cultural and religious background.

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eventually, was restored to its former `purity´ by the movement of the
Reformation, 79 he aimed to show “that the superstitious practices which deform the
Hindoo religion have nothing to do with the pure spirit of its [the Vedanta’s]
dictates“ (Roy 1999: 3). The orientalist concept of a once glorious `golden age´ of
Hinduism had an immense impact on Indian intellectuals and reformers such as
Roy. As it had been for him before, social and religious reform remained an
important field in which later reformers aimed to `reconstruct´ an ancient, `glorious
past´. Though less focused on rationality and tolerance as the Brahmo Samāj,
Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s Ārya Samāj, with its belief in the infallibility of the
Veda, was also based on the idea of a later degradation of Hindu religion and
society. This decline, according to Dayanand, had found its expression in the
change from an ancient monotheism to the polytheism of `popular Hinduism´. This
`popular Hinduism´ brought along practices such as idol-worship, child marriages,
the ban on widow remarriage, the system of caste hierarchy with the superiority of
Brahmans and the concept of untouchability. Only their removal, combined with a
stress on (mainly religious) education, open for all, irrespective of caste and gender,
could safeguard the reconstruction of the ancient glory. 80
The idealisation of an alleged glorious past, however, did not stay confined to
Hindu reformers. The establishment of the concept of a distinct Sikh identity also
largely depended on the `re-writing´ of Sikh history by highlighting a period of
`religious purity´ and a martial spirit, which had allegedly degraded into the
`Hinduisation´ of Sikh rituals, customs and beliefs, and a loss of political
influence. 81 While Hindu reformers differentiated between a `glorious original
Hinduism´ and a `degraded popular Hinduism´, radical Sikh leaders considered the

79
Niranjan Dhar cites a statement of Roy, made in conversation with the Scottish missionary
Reverend Alexander Duff: “`As a youth I acquired the knowledge of the English language. Having
read about the rise and progress of Christianity in appostolic [sic] times, and its corruption in
succeeding ages, and then of the Christian Reformation which shook off those corruptions and
restored it to its primitive purity, I begin to think that something similar might have taken place in
India, and similar results might follow from a reformation of popular idolatry […]´”(Rammohun
Roy, cited in: Dhar 1977: 42).
80
For a detailed discussion of Dayanand Saraswati’s concept of a `golden Vedic age´, its decline
and the proposed way to its reconstruction, see: Jones (1976: 30-50).
81
The `re-writing´ of Sikh history is discussed in: Oberoi (1994: 303-377).

97
Sikhs of the 19th century a `degraded and weakened community´. Blurred or often
non-existent boundaries between `Hindu´ and `Sikh´ customs, rituals and beliefs
were interpreted as `a backfall´ into Hinduism. In this regard, the `re-writing´ of
Sikh history focused on the establishment of fundamental differences between
Hinduism and Sikhism and the `purification´ of Sikhism and the Sikhs from Hindu
elements, practices, customs and beliefs. Harjot Oberoi, while discussing the
concepts and activities of radical Sikh reformers, uses the phrase of “Sikhizing the
Sikhs” (1994: 306).
When we return to the leaflet of the DBJS and the organisation’s stated goal of re-
establishing “the past glory” (DBJS 1993), we have to ask several questions: how
was this `past glory´ imagined; how was it to be regained; and, finally, did the
`regaining of the past glory´ involve something similar to the `Sikhising´ movement
among the Sikhs, a kind of `Jainising the Jainas´?
First of all, the concept of a `golden age´ had its impact on Jaina intellectuals, as it
had had on Hindus and Sikhs. The nature of this `Jaina golden age´, however, lay
somewhere in between the Hindu and the Sikh concept. The `golden age´ of
Hinduism was seen in a mythic, remote, ancient past, and heavily relied on the re-
interpretation of the Veda and Vedanta, in order to `harmonise´ the ancient texts
with concepts of modernity. In the case of radical Sikh leaders, re-interpretation
and `re-writing´ of history played a crucial part in the construction of a golden age.
To foster a uniform Sikh identity, the ideal of the khālsā, a kind of martial religious
order, established by the last Sikh Guru Gobind Singh at the end of the 17th century,
was propagated as the pure embodiment of Sikhism. The stress on the keeping of
the so-called five k’s, outward symbols, 82 and a martial spirit was popularised
through stories of martyrs who allegedly had died for the keeping of the symbols
(Oberoi 1994: 329-334). “Sikhizing the Sikhs” (Oberoi 1994: 306) for radical
reformers meant the adoption of the khālsā symbols and rituals by everybody who
wanted to call himself a Sikh, as well as the `purification´ of the `Sikh community´
from alleged Hindu practices and beliefs. The `golden age´, in this regard,
82
Most prominent among these five symbols, which, in the Punjabi language, all start with the
letter `k´, are unshorn hair (covered by a turban) and beard, which make (adult) male Sikhs easily
identifiable as Sikhs.

98
comprised a recent time (compared with the distant past of the `Vedic golden age´
of Hindu reformers), though strenuous re-interpretation and re-writing on the part
of the reformers were needed to postulate the picture of a pure and idealised
Sikhism embodied in Guru Gobind’s khālsā .
When Jaina reformers used the phrase of a “past glory” (DBJS 1993), they
referred to a time, when Jainas had “produced rulers, kings and emperors.” 83 These
Jaina rulers, according to Annasaheb Latthe, “are celebrated in ancient history”
(Latthe 1964: 73). Apart from wielding substantial political power, the former
influence of Jainas had also reached into other fields: “They [the Jainas] have made
great and indelible contributions to the all-round development of the Indian Nation,
in the fields of art, culture, literature, architecture, philosophy, trade and industry”
(DBJS 1993).
This `golden age´, in which Jainas had contributed to all fields of Indian life, had
been reconstructed mainly due to the British administrators’ efforts to preserve,
collect, systematise and analyse the relics of the past. While Jaina religious and
secular literature was `rediscovered´, translated and published by Western
orientalists, archaeological findings established a rich Jaina heritage with a
multitude of ancient temples, statues and epigraphical material, which seemed to
suggest, that both the number and the influence of Jainas in parts of India had been
much greater from the first centuries CE until the medieval time, than in the 19th
century.
Especially the reconstruction of the history of Karnataka revealed a rich Jaina
heritage, not only in art and architecture, but also in the development of literature in
the local language, Kannada. The Jaina history of Karnataka started to be
systematically explored from the second half of the 19th century onwards. In 1879
Lewis Rice published the Mysore Inscriptions, a volume with translations of
ancient inscriptions, collected in several parts of Mysore State. 84 In 1888 an
Archaelogical Department was formed under him. His Sravana Belgola
Inscriptions, published in 1889, consisted of 144 Jaina inscriptions from Shravana
83
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol XIX, No.11, November 1923: 272.
84
Mysore State consisted not only of Mysore District, but several of the present districts of
Karnataka, among them the Bangalore, Tumkur and Hassan Districts.

99
Belgola and created much interest in academic circles. Up to 1906 nearly 9 000
inscriptions and their translations were published in the various volumes of the
Epigraphica Carnatica. In 1909 Rice published a summary of his epigraphical
works entitled Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions. 85 In the Mysore Gazetteer
of 1929 Rice’s accomplishments in throwing light on the history of the Jainas are
praised in the following words:
The Jaina traditions relating to Bhadrabahu and Chandra Gupta have
excited great interest in learned circles. The inscriptions at Sravana
Belgola have established beyond doubt the antiquity of the Jains and
their priority to the Buddhists, while at the same time, they have
furnished new information of the utmost importance regarding Kannada
literature and its antiquity. It is worthy of note that though the Jain sect
is one of the most ancient in India, its discovery should have been first
made in Mysore (Rao 1929: 663).

These archaelogical and historical findings, which established the Jainas not only as
one of the most ancient, but also a formerly influential group with a rich heritage,
were received by Jaina reformers and apologetic writers with the greatest interest.
The `golden period´ of Jainism, which was contrasted with the 19th century Jaina
community’s “poor and pitiable position” (DBJS 1993) was less hidden in a mythic
and ancient past than the `Vedic age´ propagated by Hindu reformers. Nevertheless,
it also relied, to a substantial part, on interpretation. The tendency, to interpret the
past by using contemporary concepts of distinct collective religious identity and
supra-locally, supra-caste-based communities has led Jaina leaders and historians
up to the present day to claim great historical figures and dynasties of the past as
`staunch Jainas´, as well as to make assertions about the numerical strength of the
`Jaina community´ during the medieval times. 86 This tendency, which has not been
restricted to Jaina historians, contributed to the idealisation of a `golden age´.

85
For Lewis Rice and the Archaelogical Survey of Mysore, see: Rao (1929: 660-663).
86
Regarding the question of royal patronage in ancient and medieval India, one has to bear in
mind, that the great majority of rulers did not confine their patronage to one single religious
tradition. Most dynasties patronised several or all influential religious groups residing within their
domain. Political stability and the ruler’s aim to legitimise his authority in many cases
overshadowed his personal religious persuasion. The same individual may in one inscription be
called a pious follower of the Tīrthaṅkaras, while at the same time being praised as a devotee of
Śiva in another. Even more important, since the concept of distinct separate `religious
communities´ did not exist before the 19th century, it is impossible to make any verifiable

100
 Apart from political, cultural and social influence, combined with a greater
numerical strength, the `heyday´ of the Jaina tradition, according to the 19th century
reformers, was also a period of learning and great scholarship. Up to the present
day the strong connection between the history of Kannada literature and language,
and the works of Jaina lay and ascetic scholars of the medieval period has been
cited by Jaina historians to show the high degree of scholarship among Jainas in
earlier times. 87 The South Maharashtrian Jaina scholar Vilas Sangave in his
appraisal of the educational achievements of ancient and medieval Jaina monks
goes as far as stating the Jainas as `the educationists of the common people´:
More than anything else, the role played by the Jain saints in the realm
of learning is supreme. They educated the rising generations from the
rudimentary knowledge […] to the highest levels of literary and
scientific studies. […] It must be said to the credit of the Jain saints that
they took a leading part in the education of the masses. […] Thus in
south India, the Jain saint came to be regarded as a symbol of learning
and passed into the proverb as a scholar par excellence (2001: 201-
202).

Though it is rather doubtful if the use of the phrase “education of the masses”
(Sangave 2001: 201) is appropriate for any historical period before the late 19th
century, Sangave’s message is clear: the `golden age´ of the Jaina tradition was a
period of Jaina scholarship.
The glorious past of the Jaina tradition, as imagined by Jaina reformers and
historians, stood in strong contrast with the “poor and pitiable position” (DBJS
1993) of the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka at the time of
the establishment of the DBJS. As a mainly rural population of agriculturists and
small traders, the Digambaras of the region were, in the majority, economically
poor and hardly educated at all. Especially the lack of education, though not
remarkable given their agricultural background, was seen as a `disgrace´ for the
followers of a religious tradition, which had once been famous for its ascetics’

statements about the numerical strength of the followers of a religious tradition (which, of course
is also rather difficult for other reasons such as missing data, especially regarding the mass of the
population).
87
See, for instance: Sangave (2001: 186-187; 201-203).

101
learning. The biographer of Bhaurao Patil (1887-1959), 88 a South Maharashtrian
Digambara who was to become a leading figure in the education of the masses
during the first decades of the 20th century, portrays the dilemma of Bhaurao’s
grandfather as symbolic for the Jainas of South India in the 19th century. Although
Deogounda Jyotigounda Patil, who acted as manager of the Nandani maṭha, near
Kolhapur, was a highly respected man among whose ancestors were two
bhaṭṭārakas of the same maṭha, he had to admit defeat when he was not able to sign
an official paper with his own name. In this respect, Anjilvel Matthew concludes:
When I think of the noble descent of Deogounda Jyotigounda Patil and
consider along with it the fact of his inability to sign his own name, I
seem to find in it a reflection of the whole history of the Jain
community in South India. […] As for Southern Maharashtra, though
the Jains had maths, swamis and ganas in Kolhapur and other
neighbouring places from the twelfth century A.D., they were by the
18th and 19th centuries counted among educationally and culturally
backward communities (1988: 34-36).

Educational Progress and Reform

When the DBJS was established in 1899 at a small pilgrimage place in North
Karnataka, education of the Digambaras of the area was the first and most
important goal. The `regaining of past glory´ through a focus on education,
however, did not aim at the return to an idealistic glorious period, when Jaina
monks roamed the country, writing sophisticated works while preaching to and
educating the masses. Some Western-educated intellectuals among the founding
members of the DBJS had more pragmatic concepts. The importance of education,
especially English education, as a means for social and economic progress was
stressed by social reformers from the 19th century onwards. The Indian upper
classes, among Hindus especially the Brahmins, soon discovered the importance of

88
Bhaurao Paigonda Patil was born at the village of Kumbhoj in the Satara district of Southern
Maharashtra. As a strong opponent of any kind of caste discrimination, education of the masses
became his main aim in life. In 1919 he established the Rayat Śikṣāṇ Saṃsthā for the imparting of
education to children in villages. In 1924 he founded and managed a student hostel at Satara,
which was open for all students, regardless of caste. Although born as a Digambara, Bhaurao Patil
did not become a reformist leader of the Jainas, but made himself a name as an important
educationist of the masses. For more information about Bhaurao Patil and his work, see: Matthew
(1988); Phadke (2003: 64-67).

102
English education for professional careers in administrative positions. In the course
of the 19th century individuals and reform movements, such as the Brahmo and
Ārya Samāj, started the propagation of education for sections of society whose
members had traditionally been excluded from receiving education, namely women
and the lower castes. Radical reformers such as the Maharashtrian Jotirao
Govindrao Phule (1827-1890) 89 and the already mentioned Bhaurao Patil were
staunch activists for mass education, including the lowest strata of society, the so-
called `untouchable´ castes.
The history of the DBJS and its aims at promoting educational institutions, and, to
a larger degree, student hostels, has, however, not only been substantially
influenced by the general atmosphere of social reform with a focus on education,
but was also closely interlinked with the personal background and aims of its most
prominent founding member and leader, Annasaheb Latthe. 90
Latthe was born into a Digambara family in 1878 at Kurundwad, South
Maharashtra. His father had come into close contact with educated Brahmins and
regarded the higher education of his sons as essential for their future career.
Annasaheb received college and university education at Kolhapur, Poona and
Bombay, where he obtained an M.A. degree in English in 1903. While studying at
Deccan College, Poona, Latthe and his friend Anna Faddyappa Chougule, a student
of law at Bombay, became founding members of the DBJS. Latthe’s later

89
Jotirao Govindrao Phule, born at Poona as a Hindu of the gardener caste, was a strong opponent
of Brahmin supremacy in the Hindu social system. His main efforts were devoted to the education
of women and the lower castes, whose members, according to him, had been prevented from the
attainment of knowledge and power by the Brahmins. He established schools for girls and lower
castes, and founded an orphanage for the illegitimate children of widows. In 1873 the Satya
Śodhak Samāj (`Society of seekers of truth´) was founded and he became its first president. The
organisation was open to all, irrespective of caste, and strongly opposed Brahmin supremacy.
Phule criticised Hindu reform movements such as the Brahmo Samāj and Prārthanā Samāj as
being dominated by Brahmins and therefore not representing the masses of the Indian population.
Regarding the Indian freedom movement, Phule saw caste restrictions as a main obstacle to the
creation of a national identity. For a short account of Phule’s life and aims, see: Phadke (2003: 11-
18).
90
The following account of Latthe and his work for the DBJS is mainly based on an unpublished
PhD by Padmaja A. Patil, submitted to Shivaji University, Kolhapur, in 1986. Further sources
about the history of the DBJS are leaflets published by the organisation, and personal
communication with present members of the DBJS, which took place at their offices at the Jaina
hostels in Belgaum and Hubli during the period between January 2006 and March 2007.

103
professional career included work as an advocate at Belgaum, lecturer at Rajaram
College, Kolhapur, Diwan of Kolhapur State, and minister of the Bombay Province.
Like the North Indian Digambara lay Jaina leaders Jagmander Lal Jaini and
Champat Rai Jain, Latthe had received university education and held a degree in
law. At the same time he was well-learned in Jaina philosophy and had also written
an English book about Jainism, called An Introduction to Jainism, first published in
1905. Unlike Jagmander Lal Jaini, Champat Rai Jain and Virchand Gandhi,
however, Latthe was less inclined to theosophical concepts of universal religion. As
his impressive political career would suggest, Annasaheb Latthe was less an idealist
than a pragmatic leader and politician. In his political outlook he had especially
been influenced by the atmosphere of the Maharashtrian Non-Brahmin Movement,
which opposed Brahmin supremacy in receiving education and attaining
government positions. 91 Furthermore, Latthe had been on close terms with
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (1874-1922), the ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur.
During Shahu’s rule, from 1894 until his death in 1922, reform movements such as
the Non-Brahmin Movement, led by the Satya Śodhak Samāj, and the socio-
religious Ārya Samāj gained substantial influence in Kolhapur. Shahu was a
staunch supporter of the Non-Brahmin Movement 92 and the establishment of
educational facilities for the members of non-Brahmin castes. His support for the
establishment of student hostels had a great impact on the establishment of several
Jaina student hostels to accommodate young men of rural background during their
secondary education. Between 1901 and 1921, twenty-three student hostels for
different castes were established at Kolhapur. Latthe, who after Shahu’s death acted
as his official biographer, seemed to have been a staunch supporter of Shahu’s anti-

91
For a detailed account of the Maharashtrian Non-Brahmin Movement, see: Omvedt (1976).
92
Apart from his sympathy for reform movements such as the anti-Brahmin Satya Śodak Samāj
and, even more, the Ārya Samāj, Shahu’s opposition to Brahmin supremacy and caste restrictions
most probably had its roots in negative personal experiences he had with Brahmins, when his own
priest refused to perform the Vedic rites for him, since he regarded Shahu as a low caste śūdra.
For Shahu’s confrontation with the Brahmins of Kolhapur in the so-called `Vedokta Controversy´
(1900-1905), see: Khane (1994). Further details about Shahu and the Non-Brahmin Movement are
given in: Copland (1973). For other aspects of Shahu’s policy, see: Phadke (2003: 55-63);
Salunkhe (1994).

104
Brahmin politics. In his Memoirs of His Highness Shri Shahu Chhatrapati
Maharaja of Kolhapur, published in two volumes, Latthe especially praised the
establishments of different hostels “to create a higher non-Brahmin atmosphere
congenial to the growth of fellow-feeling and solidarity among all the Backward
Communities, Hindu or Mussalman” (Latthe 1924: 567). Separate boardings for
different castes and communities were motivated by pragmatic reasons and,
according to Latthe, did not contribute to the creation of a communal atmosphere:
And we may as well ask: were these communal movements really
communal in spirit? Why then did His Highness - a true Maratha -
encourage and assist the Jains and the Lingayats, the Mussalmans and
the Namdevs and even the Daivadnya and Saraswat Brahmins
themselves? Why did the Maratha Hostel accommodate the
Mussalmans? […] And why did the Marathas, Jains and others combine
under his leadership to help the depressed classes? If the spirit which
pervaded this kind of work is sectional, it ought to be welcomed as the
sure foundation of a truly national life (1924: 157-158).

For Latthe, the local Digambaras were one of the non-Brahmin or backward
communities. Their progress in economic and social terms was, as in the case of
other backward communities, first of all to be achieved through education. This
concept had been generally held by Indian reformers, and the importance of
education and educational institutions for the enhancement of the Jainas as a
community has constantly been propagated in The Jaina Gazette. 93 The DBJS’s
special focus on the establishment and running of student hostels, however, has to
be seen in connection with the regional environment, especially the student hostel
building activities under Kolhapur’s ruler Shahu, and the Non-Brahmin
Movement’s stress on education for the majority of non-Brahmin castes. Unlike
Jainas in North and West India, the Digambaras of the region were counted among
educational and economic backward communities. Since the vast majority lived in
rural surroundings, most families could not afford to send their boys to bigger
places like Kolhapur or Belgaum to receive higher education. The establishment of
student hostels, however, was meant to provide young Jainas with free or
affordable boarding and lodging.
93
See, for instance: Chakravarti (1920: 148); Hakemchand (1910: 6); Bansi Dhar Jain (1931: 125-
129).

105
 The first meeting between Latthe and Shahu took place in 1900 at Bombay, when
Latthe was a student and stayed at a hostel for Jaina students. Shahu showed his
interest in the issue of boarding houses, and, with the financial help of Manikchand
Hirachand Jhaveri, a wealthy Digambara merchant of Bombay, a Jaina student
hostel got built at Kolhapur and the inauguration ceremony was held by Shahu in
1905. The boarding house was run and supervised by the DBJS, and from 1905
until 1914, Latthe acted as its first superintendent (Patil 1986: 8). Padmaja A. Patil
states the number of students at the boarding as 43 in the year 1907. Out of these,
ten were fully paying, four paying only half, and 29 were staying for free (1986:
61). In 1924, when Latthe gave a description of the hostel’s present state, it mainly
consisted of rooms for the accommodation of 100 students, a lecture hall and a
temple. About 90 male students stayed at the hostel, out of which about 20 studied
at college level (Latthe 1924: 143-144). To maintain the boarding house, the DBJS
mainly depended on donations from wealthy Digambara merchants. An important
part of Latthe’s skills as politician and leader seemed to have been his success in
winning over influential Digambara traders for the work of the DBJS. From its
beginning, the organisation had financially greatly benefited from Seth Manikchand
Hirachand Jhaveri, Bombay, and the Solapur-based Seth Hirachand Nemichand
Doshi. The latter was also the publisher of a Marathi Jaina magazine and presided
over the yearly conference of the DBJS in 1904.
How was the routine life at the boarding house organised? First of all, its residents
were supposed to stick to strict rules. Physical education and religious studies were
compulsory. In 1929, Latthe, at that time Diwan of Kolhapur, in his position as
chairman of the boarding committee had made a list with rules for students staying
at the Kolhapur hostel. According to Padmaja A. Patil, who had access to a
handwritten copy of Latthe’s document, the students had to get up at 5.30 am and
until 10.30 pm residents had to devote their time to “three hours for serious
studies”, physical exercises, a visit to the temple, attending a religious education
class or studying religious texts by themselves (Patil 1986: 71). The evening meal
had to be finished by 7 pm (Patil 1986: 71). Apart from school text books, no books
or newspapers “not recommended by the superintendent” were to be brought to the

106
boarding (Patil 1986: 70). Other than attending classes, students had to ask the
superintendent’s permission if they wanted to leave the hostel (Patil 1986: 71).
These rules make clear that the hostel was not merely meant to provide board and
lodging. Western education was to be combined with a disciplined, clean life-style
and religious instruction and practice. The nature of the `religious education class´
which, according to Latthe’s rules, had to be attended, remains unclear, since
further material was not available. Efforts at establishing a Sanskrit school, whose
students were supported by the hostel, did not show any concrete results in the
longer term. Most students, it seems, were more attracted towards English
education, and soon after its establishment in 1902 the Sanskrit school had to be
closed down again. A re-opening in 1913, with the employment of a religious
teacher from Benares, also ended in failure, for which, this time, Latthe blamed the
teachers in charge of religious education, whom he criticised for caring more about
the worship of Jaina scriptures than their study (Patil 1986: 44-46). Latthe’s opinion
in this matter echoed the statements of other progressive Jaina reformers, who
accused more conservative Jainas of wasting their time and money on elaborate
religious processions and functions, displaying their wealth, instead of studying and
teaching the Jaina scriptures. 94
In the following years, student hostels for Digambaras were founded at Hubli
(1909), Belgaum (1915) and Sangli (1919), which are still managed by the DBJS
today.
Right from the beginning of the DBJS, the imparting of female education was
regarded as an important aim. The importance of education for girls had already
been stressed by social reformers such as Phule, while members of the Hindu
reform movement Brahmo Samāj, among other members of the intellectual elite,

94
The February edition of The Jaina Gazette from the year 1923, for instance, included the
detailed description of a session of the more conservative All-India Digambara Mahāsabhā, which
was opened by a splendid procession involving horses, camels and an elephant. The (unnamed)
author of the article regarded this procession, as other activities held during the conference, as a
waste of money and an unnecessary display of wealth. See: “The Delhi Activities (By our own
Representative).” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol. XIV, No.2, February 1923: 48-54.)

107
had began to consider the education of their wives and daughters crucial for the
social and cultural progress of society.
Among the Digambaras of the 19th century, also with regard to female education a
contrast between the contemporary “poor and pitiable position” of the local
Digambaras, and an imagined “past glory” (DBJS 1993) could be seen. While
female education had, when contrasted with the level of male education, been
neglected in all of the newly defined religious communities, the census data from
the end of the 19th century presented the Jainas as the Indian community with the
widest gap between the male and female literacy rate (Drew 1892: 114). Among the
Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, with a high male illiteracy
rate, literate females around the middle of the 19th century were hard to find. The
neglect of female education among Jainas could also be interpreted as a sign of
decline by reformers, especially when compared to the often cited Jaina tradition,
that the first Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabha, before becoming an ascetic, had taught the arts of
writing and mathematics to his two daughters. 95 The reason for the alleged decline
in female education among Jainas was seen in the adoption of the practice of child
marriage, which, again, was considered a decline from the ancient form of
marriage. 96 As shown in chapter two, according to the census data of the late 19th
and early 20th century, the Jainas were not only the Indian religious community
with the widest gap between the percentage of male and female literacy, but had
also been among the communities with the lowest marriage age. Furthermore, the
number of widows among the Jainas surpassed that of any other community
(Plowden 1883: 68).

95
This tradition goes back to the Ādipurāna, the first part of the Mahāpurāṇa (ca 9th century CE).
In this work, Ṛṣabha is described as advising his two daughters, Brāhmī and Sundarī: “[…] 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” (Ādipurāṇa, XVI, 97-98, translated and cited in: Sangave 1988:
172). During the field research in Maharashtra and Karnataka, several Digambaras took pride in
the fact, that one Indian alphabet is called `Brāhmī- script´, which, according to their opinion,
proves the Jainas as the inventors of the art of writing.
96
See, for instance: Sangave (1980: 172).

108
 The social problems of female illiteracy and a high number of unsupported child
widows led to the establishment of so-called śrāvikā āśramas. 97 Thereby, two
functions could be combined: child widows were provided with a safe shelter,
while they were given instruction in some practical skills and basic education.
Śrāvikā āśramas were founded by individuals as well as the DBJS. One of the main
promoters of female education and the institutions of śrāvikā āśramas in particular,
was the daughter of the already mentioned Bombay-based merchant Manikchand
Hirachand Jhaveri, who was also an active member of the DBJS. Paṇditā Maganbai
(1876-1930), 98 as she became known, lost her husband when she was 19. Her father
took her back into his household and began to provide education for her. Supported
by him, Maganbai travelled throughout India, promoting the cause of female
education. Between 1901 and 1918 thirty-eight śrāvikā āśramas supported by
Maganbai’s efforts, were established in different parts of India. 99 In its combined
January and February edition of 1930, The Jaina Gazette published a memoriam to
the deceased Maganbai, who had been bestowed by the All-India Jaina Association
with the honorary title Jaina mahilā ratna (`Jaina lady jewel´) in 1913. As the only
Jaina female she was honored by the government with the title Justice of the Peace,
in acknowledgement of her work for female education. Apart from her support for
śrāvikā āśramas, especially the śrāvikā āśrama at Bombay, she was the founder of
the All-India Jain Women’s Association. 100
From 1903 onwards, a Jaina mahilā pariṣad (`Jaina Ladies’ Assembly´) was held
along with the yearly conferences of the DBJS. In 1904, under Latthe as its head,
the DBJS started a department for female education (Patil 1986: 78-79).
The DBJS opened its first śrāvikā āśrama in 1908 at Kolhapur. Education was to
be provided to adult women and young girls in the vernacular Marathi language.

97
Literally `lay women refuges.´
98
Paṇḍitā, the female form for a scholar, was added to Maganbai’s name as a title of respect.
99
The description of the śrāvikā āśramas is mainly based on: Patil (1986: 78-84) and an
unpublished MPhil dissertation (1989) by Rutuja V. Khot, submitted to Shivaji University,
Kolhapur.
100
“In Memoriam.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XVI, No.1 and 2, January and February 1930: 36-
37.

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The syllabus included basic education in “Jain religion”, Indian history and
geography, maths “for practical purpose”, “knowledge of stitching” and “the
capacity to advise regarding religion” (Patil 1986: 80-81). The āśrama was situated
in the Kolhapur Jaina maṭha. The few young girls and women who attended the
class were relatives of progressive DBJS members themselves, among them
Latthe’s wife Dnyanmatibai. Since the number of students was only 14 in 1910, the
institution was closed down and the students were sent to the Maganbai
Shravikashram at Bombay. In 1923 the āśrama re-opened, a new building for it was
erected, and this time it managed to attract more students. It has continued to
provide accommodation for female students up to the present day.
Although the DBJS regarded female education as one of its most important goals,
and several, mostly female members were very active in campaigning for the
necessity of imparting education to girls, the public response had been rather poor
at the beginning and was improving only very slowly. As among Hindus, the first
educated women among the Digambaras of the area were the daughters and wives
of progressive reformers. The śrāvikā āśrama movement was mainly propagated by
young widows with a wealthy family background, whose fathers were also active
for social reforms among Digambaras and had been closely connected to the
DBJS. 101
Apart from efforts at improving the educational standard of the Digambaras of
South Maharasthra and North Karnataka, which met with limited success
(especially regarding female education), the DBJS launched a variety of other
reformist activities, among them campaigns for `the spread of religious education´.
Although, as we have seen, the establishment of a Sanskrit school had been
unsuccessful, the leading members of the DBJS held on to their plan for religious
education. A programme “of preaching Jainism to the Jains” (Patil 1986: 40) was
developed and members of the DBJS delivered speeches on different aspects of

101
Another noteworthy figure was, for instance, Dharmachandrikā Kankubai (1876-1939), the
daughter of Hirachand Nemichand Doshi from Solapur (Maharashtra), who had become a widow
in 1900 at the age of 25 (Khot 1989: 38-39).

110
religion. As other reformers had done before them, 102 the medium of kīrtans (group
singing of religious songs, accompanied by instruments) was used for preaching.
The DBJS tried to propagate the use of kīrtans in religious festivals instead of
arranged dance programmes and music (Patil 1986: 41-42).
Did religious reform, in order to revive a Jaina `golden age´, aim at `Jainising the
Jainas´? As Hindu reformers had contrasted a `pure original´ with a degraded
`popular Hinduism´, radical Sikh leaders, as described by Oberoi (1994: 305-377)
had started vigorous campaigns to `purge´ Sikhism from alleged Hindu elements,
up to the point where all elements considered undesirable by the reformers were
regarded as `Hindu´.
Given the general intellectual atmosphere prevailing at the time, the tendency for
religious `purification´ to be found among Jaina reformers was expected. This
`purification´ concerned, as in the case of the radical Sikhs, some rituals and
ceremonies. While, for instance, the performance of the śrāddha ceremony by
Jainas was attacked as a `purely Hindu´ custom which had no place within the Jaina
tradition, other ceremonies were intended to be `reformed´ by giving them a distinct
Jaina form. As in the case of Sikhism, the marriage ceremony was, according to
some Jaina reformers’ wishes, no longer to be performed by usage of the Hindu
ritual and the help of Hindu priests. In 1903 the DBJS published a book with
marriage rituals to be used in Jaina marriages (Sangave 1976: 424). Unlike in the
case of the progressive Sikhs, however, whose reformed marriage ceremony, the
Anand Marriage Rites, replaced the circumbulation of the sacred fire by the
circumbulation of the Guru Granth Sahib and found its official recognition in the
Anand Marriage Act, the Jaina reformers’ efforts at reforming life-cycle rituals
have been far less pronounced. As described in chapter two, lay Jainas were, from
their outer appearance, language, professions and, to a degree, also from their
rituals, hardly distinguishable from Hindus of their particular locality. The
adherence to local social customs has been a long accepted practice among Jainas,
which had also been religiously justified by the writings of medieval Jaina ascetic

102
During the 19th century the Brahmo Samāj leader Keshub Chandra Sen, for instance, used
kīrtans, as did the Satya Śodhak Samāj (Patil 1986: 41-42).

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scholars. The fact that lay followers of the Jaina tradition are part of a bigger social
and cultural system, had, for instance, been acknowledged in the writings about
rules for lay men of the 10th century South Indian Jaina ascetic Somadeva Sūri.
Regarding `right behaviour´, Somadeva distinguished between two different kinds
of dharma for the Jaina householder:
[…] laukika, `worldly´, and pāralaukika, `otherworldly´. Pāralaukika
dharma is the true path to liberation […] which every Jain - indeed,
every man - should follow in order to attain Ultimate Knowledge. But
there is also a laukika dharma, consisting of social norms, customs,
laws, rules, institutions, upheld by the people among whom the Jains
live. No harm is done, says Somadeva, if a Jain follows the laukika
dharma, provided this does not undermine or distort the performance of
pāralaukika dharma (Lath 1991: 27).

Social practices prevalent among Jainas, such as the taking of dowry and child
marriage, were attacked by Jaina reformers not because they were considered
`Hindu´, but because they were regarded as `social evils´, which had no place in a
universal, rational and scientific religion, as Jainism was propagated by reformers.
To describe these practices as `foreign to Jainism´, and therefore as `adopted Hindu
customs´, helped to justify their abolition.
Progressive Jaina reformers shared a `protestant approach´ 103 to religious reform
with other Indian intellectuals of the 19th and early 20th century. In accordance with
other Indian religious reformers, they propagated the publication and study of
sacred scriptures instead of their worship. They considered donations for
educational and social institutions of greater merit than the performance of
elaborate rituals, and they objected to pompous religious processions and excessive
temple building activities, which they regarded as an ostentatious display and a
waste of money. While `protestant´ Hindu reformers, however, strictly objected to
the worship of idols, and among Sikhs heavy arguments about the removal of
`Hindu´ statues from Sikh holy sites took place, so-called `idol-worship´ did not
bother progressive Jaina leaders much. This does not mean, however, that the
question of `idol-worship´ and especially the question of the worship of Hindu

103
For the notion of a “Jain Protestantism” (Carrithers 1991: 274), similar to the late 19th/20th
century Buddhist protestant movement in Sri Lanka, see: Carrithers (1991: 273-274).

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deities had never been a focus among Jainas. While the first question had led to a
major split among the Śvetāmbaras, with the establishment of the non-image-
worshipping sect of the Sthānakvāsīs during the 15th century, the second question
has mainly been focused on the acceptability of the worship of yakṣīs, female
goddesses, which is widely practised among many Jainas, while objected to by
others.
Though some progressive early 20th century Jaina reformers supported the
abolition of what they regarded as the worship of `purely Hindu´ deities and the
celebration of `Hindu´ festivals, efforts in this direction remained much less
pronounced than campaigns for social reform and educational progress. As was
seen in the first part of this chapter, the Jaina reformers’ definition of `a Jaina´ was
rather abstract, only concerned with belief, leaving practice and customs mainly
aside. In this regard, an image-worshipping and a non-image-worshipping believer
in the Jinas were both equally regarded as Jainas. “Sikhizing the Sikhs” (Oberoi
1994: 306) concretely meant giving the Sikhs, as a community, a uniform
appearance with distinct outward symbols and rituals, which constituted their
identity in contrast to the surrounding religious traditions, especially to Hindus.
`Jainising the Jainas´, on the other hand, was less concerned with the construction
of outward boundaries, than with the establishment of internal unity. This unity, in
the case of the radical Sikhs, focused on uniformity in appearance, ritual and belief.
In the case of the Jainas, it meant the transformation of focus from a local `caste
identity´ to a more universal supra-local, supra-caste collective religious identity.
This does not mean that in the case of the Sikhs, for instance, a local `caste identity´
had not to be transformed. Unlike in the case of the Jainas, however, the
establishment of a Sikh community was, through the construction of outward
boundaries, more `concretely imagined´. 104

104
The term `concretely imagined´ is freely borrowed from Michael Carrithers, who uses the
phrase in his article “Concretely Imagining the Southern Digambar Jain Community, 1899-1920”
(1996).

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Towards the Establishment of a `Digambara Jaina Community´
How, then, was this transformation among the Jainas to be accomplished? The
Digambaras in the area of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, which were to
be united under the banner of the DBJS, belonged to five different castes, namely
the Caturthas (mainly agriculturists), the Pancamas (mainly small traders and shop-
keepers), the Upadhyes (acting as priests in Jaina temples), the Kasars (traders in
brass vessels and bangles) and the Setvals (merchants). By far the most numerous
castes in the area were the Caturthas and the Pancamas. Members of one caste
would usually form a neighbourhood and worship in their own temple (Carrithers
1996: 526). Similar to Hindu castes, Jaina castes had their own caste guru, called
bhaṭṭāraka, a celibate head of a maṭha. In the Kolhapur area, the Caturthas were
closely linked to Jinasena bhaṭṭāraka residing over the Nandani maṭha, while the
Pancamas regarded Lakṣmīsena bhaṭṭāraka of the Kolhapur maṭha as their
religious authority. Michael Carrithers, who had access to the DBJS’s magazine
Pragati āni Jinavijaya, makes important observations about the prevalence of a
`caste identity´ among the local Digambaras during the first decades of the 20th
century:
Two usages of that time which have since fallen away convey how
thoroughly circumscribed the experience of most Digambars was by
caste practices and attitudes. One was the habit of identifying a temple
by a caste name […] whereas now the caste name is not used. The other
was the habit common to both Digambars and others referring to
Digambars - routinely and in very nearly all contexts - by the name of
their caste and not as Jains or Digambars at all. People were then aware
of the designation `Jain´, but it had little purchase in the conduct of
affairs, whereas it now names a significant social category (1996: 526).

How was this focus on a `caste identity´ to be transformed into a focus on a more
universal `Digambara Jaina identity´? The early history of the DBJS shows that the
task which progressive leaders such as Latthe had taken upon themselves, was a
difficult one. Established at Stavaniddhi, a pilgrimage place, and the only locality in
the region which was visited by all Digambara castes, the DBJS itself was, from its
beginning, not free from caste tensions. Especially regarding the issue of inter-caste
marriages between members of the two main Digambara castes of the region, the

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Pancamas and Caturthas, arguments between progressive and more conservative
members started. Since the main founding members of the DBJS, among them
Latthe and Chougule, belonged to the Pancama caste, Caturthas regarded the
organisation as dominated by Pancamas. Therefore, in 1903, Caturthas aimed at
establishing their own institutions, linked to the Nandani maṭha of Jinsen
bhaṭṭāraka. A permanent split in the young organisation could, however, be
avoided, and in the DBJS’s yearly conference in 1904 both parties agreed to work
together (Carrithers 1996: 536). The practice of inter-caste marriage, whose
propagation had enraged the conservative fraction of the DBJS, remained an
important aim for the progressives, though actual inter-caste marriages remained a
rare phenomenon. In The Jaina Gazette from April 1914, Latthe published a
“Report on Social Reform Work”. In this, he described “a movement to amalgate
the Chathurth and Pancham subsects of the Jains”; a declaration had been signed by
more than “100 leading gentlemen expressing approval of the movement […]”
(Latthe 1914: 153). Then, Latthe goes on to declare: “As a result of this I married
my niece Shermatibai to a Chaturth boy last week. I am a Pancham Jain and this is
the first marriage between the two sects” (1914: 153). It was, however, to remain
one of very few inter-caste marriages. While for Latthe the breaking down of caste
barriers had linked both his activities as a reformist Jaina leader with his active
support for the Non-Brahmin Movement, progressive Jaina reformers in other parts
of India also propagated inter-caste marriages as a means to unify the Jainas. For
those willing to marry their son or daughter to a spouse from a different caste, The
Jaina Gazette tried to give its support in finding a like-minded family. An example
for these `matchmaking activities´ is found in The Jaina Gazette from October
1915. Under the headline “Wanted”, it says: “A bride of any Jain sect for a young
Digambar Jaini who has studied up to B.A. […] The bride must have education
[…].” 105 The stress on an `educated bride´ furthermore gives an impression of the
reformist tendencies prevalent among young intellectuals at the beginning of the
20th century.

105
“Wanted.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XI, No.10, October 1915, no page number.

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 In the few instances when an inter-caste marriage among Jainas took place, the
event provoked an entry in The Jaina Gazette. That inter-caste marriages had not
become much more common 20 years after Latthe had reported his niece’s
marriage is suggested by the fact that The Jaina Gazette issue from June 1936 also
considered the report of a Jaina inter-caste marriage between an Agarwal from
Allahabad, and a Pusad from Berar worth mentioning. 106 Though highly propagated
by progressive Jaina leaders as a substantial means for the unification and therefore
strengthening of the Jainas as a community, inter-caste marriages remained rare and
mainly stayed confined to the families of Jaina reformers.
Apart from the practice of inter-caste marriages, Latthe had also tried to propagate
commensality, the free eating together irrespective of caste. The general resistance,
it seems, was not much smaller than that to the idea of inter-caste marriages.
Michael Carrithers (1996: 538-541) gives a detailed description of the controversy
about commensality, fought by progressive and conservative Jainas, which shows
that the actual influence that reformers such as Latthe had over the public opinion
was rather small. One small sphere of influence, however, which the DBJS had,
was its approach to student boardings (Carrithers 1996: 540). At special occasions
taking place at these boardings, the reformers’ ideal of unity could be illustrated by
Digambaras from different castes eating together. These events, rare as they may
have been, could, however, be used to propagate the ideal of unity. In this regard,
the already mentioned `community newspapers´ were a substantial means to spread
the idealised picture and the message of unity among different castes. The DBJS
had already started the magazine Jinavijaya in 1902, with Latthe as its first editor.
In 1908 Latthe started publishing the weekly paper Pragati. The two papers were
merged in 1911 and afterwards became known as Pragati ani Jinavijaya. This
newspaper was not only the mouthpiece for social reform, but also for the
propagation of the ideal of a united Digambara Jaina community. This ideal,
however, did not only include the breaking down of caste barriers among the local
Digambaras, but reached at the establishment of a collective identity, which was

106
This marriage, however, was also mentioned because of its “inter-provincial” nature
(“Intercaste Marriage.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XXXIII, No.6, June 1936: 193).

116
not limited to a special locality. In this regard, Latthe was also actively publishing
in The Jaina Gazette, which was meant to reach educated Jainas all over India.
News of the successful bringing together of different castes were therefore not only
reported in the DBJS’s own vernacular newspaper, 107 but also published through
the nationwide forum of The Jaina Gazette. 108
Regarding the DBJS’s rather unsuccessful propagation of inter-caste marriages
and commensality, Michael Carrithers considers their campaign for unity a failure.
Nevertheless, the reformers achieved, according to Carrithers “largely unintended”,
the success of “creating a palpable and vivid sense of a Jain public” (1996: 541).
While, as argued by Carrithers, the breaking up of caste boundaries had failed
(marriages, commensality), the public meetings of the DBJS had, rather
`unintendedly´ contributed to the establishment of a concrete Digambara Jaina
community acting in the public sphere. The invitation of prominent Jainas from
other places outside their own region fostered the sense of a community
transforming regional boundaries. The DBJS presented itself as an organisation,
which was run by and spoke for Digambara Jainas irrespective of their local
background and caste. In this regard, Carrithers concludes, the DBJS, with its
public meetings and conferences, created the occasions for the public presentation
and experience of a Digambara Jaina community (1996: 541-548).
The process described by Carrithers was not restricted to the DBJS and the
Digambaras of the area of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka. A well-
working network of progressive Jaina leaders contributed to the establishment of
the idea of a universal Jaina community. We have already seen how Latthe, though
leader of the Digambaras of South Maharasthra and North Karnataka, frequently
contributed to The Jaina Gazette as the nationwide organ of progressive Jainas,
irrespective of caste and sect. The same held true for other Jaina reformers. During
the meetings of the DBJS, not only prominent and influential Jainas from cities
such as Solapur and Bombay (which, strictly speaking, geographically did not

107
Carrithers cites the Pragati ani Jinavijaya reporting a meal held at the Jaina hostel, Kolhapur,
with different castes freely eating together (Carrithers 1996: 540).
108
In the April edition of The Jaina Gazette of 1914, Latthe reported “two public dinners given to
members of [the] Jain community without any distinctions” (Latthe 1914: 153).

117
really belong to the `main area´ of the DBJS) attended the sessions. At the DBJS’s
yearly conference of 1932, held at Stavaniddhi, the North Indian Jaina reformer
Champat Rai Jain delivered the presidential address. In this way, the image of a
nationwide community, consisting of Jainas irrespective of caste, language,
profession and local background was presented.
This `sense of community´ found its expressions in various ways, rhetorical, such
as in speeches and newspaper articles, as well as practical, as in the way Jaina
leaders such as the South Indian Latthe and the North Indian Champat Rai Jain
worked openly together. Sometimes, rhetoric and practice joined together, as the
following example illustrates. Starting from 1929, over several years, the Jaina
temple in the village of Kudchi, Belgaum District, was several times molested by
Muslims, who formed the local majority. What thirty years before most probably
would have remained a local village affair, now caught the attention of Jaina
reformers. Champat Rai Jain and Motilal Ghasilal Javeri, President of the Digamber
Jain Yuwak Mandal, Bombay, intervened on behalf of the local Jainas. The main
action was taken by Champat Rai Jain, who repeatedly corresponded with the local
government authorities to punish the culprits and protect the local Jainas’ interests.
In this regard, Champat Rai Jain expressed his solidarity with other Jainas through
his active intervention on behalf of villagers, who according to the reformers’
concepts were members of one united Jaina community. Apart from this practical
presentation of unity and solidarity, Champat Rai Jain’s correspondence with the
local authorities also includes the rhetorical usage of a united Jaina community. In
this regard, Jain writes:
The Jains all over India were concerned in the matter. Does the
Government of India wish us to believe that all the Jains from one end
of India to the other had lost their senses merely on the report of the
Kudchi Jains? Some of the outside people including the Life President
of the Digambara Jain Pariṣadh from Upper India, visited Kudchi and
saw for themselves (1931: 6).

Here, Champat Rai Jain transforms a local village affair into a nationwide `Jaina
affair´, in which “Jains all over India were concerned” (1931: 6). This incident
reveals, how, from the beginning of the 20th century, not only the rhetorical, but

118
also the concrete and practical concept of a supra-caste, supra-local Jaina
community emerged. Although the Jaina reformers during this era, similarly to
other Indian reformers, did not succeed in removing caste restrictions, especially
regarding marriages, they were much more successful in establishing the concept of
Jainas as a community, which included Jainas from all over India and from
different sects and castes. While broader concepts of a `Digambara Jaina
community´ and – in the widest sense – a united `Jaina community´ did not
`replace´ other froms of collective identity, they represent an important
conceptualisation of community formation among Jainas.

In the present chapter, it has been shown how 19th century Jaina apologetic
writers have tried to present and define Jainism. These writings were composed by
and for members of the small Western-educated Jaina elite. When looking at the
history of the first modern Jaina reform movements, such as the described DBJS,
we find their membership also mainly confined to Western-educated intellectuals
and the wealthy elite of traders and landowners. Regarding the question, to what
extent new concepts of collective religious identity and supra-caste, supra-locally-
based religious communities spread among the Jainas as a whole, Torkel Brekke
states two factors, which according to him could have supported easier
communication among Jainas compared with that of Hindus: first, the fewer
number of Jainas, second, a higher level of education on the part of the Jainas
(Brekke 2002: 121). This theory is weakened by the fact that the census
enumerations for the first decades of the 20th century suggest that many Jainas
regarded themselves, or were regarded, as Hindus. Furthermore, as was seen for the
Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, not all Jainas were well-
educated. Therefore, it can be deduced that the concept of a supra-caste and supra-
local collective religious identity only gradually spread among the Jainas.
Even so, although at first confined to a small circle of Jaina intellectuals, the Jaina
reformers’ discourse eventually reached the mass of Jainas. What early 20th century
Jaina apologetic writers had defined as `core values´ of Jainism, namely its

119
compatibility with science, logic and rationality, as well as its alleged tolerance and
universalistic outlook, became generally accepted.
The identity discourse among Western-educated Jaina intellectuals greatly reflects
the universalistic outlook of the first apologetic writers. The main aim of men such
as Virchand Gandhi, Champat Rai Jain and Jagmander Lal Jaini was not the
“construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994), but the representation of their
own religious tradition as compatible with modern thought and in its values suitable
to be universally adopted. Reflecting the motivations of those who participated in
it, the Jaina identity discourse was not based on the differentiation between `us´ and
`them´. In this regard, boundaries to non-Jainas, especially Hindus, remained
blurred.
It has to be noted that the intellectual discourse with its focus on universal `Jaina
values´ and internal unification also tended to `neglect´ or `blur´ existing
boundaries between Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras. Considering the motivations of
the reform-minded Jaina leaders this is unsurprising. In the context of this thesis,
however, this at times results in difficulties distinguishing the `layer´ of identity
reformers were appealing to. While the construction of a unified, supra-local Jaina
community was the reformers’ ultimate goal, in practice campaigns for inter-caste
marriages, for instance, remained mainly restricted to marriages between members
of regionally confined Digambara or Śvetāmbara castes. Similarly, modern
organisations, such as the DBJS, targeted specific sub-groups of Jainas. In this
regard, the reformist activities of lay Jaina leaders represent two different
approaches towards the establishment of collective identity among Jainas. In the
more practical sense, the main focus was on organisation and unification among
smaller regional sub-groups and mainly along sectarian lines; in the domain of
intellectual discourse, however, all these regional sectarian groups were to be
combined into a pan-Indian, or even universal Jaina community.
The discussion of a Digambara Jaina reform movement, the DBJS, has shown that
in many aspects the aims of progressive Jaina reformers resembled those of
reformers from other religious backgrounds and reflected the general intellectual
atmosphere of the early 20th century. The special focus on education as a means of

120
progress, however, was not only a substantial feature of contemporary reform
movements, but gained further importance due to the local historical context, the
Maharashtrian Non-Brahmin movement and the hostel building activities in the
princely state of Kolhapur. In this respect, the historical development of the DBJS
reflects general intellectual and reformist developments of the late 19th century as
well as a specific regional and social context.
Although the leaders of the DBJS had much in common with other `protestant´
Indian reformers, religious reform, especially regarding so-called `idol-worship´,
did not gain a very prominent position among the reform goals of progressive
Jainas. In this regard, we do not find any pronounced `purification´ or `Jainising the
Jainas´ movements.
Caste exclusivism among Digambaras, as was shown in the example of the
progressive DBJS leaders’ campaigns for intermarriage and commensality, proved
to be deeply rooted and difficult to overcome. Although the reformers’ aims at
creating a more universal, supra-caste concept of community and collective
religious identity by propagating inter-caste marriages and commensality did not
succeed, a sense of supra-locally, supra-caste-based community was established
among Jainas by different means. Especially the reformers’ representations of a
broader Jaina community in the public sphere, through rhetoric as well as practical
cooperation, gradually led to a wider shift in the concept of community and
collective identity. In the case of the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka, the terms `Digambara´, and, in a broader sense, `Jaina´ gradually
became important `identity markers´, where before a `sense of community´ had
been confined to a specific locality and caste. Here, we do not encounter the
complete `replacement´ of one concept of identity building and community
formation by a different conceptualisation; rather, it is illustrated how these
concepts develop over time, with a co-existence of multiple forms of collective
identities. Within these multiple identities `shifts´ are taking place, and the
`hierarchy´ of these different `layers´ of identity largely depends on external
factors, as was demonstrated in the case of the DBJS’s focus on the Digambaras of
North Karnataka and South Maharashtra as part of the `backward castes´. While in

121
actual practice castes and sectarian sub-groups have remained an important identity
marker, broader concepts of a universal Digambara or - in a wider sense – Jaina
community were mainly spread through the activities and the rhetorical usage of
the Western-educated intellectual elite, as was illustrated in the present chapter.
The following chapter will focus on developments at the different end of the
social strata, namely among uneducated agriculturists. In the form of the re-
emergence of the naked Digambara ascetic, these developments also substantially
contributed to the establishment of the concept of a collective Digambara identity
and a supra-locally, supra-caste-based Digambara Jaina community, as will be
argued in the following chapter.

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4. THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY:
THE `REVIVAL´ OF THE DIGAMBARA NAKED ASCETIC
TRADITION

The present chapter will discuss what shall be called the `revival´ of the Digambara
naked ascetic tradition. This development originated during the first decades of the
20th century in the area of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, and led to the
emergence of a new religious authority among Digambaras. The same historical
period also witnessed an increased lay Jaina activity for reform and organisation.
What both developments had in common was their impact on the emergence of a
broader concept of supra-locally, supra-caste-based community among Digambara
Jainas. Although their protagonists - mostly very liberal urban Western-educated
lay Digambaras on the one side, and mainly uneducated rural, often very
conservative Digambara ascetics on the other - belonged to different social and
economic groups, both contributed to the construction of a certain `image´ of
Jainism with different `core values´, which have been able to co-exist without
contradicting each other. As will be argued in this chapter, in addition to its impact
on the construction of a supra-locally, supra-caste-based sense of community
among Digambara Jainas, the revival of the naked ascetic tradition also largely
contributed to the public awareness of strict and uncompromised asceticism as a
`core value´ of Digambara Jainism.
Before the 20th century `revival´ of the naked Digambara ascetic tradition will be
discussed, some important remarks have to be made. The Digambara ascetic order
is not restricted to male ascetics. Although female ascetics are, due to social
conventions preventing women from practising complete nudity in public,
traditionally considered to be on a less advanced ascetic stage than their male
counterparts, Digambara nuns in general, and some individuals in particular, 109

109
One of these highly revered individual female Digambara ascetics, for instance, is Āryikā
Jñānamatī (born 1934) who studied and translated several cosmographical works and inspired the
establishment of a cosmographical research institute (Digambara Jain Trilok Śodh Saṃstān) at
Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh. For more information, see: Wiley (2006: 113).

123
have been highly revered by lay Digambaras. Apart from some specific restrictions
in their ascetic practice, 110 the ascetic hardship endured by female mendicants is
not less remarkable than that of male mendicants. In this respect, the present
chapter’s focus on male Digambara ascetics is not meant to diminish the
importance of nuns within the Digambara ascetic tradition. However, one
important characteristic element of Digambara asceticism discussed in this thesis,
namely public nudity, has traditionally been restricted to monks. This element, as
will be argued in the present chapter, makes the male ascetic not only a very
distinct figure from his outer appearance, but also contributes to the image of the
naked monk as a `living symbol of Digambara Jainism´.
The following section will discuss the few available historical sources regarding
the Digambara ascetic tradition during the 19th century up to the early 20th century,
when the tradition of an ascetic order was re-established.

The Digambara Ascetic Tradition during the 19th and Early 20th Century

The lowest of the [Jaina ascetics’] grades is an ordinary ascetic or

Sādhu. If he is Digambara, he is nude, lost to the world and immersed
in meditation, eating only once a day and tearing out his hair as it
grows. In these days, there are few or no Digambara[s] of this type
(Nanjundayya and Iyer 1930: 453).

This statement, found in The Mysore Tribes and Castes, published in 1930, is one
of the very few ethnographic remarks about naked Digambara ascetics published
during the first decades of the 20th century. According to the few English language
publications of the period, which mention Digambara ascetics at all, the tradition of
the fully naked (digambara - `sky-clad´) monk, had more or less gone into
complete extinction. While, as Georg Bühler had remarked in 1887, their original
tradition of nakedness had been given up, due to “the advance of civilization”

110
These restrictions are based on the Digambara concept, that a woman cannot be fully initiated
into the final ascetic stage as a naked mendicant. In this regard, a nun will follow a slightly less
strict ascetic practice than a fully initiated monk. The differences in practice mainly concern the
possession of clothing, the consumption of food in a sitting position, and the usage of vessels
while eating.

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(1963: 2), other sources described Digambara ascetics as either wearing coloured
clothes, which were only removed during meal times, 111 or, in a few cases, as
solitary naked mendicants, staying completely aloof from society, hiding their
nakedness in the forests. 112 For the Western (Victorian) eye it was only too evident
that an ascetic’s nudity prevented any social intercourse with lay followers, as the
following statement illustrates: “The Śvetāmbara laymen complain that their
ascetics interfere too much in their conferences. This complaint is never brought
against the Digambara ascetic whose lack of clothing interns him for life in the
wilderness” (Nanjundayya and Iyer 1930: 449). 113
While, as was seen in chapter two, some 19th and early 20th century Śvetāmbara
monks rose to prominence through their activities as religious reformers, writers,
scholars, promoters of the printing of Jaina scriptures, and their open cooperation
with Western scholars, 114 Digambara ascetics during the same period remained in
obscurity. Judging from the above mentioned descriptions of Digambara ascetics
wearing coloured clothes, it seems most likely that the respective authors were
writing about bhaṭṭārakas, who carry the two visible objects of a Digambara
ascetic, the piñchī and kamaṇḍalu, 115 but do wear orange clothes, instead of

111
This statement can be found in: Sturrock (2003: 190).
112
See, for instance: Nanjundayya and Iyer (1930: 431); 448; Thurston (1975: 420).
113
This statement, however, gets weakened by the fact that the same section about the Jainas
contains a photograph entitled “Jain Sanyasis” (`Jaina ascetics´), which shows the naked ascetic
Śāntisāgar (whose biography will be discussed in the following section of this chapter) with six
male disciples (four also naked), sitting in the meditating position, posing for the photographer
(Nanjundayya and Iyer 1930: 449). This photo, taken in front of an unidentified building, shows,
that the mentioned “lack of clothing” does not necessarily limit the ascetic’s life to one solitarily
spent “in the wilderness”, without any contact with Jaina lay followers.
114
Noteworthy among these are: Ācārya Vijayānanda Sūri (1837-1896), the former Sthānakvāsī
monk Ātmārāmjī who took a second initiation and became a Śvetāmbara image worshipping
(mūrtipūjaka) ascetic; Buddhisāgara Sūri (1874-1925), “a voluminous writer” (Dundas 2002:
183); Sāgarānda Sūri (1875-1950), promoter of the printing of Śvetāmbara scriptures; Ācārya
Vijayadharma Sūri (1868-1922) who was an important promoter of the publishing of Jaina texts
and worked together with Western scholars. The list is far from complete, though shall not be
continued here. For further information about eminent Śvetāmbara ascetics of the 19th and early
20th century, see: Brekke (2002: 139-143); Cort (1991:658-659); Dundas (2002: 183-184); Lala
Jaswant Rai Jaini (1918: III-VI); Wiley (2006: 16-17; 21-239).
115
A broom made out of peacock feathers (piñchī) and a water pot (kamaṇḍalu). The piñchī is used
to gently wipe the floor before sitting or lying down, in order to avoid causing hurt to tiny life
forms. The kamaṇḍalu contains water boiled by lay followers and is given to the ascetic for the
purpose of washing hands and feet and cleaning oneself after excretion.

125
practising complete nudity. These bhaṭṭārakas acted, as mentioned in chapter three,
as `caste gurus´, and 19th century sources furthermore describe them as caste
respective “head priest[s]” or “high priest[s]” (Pathak 1999: 135-136) and
“Teacher[s] or svámi[s]” who have the “power to fine or excommunicate”
(Campbell 2004: 103) members of their caste.
The few available contemporary sources, therefore, construct a picture of the
Digambara ascetic tradition during the 19th and early 20th centuries, which can be
simplified as follows. On the one hand, there are the dressed ascetics - in all
probability identical with the bhaṭṭārakas - who exercise special powers such as the
excommunication of members over their respective castes. The designations `high
priests´ and `svāmis´ denote the religious authority of these dressed ascetics. Naked
ascetics, on the other hand, are more or less seen as `exotic species´, staying
completely aloof from society (and therefore from the Digambara lay followers).
For several reasons, the cited Western sources have to be treated with caution.
Among these reasons, the general neglect of ethnographic research (in favour of
philological studies), and of the Digambaras (in favour of the Śvetāmbara tradition)
have already been mentioned in chapter two. The Victorian sentiment against
public nudity, furthermore, in the Western scholars’ worldview, made the naked
ascetics’ exile in the wilderness a necessity, which had not to be questioned or
discussed.
Recent academic works on the contemporary Digambara ascetic order 116 trace its
beginning back to a kind of `revival´ of the naked tradition, which had taken place
in the area of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra at the beginning of the 20th
century. 117 Due to the lack of sources, it is not known what exactly had happened in
the region between the 12th and the 19th century. Although the actual events are
very difficult to reconstruct, 118 some literary 119 and epigraphical sources, 120 as well

116
For recent anthropological research on Jaina ascetics in general, and Digambaras in particular,
see chapter one of the present thesis.
117
See: Carrithers (1989: 232-233); Dundas (2002: 184-186); Zydenbos (1999: 291-292).
118
The DFG (German Research Council)-funded Emmy Noether Research Project Jainism in
Karnataka: History, Architecture and Religion has been dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of

126
as the significant number of destroyed, converted or mutilated Jaina temples and
images found all over the Karnataka and South Maharashtrian area 121 testify to a
drastic decline of the Jainas’ influence in the area. The majority of scholars also
suggest an accompanying decline in the Digambara monastic tradition during this
time period, which had led to the abandoning of the obligatory nudity and the
extinction of monastic orders with teacher-disciple lineages. Vilas Sangave (2001:
133) and Robert Zydenbos (1999: 291) both hold a growing unacceptability of the
ascetics’ nudity at public places mainly responsible for a decline in the Digambara
tradition of naked ascetics. According to Padmanabh S. Jaini and B.A. Saletore,
however, the decline of the ascetic tradition had already started before the general
decrease of the Jainas’ influence in the Karnataka area began. Jaini (1979: 306-308)
considers the moral and spiritual decay of Digambara ascetics, which was linked
with the growing economic strength of the monasteries during the medieval period,
a fundamental reason for the Jainas’ loss of influence. Saletore (1938: 279) sees a
lack of effective leadership as one of the crucial factors. The lack of actual textual
sources, however, obstructs a verification of these hypotheses. Whatever had
happened between the 12th and the 19th centuries, and whatever the reasons for this
had been, for the purpose of this study it may remain an unclear development. In
the context of the present chapter, which focuses on developments during the first
decades of the 20th century, the centuries before matter only as much as some
definitions are concerned. Questions of definition, for instance, include the notion

the political changes in medieval Karnataka, which led to a decline in the Jainas’ political power,
and the impact these developments had on Jaina art, architecture and religion in the region. The
results can be found in the forthcoming publication: Hegewald, Julia (ed.): (forthcoming) Jainism
in Karnataka: History, Architecture and Religion.
119
See, for instance, a work of the late medieval (ca 12th century CE) Jaina poet Brahmaśiva:
“`All who are strong and wealthy/ Become devotees of Siva; Jainism is empty, therefore the
people of our land/do not take to it,´ thus the fools speak. `If Jainism is so good,´ they say, `then
why don’t people join? All people become Śaivas, because that cult wins their heart,´ thus the
fools speak.” (Translated and cited in: Zydenbos 1986: 183-184).
120
Inscriptional evidence mentions the Jainas’ defeat against Śaivas in debates, including `miracle
contests´, and the Śaivas’ `victories´ over “the wild beasts which are the Jainas” (inscription found
at Annigeri, Dharwad District, dated 1184 CE, translated and cited in: Desai 2001: 398). See, for
instance: Desai (2001: 398-399); Lorenzen (1991: 45; 169).
121
For more details, see: Hegewald (forthcoming). During field research for this thesis, conducted
in 2006/2007, many places, especially in the area of North Karnaraka, were visited, which were
rich in Jaina relics.

127
of the `emergence of the naked Digambara ascetic as a new religious authority´.
The `re-emergence of a (once established and later declined) religious authority´ in
the form of the naked monk may be viewed as a helpful concept in this regard. The
aim of this chapter, however, is not comparison of the religious authority naked
Digambara ascetics held in ancient and medieval times, with the authority they
developed during the 20th century. The focus will be on the analysis of the (20th
century) historical development which caused a shift of religious authority from the
figure of the bhaṭṭāraka as a regional `caste guru´, to the locally independent
wandering naked monk. In this regard, the phrases `emergence´ and `new religious
authority´ seem more appropriate.
In the following section, one of the most prominent figures of the modern
`revival´ of the Digambara naked tradition will be introduced. The phrase `revival´
does not imply that naked monks by the beginning of the 20th century had
completely ceased to exist. The following account, however, will show how a
living link between ascetics in a teacher-disciple lineage, as well as a close
interaction between ascetics and lay followers, has been newly established in
modern times.

Ācārya Śāntisāgar 122 and the Re-Establishment of an Ascetic Order

When the field research in the area of North Karnataka began in January 2006, one
common remarkable feature of the Digambara temples which were visited, was the
following. In nearly all of them, the same picture was placed on a wall, showing the
photo of an elderly, enfeebled looking naked ascetic. Sitting on a small platform
placed on the ground, hands folded in his lap, his broom of peacock feathers and
water pot resting next to him, he looked at the photographer with a straight, solemn

122
An ācārya holds the highest rank within the Digambara ascetic tradition. He is empowered by
the scriptures to give initiations and to teach.
Since the spiritual names given at the time of a Digambara ascetic’s initiation are not unique,
several different ascetics can have the same name. In case of Śāntisāgar, the ācārya meant here
and in the following is known as `Ācārya Śāntisāgar Dakṣiṇ´ (`the Southern Ācārya Śāntisāgar´).
Nearly at the same time another ascetic named Śāntisāgar came into prominence in Rajasthan,
who was known after his birthplace as `Ācārya Śāntisāgar Chānī´.

128
expression on his face. The photo, as was explained, shows Ācārya Śāntisāgar.
When enquiries were made about Śāntisāgar and the immense popularity his figure
seems to hold in the imagination of Digambara Jainas, especially those of South
India, most Digambara lay followers gave a similar explanation for Śāntisāgar`s
popularity. Some simply called him `the first muni´ 123 of modern times, others were
a little more specific and described him as `the first ācārya´ of the 20th century.
Both answers were thought-provoking, in terms of discovering further details
concerning the ascetic’s life and influence.
The pre-eminent position, Śāntisāgar is given in the imagination of 20th century
and present day Digambaras is not only reflected in the multitude of graphic and
plastic 124 illustrations, but also becomes evident in the number of publications
about him, mainly in the form of biographies. While there is no monograph existing
in English or any other European languages, several accounts - published in the
form of books or, more often, smaller paperback booklets - have been published in
Indian vernacular languages. Some of these are written by Digambara ascetics
themselves, others by lay followers. In the following account of Śāntisāgar’s life,
some Hindi publications will be drawn upon, which were collected during the field
research in Karnataka and Maharashtra. 125 Furthermore, personal communication
from lay Digambaras of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bombay and Delhi was relied
upon. These persons happen to have developed a deep interest in the life of
Śāntisāgar. Several of them had met Śāntisāgar during his lifetime or had (already
deceased) family members who had done so. Whenever the chance was given,
male and female Digambara ascetics were asked about their impressions of

123
Among Digambaras, the word muni (literally: `silent one´) describes a fully initiated naked
monk. See: Wiley (2006: 144; 151).
124
At quite a few temple complexes and Jaina institutions which were visited in North Karnataka
and Maharashtra a statue of the monk could be found.
125
These publications are: Āryikā Jñānamatī: 2004, Prathamacarya Shri Shantisagar Maharaj.
Digambar Jain Trilok Shodh Samsthan, Jambudvipa-Hastinapur; Āryikā Viṣudvamatī: (n.d.) Bisvi
Sadi ke Mahan Digambar Jainacarya Param Pujya Caritra Cakravarti Shri 108 Shantisagarji
Maharaj ka Sankshipt Jivanvratta. Shri Bharatvarshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha, Lucknow;
Divakar, Sumerucandra: 2006, Caritra Cakravarti. Shramanshiromani Acarya Shantisagar
Maharaj ka Punya Caritra, Shri Bharatvarshiya Digambar Jain (Shrut Samvarddhini) Mahasabha,
New Delhi, eighth edition.

129
Śāntisāgar. 126 Although none of them had met Śāntisāgar in person, all of them
regarded him as the example of an eminent Digambara muni, which gives an idea
of the high position, he holds within the imagination of present day ascetics. This
imagination contributes to the religious authority given to Śāntisāgar as the `ideal
ascetic´ and to Digambara ascetics after him.
Śāntisāgar was born in the year 1872 as Satgauda Patil into a farmer’s family of
the village Bhoj, 127 Belgaum District, North Karnataka. 128 As the majority of
Digambaras in this area were agriculturists, the family’s main profession also was
farming, though they additionally ran a small cloth shop. They belonged to one of
the two main castes of the area, the Caturthas. 129 Satgauda received school
education for about three years. Although, as the family name `Patil´ suggests, his
father acted as the head of the village, and Satgauda at least received some basic
education, his family background presents a rather typical picture of South Indian
rural Digambaras.
Due to the lack of sources, it is difficult to reconstruct a picture of the religious
life in rural North Karnataka at the time of Satgauda’s birth and youth. Regionally,
as mentioned before, the area was one of the centres of Digambara Jainas, and,
though statistics about the 19th century are unavailable, according to a local
Digambara interviewed, 130 the village of Bhoj today has a Jaina population of about
20%. According to Paul Dundas and Michael Carrithers, only one naked
Digambara monk can be historically traced during the 19th century, an ascetic

126
During the ten months spent on field research, individual interviews were conducted, which
lasted between ten minutes and up to more than an hour, with ten male and four female Digambara
ascetics at Bangalore, Gulbarga, Humcha, Malkhed, Shedbal, Varur (all Karnataka) and Delhi
between January 2006 and June 2007.
127
His actual birthplace was the near-by village Yelagula (Kolhapur District, Maharashtra), his
mother’s native place.
128
The following account of Śāntisāgar’s life is mainly based on: Āryikā Jñānamatī (2004);
Āryikā Viṣudvamatī (n.d.); Divakar (2006).
129
Interestingly, Divakar (2006: 92) stresses the (alleged) kṣatriya origin of this Jaina caste, as if
to link Śāntisāgar more closely with the Tīrthaṅkaras who are all believed to have been kṣatriyas
by birth. Eminent historical and mythological figures, closely related to the Jaina tradition, are in
most cases also members of the warrior and ruler’s class. The symbolic connection between
warrior kings and Jaina ascetics becomes evident in the ascetics’ popular title as mahārāj(a), for,
according to Jaina tradition, the Jaina ascetic is the true conqueror and victor (over all worldly
bonds and bodily pleasures).
130
Personal communication with Prakash Patil at Bhoj, 1.12.2006.

130
called Siddhasāgar (1828-1903). 131 In all likelihood, however, there were some
more individual ascetics, and the biographies of Śāntisāgar mention four more
Digambara monks, who lived around the area of North Karnataka during the late
19th and early 20th century. What is important, however, is the fact that these
ascetics did not seem to be connected by any ties of a teacher and disciple
relationship. This lack of a monastic lineage is illustrated by the account of
Siddhasāgar’s initiation into full monkhood. No Digambara ācārya or muni 132 gave
him dīkṣā (initiation). Instead, Siddhasāgar became a naked muni by taking off his
clothes in front of a Jina statue (Dundas 2002: 184). As these ascetics did not seem
to have any connections among each other, they may also have had only very
limited interaction with lay Jainas, mainly confined to the begging for food and
occasionally for temporary shelter. Religious authority lay mainly with the `dressed
acetics´, the bhaṭṭārakas, who not only presided over their respective maṭhas, but
also held the authority over caste affairs and led religious functions, temple rituals
and the consecration of new temples and images.
Religious education was given at home, and, according to Śāntisāgar’s
biographies, both parents are described as deeply religious. The religious practice
of Satgauda’s mother seemed mainly to have consisted in the visit to the temple and
the worship of the Jina statue by laying flowers. This practice was accompanied by
domestic asceticism, in which, as stressed in the biographies, the father engaged,
too. 133 The religious practices and values Satgauda absorbed during his childhood
therefore mainly consisted in temple worship and domestic asceticism, as practised
at his home. Given the scarceness of religious experts and teachers, this religious
upbringing was in no way extraordinary. According to Michael Carrithers and
Caroline Humphrey, Jaina values are derived from two sources: “the strict

131
For short accounts of Siddhasāgar, see: Carrithers (1989: 232-233); Dundas (2002: 184).
132
According to Digambara tradition, male and female ascetics receive initiation by a spiritual
teacher, ideally, but not necessarily, of the rank of an ācārya.
133
Domestic ascetic practices, mainly in the form of fasting, seem to be more commonly practiced
by female members of the family. See, for instance: Carrithers (1991, 1989); Reynell (1991). Field
research for the present thesis among Digambara and Śvetāmbara families at Maharashtra and
Karnataka also testified to the stronger female engagement in fasting.

131
teachings and instructions of the appointed leaders, ascetics and pandits, on the one
hand, and the informal but devout upbringing by Jain women on the other (1991b:
294).” Here, we clearly find the second source responsible for Satgauda’s early
religious education. Regarding the first-mentioned source, ascetics and pandits
were rare in Satgauda’s childhood environment. Except for the few bhaṭṭārakas
who presided over maṭhas in the area of South Maharashtra and Karnataka, 134
“appointed leaders” (Carrithers and Humphrey 1991b: 294) of the Digambara
Jainas, who were educated enough to teach Jaina values, were hard to find.
Nevertheless, Satgauda and his family did have contact with some individual
ascetics, who, however, rather took the role of providing an ideal in asceticism,
than that of religious teachers in a stricter sense. Satgauda seems to have been
especially fond of serving 135 an ascetic called Ādisāgar, who seems to have been
mainly popular for his strict ascetic practices, especially his fastings. He is
described as having taken food only once a week in the form of very limited
substances (Divakar 2006: 45). The only characteristic given of him is his severe
asceticism. If the biographies are accurate, it was especially this strict and
uncompromising asceticism which greatly impressed Satgauda.
The importance of the ascetic element in Śāntisāgar’s life before and after his
initiation into the rank of an ascetic dominates the biographical accounts of his life.
Having been married in his ninth year, Satgauda stayed a brahmacārī (celibate) for

134
The nearest bhaṭṭāraka seats from Satgauda’s birth place were the Nandani and Kolhapur
maṭhas. Their respective bhaṭṭārakas, Jinasena and Lakṣmīsena, were closely linked to the area’s
two main Digambara Jaina castes, the Caturthas and Pancamas. The bhaṭṭāraka seats in the area
of present Karnataka which exist up to the present day are the following: Shravana Belgola
(Hassan District), Mudbidri (South Kanara District), Karkal (South Kanara District), Humcha
(Shimoga District), Sonda maṭha (North Kanara District) and Narasimharajpur (Chikmagalur
District). A maṭha at Malkhed (Gulbarga District, formerly within the territory of the Nizam of
Hyderabad) was active until the first decades of the 20th century, but is extinct today (Sangave
2001: 136).
135
`Serving´ here means the giving of food, which has been prepared especially carefully,
according to the very strict dietary rules of Jaina ascetics. This food, in theory, must not be
prepared intentionally for the feeding of a mendicant. In practice, however, it mostly is, since
many lay Jainas follow less strict dietary rules than ascetics. Apart from meat, fish, eggs and
honey, which are generally not taken by Jainas, ascetics also avoid some kinds of vegetables
which are considered to contain a large quantity of living beings. While some lay Jainas also
permanently or temporarily avoid this kind of food, others do not. `Serving´ can also mean the
provision of temporary shelter for an ascetic.

132
life, after his young wife had passed away within six months of the wedding.
Already as a lay man, Satgauda gradually started to put strict restrictions on the
food he took and on his possessions, 136 and undertook several pilgrimages to Jaina
centres. In the year 1915, he approached the Digambara ascetic Devendrakīrti, who
gave him kṣullaka dīkṣā 137 at the small Maharashtrian village of Uttoor, and named
him Śāntisāgar. 138 In 1918 Śāntisāgar took the next step of initiation, ailaka
dīkṣā, 139 at the Jaina pilgrimage place Mount Girnar (Gujarat) in front of a statue of
the Tīrthaṅkara Neminātha. One year later, in 1919, a big Jaina festival, a
pañcakalyaṇaka ceremony, 140 was held at the village of Yarnal (Belgaum District,
Karnataka). Śāntisāgar used the opportunity 141 and approached Devendrakīrti, who
took part in the ceremony, to receive muni dīkṣā from him.
Following his first initiation, he travelled on foot through the South Maharashtra
and North Karnataka region, only spending a longer time at one place during the
four months of cāturmāsa, the rainy season, when ascetics are not supposed to
travel. 142 Local Jainas took the opportunity to invite him to their towns and villages

136
At eighteen years of age he stopped using a pillow and mattress, and at 25 he gave up wearing
shoes. When he was 32 he renounced oil and butter in his food (Āryikā Viṣudvamatī, n.d.).
137
Kṣullaka dīkṣā is the first level of initiation into full monkhood. A kṣullaka stays completely
aloof from all family ties and business activities. He sustains himself through begging for food,
eating only once a day. His sole possessions are the piñchī, kamaṇḍalu and simple garments
consisting of a loin cloth and another garment.
138
While the place and year of Śāntisāgar’s first initiation are undisputed, several theories
regarding his dīkṣā guru exist. Since Devendrakīrti is the hereditary name of every bhaṭṭāraka of
the Humcha maṭha, Karnataka, Paul Dundas (2002: 185) states that Śāntisāgar probably was
initiated by a bhaṭṭāraka. Sumerucandra Divakar (2006: 46), on the other hand, describes
Devendrakīrti as a former bhaṭṭāraka who had left this position after two years to become a fully
initiated naked muni. The latter version was, according to Divakar, told to him by Śāntisāgar
himself, when he had asked him for his dīkṣā guru.
139
Ailaka dīkṣā is regarded as the last preparatory step before taking the initiation to become a
naked muni. An ailaka only wears a loincloth. In case of Digambara female renouncers, after the
kṣullikā dīkṣā there is only one more level of initiation, since female ascetics are not supposed to
remove their clothes.
140
Pañcakalyaṇaka is a ritual celebrated by Jainas at the consecrating ceremony of a Jina idol. In
this ritual, the five auspicious moments in the life of a Tīrthaṅkara are re-enacted.
141
Big religious ceremonies require the presence of at least one Jaina ascetic.
142
Apart from the fact that travelling during the rainy season can be very troublesome, the rule is
mainly meant to avoid the destruction of small living forms, which come into existence during that
period.

133
to spend cāturmāsa there. This was the only way in which the muni’s presence
could be assured for a longer period. Already before he had become a naked ascetic
lay followers of the region had taken to accompanying him on his wanderings and
spread the word that an ascetic was on his way from village to village. After his
muni dīkṣā, his popularity seems to have grown. During cāturmāsa 1924 Śāntisāgar
for the first time initiated a disciple into full monkhood, by giving muni dīkṣā to
Kṣullaka Vīrsāgar. 143 A short time later a second muni dīkṣā took place, when
Ailaka Nemaṇṇa was initiated as Muni Nemisāgar. These first initiations brought
an important change. Up to then, Śāntisāgar had been the only travelling naked
ascetic, temporarily accompanied by lay followers. Now, however, a saṅgha (group
of ascetics) began to form, including other naked monks who accepted Śāntisāgar
as their spiritual teacher and travelled permanently with him. In the course of time,
this saṅgha kept growing, consisting of male and female renouncers of all levels of
initiation. Shortly after the first initiations given by him, his followers bestowed the
title ācārya on Śāntisāgar, which made him, in the imagination of most
Digambaras, the first ācārya of the 20th century. 144 The title `prathamācārya´ (`first
ācārya´) is strongly connected with the figure of Śāntisāgar in the imagination and
devotion of South Indian Digambaras. This becomes evident in book or booklet
titles where the phrase is written in front of his ascetic name, 145 and during field

143
Though generally a Digambara ascetic is expected to pass through the levels of kṣullaka and
ailaka, in cases where the spiritual teacher regards his disciple as well advanced on the ascetic
way, muni dīkṣā may be given without a prior ailaka dīkṣā.
144
In recent years there has been some kind of controversy, started by Ācārya Sanmatisāgar
claiming superiority for his own dīkṣā guru, an ascetic called Ādisāgar Ankalīkar (`hailing from
Ankali´), who had lived around the same time as Śāntisāgar. Since the time, place, and
circumstances of the alleged first ācārya title being bestowed on Ādisāgar remain obscure, the
claim seems to be quite unrealistic, or at least very difficult to verify.
Traditionally, the ācārya title is given by the present ācārya to a male ascetic of his saṅgha, who
is considered most suitable as a successor. From Śāntisāgar’s time onwards, this tradition was
revived.
145
See, for instance: Āryikā Jñānamatī (2004; 2006).

134
research was furthermore testified to by the answers Digambaras gave, when
questioned about the special impact of Śāntisāgar. 146
This title implies a very important contribution Śāntisāgar is credited with: he is
seen as the `reviver´ of the tradition of an ascetic order. In this regard, his main
achievement can be described as the willingness to lead others on the way to
asceticism, and thereby to re-establish the ascetic tradition by initiating devout men
and women into his saṅgha, who again contributed to the gradual numeral growth
of Digambara ascetics, and the eventual establishment of their own groups of
disciples. The importance of this `revival´ of the ascetic order was not restricted to
the numerical increase of Digambara ascetics, but also contributed to making the
Digambara ascetic a figure moving openly in public and interacting freely with lay
followers. Regarding the Digambara ascetic as a public figure, however, the
characteristic of the monk’s complete nudity’s leading to difficulties with the
majority of (non-Jaina) Indians and the government, requires consideration. Against
the earlier mentioned Victorian sentiments of some Western observers, in the
Indian context an ascetic’s nudity and moving openly in public did not necessarily
exclude each other. Solitary naked ascetics or naked ascetics wandering in groups
were, especially at times of the huge Hindu mela celebrations at pilgrimage centres
like Benares or Allahabad, part of the Indian religious landscape. Under the British
rule, the wandering of naked ascetics was mainly observed with disapproval. This
attitude was not only caused by a Victorian dislike of any kind of public nudity, but
also prompted by the fear of the disruption of public order, which could lead to
violent confrontations and communal disturbances. In the case of wandering
ascetics, however, they did not necessarily have to be naked to arouse the distrust
of the local officials. In the year 1907, the inspector-general of police, C.R.
Cleveland, wrote the following statement about `religious beggars´:
I should like to establish that the system of Sadhus is bad for public
morality: that it encourages crime and criminals; that it prejudices
industry and agriculture by shortening the supply of labour; that it is a
wasteful and unjustifiable diversion of charity and that with all these

146
Next to Śāntisāgar being stated as `the first naked ascetic of modern times´, the answer most
frequently received to the question was that he had been `the first ācārya of the 20th century.´

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 defects it is unworthy of support by the Hindu community, by the
religious leaders thereof and by native princes and landlords (1907: no
page number).

Since, according to Cleveland, `criminal elements´ of the Indian society liked to

“masquerade as Sadhus” (1907: no page number), religious mendicants were to be
included in a series of lectures about `criminal Tribes´, which were meant for the
education of British police officers in India. 147
As William R. Pinch has shown in his Peasants and Monks in British India
(1996), British officials knew about the authority religious mendicants held
especially among the rural peasant population, and feared the revolutionary
potential of this influence. Ascetics as “`political sadhus´” (Pinch 1996: 8) were
distrusted for their alleged impact on the growth of Indian nationalism.
Furthermore, some mendicant orders did not confine their activities to otherworldly
pursuits, but became known as armed monks (Pinch 1996: 5). Here, it would lead
too far to go into more details, which can be found in Pinch’s pioneering work. It is
clear, however, that wandering religious mendicants were mostly distrusted by the
government. Regarding Jaina monks, the author of the above-mentioned lectures
for the education of policemen, has the following to say: “The Jain sect is not one
that is likely to trouble the police much for their tenets aim at securing a life of
morality” (Gayer 1910: 136). Though this remark excluded Jaina ascetics from
possessing criminal potential and therefore from being a risk to law and order, in
reality it proved to be rather irrelevant, since British officials would find it hard to
distinguish the ascetic of one tradition from that of any other.
Unfortunately, not much is known about the implications which the British
officials’ distrust towards ascetics had for the wandering of Śāntisāgar and his
disciples. It can be assumed that as long as his wanderings were confined to rural
areas with a relatively high population of Digambaras, there may have been no
disturbances. With a growing saṅgha, however, the processions must have caught

147
The lectures were written by G.W. Gayer and published under the title Lectures on Some
Criminal Tribes of India and Religious Mendicants. Central Provinces Police, Principal Police
Training School, Saugor, 1910.

136
more public attention, which may have been problematic, especially where
processions in urban areas were concerned. The biographies of Śāntisāgar touch the
topic only very superficially, mainly stating in a hagiographic style that in cases
where his saṅgha was banned from entering an area or region, its leader overcame
the obstacle by severely fasting for what he regarded as his personal religious right.
The only available more detailed account of an incident regarding the free travel of
naked Digambara monks concerns the visit of Śāntisāgar and seven other naked
monks to Delhi in 1931. According to personal communication with a local
Digambara, whose grandfather had been involved in the event, and a Hindi
newspaper article mentioning the incident, 148 the presence of naked ascetics in
Delhi proved to be a difficult affair. On July 2, 1931, the Digambara samāj of Delhi
sent an appeal to the government to allow Śāntisāgar and his saṅgha to follow their
invitation and enter the city. When permission was officially given, after a week’s
time, the saṅgha came and stayed for about a month. The permission to stay,
however, was initially only granted for one area of the city, Dariyaganj, where a
wealthy local Digambara owned a big piece of land. Śāntisāgar’s wish to proceed to
the city centre to visit the Lal Mandir, a famous Digambara temple, was only
granted after he had taken to fasting. The second appeal of the Delhi Digambaras,
however, sent to the government in September of the same year, was not
successful, since a number of people had issued complaints about the public
movement of naked ascetics in the city centre. In the year 1932, the whole issue
was eventually solved in favour of the Digambara Jainas.
This incident shows two noteworthy developments. First of all, it illustrates the
strong involvement of lay Jainas and the interaction between lay men and ascetics:
the lay followers invite, the ascetics follow their invitation. To overcome hurdles,
lay followers file petitions and actively propagate for their ascetics’ right to enter
the city. Second, it testifies that the impact of Śāntisāgar - and other ascetics after

148
The events were explained during a talk with the grandson of Ulphat Ray Ji Jain on 28.05.2007
at Delhi, who had been one of the main activists on behalf of the Delhi Digambara samāj. The
same account in more detail can also be found in an article of the Jaina newspaper Sammedacal
Rashmi. See: Dipankar Jain (2001).

137
him - reached far beyond borders of region and caste. In this regard, the Digambara
ascetic, as a public figure, was not restricted to a particular region, class and caste.
The appeal of the Digambara ascetic to a `Digambara community´ in a wider
sense, irrespective of local origin and caste, became obvious even more, when in
the year 1955 Śāntisāgar finally decided to perform the ritual of sallekhanā, the
gradual fasting to death. No longer able to observe an ascetic’s rules in all strictness
149
due to failing eyesight, he chose the Maharashtrian pilgrimage place
Kunthalagiri, where he gradually reduced the food he took, until he only had water
from August 14 onwards. On September 7 he also renounced water, and passed
away on September 18, 1955. During his last weeks, thousands of Digambaras had
come to Kunthalagiri. Śāntisāgar’s sallekhanā became a `public event´ which
brought together Digambara Jainas from different areas and backgrounds. In this
regard, as his ascetic career had taken place in interaction with ascetic disciples and
lay followers, his death in open public can be seen as a logical consequence. The
practice of sallekhanā furthermore contributed to Śāntisāgar’s reputation as the
`ideal ascetic´ and set an example for later ascetics. 150 This uncompromising
asceticism contributed largely to the rise of the Digambara monk as a new religious
authority, while, at the same time, it elevated the naked muni to the position of a
`living symbol of Digambara Jainism´ as will be further discussed in the following
section.

The Naked Digambara Monk: A `Living Symbol of Digambara Jainism´

If, as the present chapter intends to indicate, the naked Digambara monk really has
developed into a new religious authority, which during the 20th century became

149
Especially the vow of ahiṃsā became more and more difficult to observe, since, for instance,
the proper examination of food for small insects was not possible any more.
150
Death by sallekhanā, indeed, has become the ideal for modern day Digambara ascetics, and
several ascetics after Śāntisāgar have ended their life in this way. This topic will be discussed in
greater detail in chapter five of this thesis.

138
more influential than the authorative figure of the bhaṭṭāraka, it should be
considered which elements established this authority and how this authority shows.
The biographies of Śāntisāgar, although more religious hagiographies than historic
accounts, nevertheless show one important characteristic of Śāntisāgar, namely his
low level of formal and religious education, which, considering his rural agrarian
background, is understandable. However, contrasted with the idealistic image of `a
golden age of the Jaina tradition´, as described in chapter three, the figure of
Śāntisāgar had nothing to do with the popular imagination of the ancient and
medieval Digambara monk being “regarded as a symbol of learning” and “a scholar
par excellence” (Sangave 2001: 201-202). In this regard, as will be further
discussed in the next section, the modern Digambara ascetic’s relatively low level
of education was to be constantly criticised and sometimes ridiculed by educated
lay followers. The 20th century revival of the Digambara ascetic tradition, therefore,
did not produce a religious authority based on scholarship. When the recorded
sermons of Śāntisāgar are considered, for example, extraordinary philosophical
thoughts or profound religious discourses are not found. What made Śāntisāgar’s
immense popularity was not his religious scholarship, but his religious practice. It
has already been mentioned how his biographers focus on Śāntisāgar’s severe
asceticism and his strict observance of the ascetics’ rules. His biographies give
detailed descriptions of the significance Śāntisāgar had put on the right
performance of all of his actions, such as taking food. 151 His disciples had to follow
the same strictness in their ascetic practice. The ascetic ideal, exemplified by him
and carried on by his successors, consisted mainly of strict and uncompromising
adherence to the ascetic rules, as laid down in the scriptures, and rigid asceticism,
especially in the practice of fasting. His biographies stress his periods of long

151
Āryikā Viṣudvamatī, for instance, mentions an incident, when Śāntisāgar preferred to fast,
instead of accepting some bread which had been made out of corn ground at night time (Āryikā
Viṣudvamatī, n.d.). His refusal is based on a strict interpretation of the vow of ahiṃsā, for the
grinding of corn after sunset could cause the destruction of tiny life forms which come out after
sunset and cannot be seen properly.

139
fasting, 152 and indulge in descriptions of Śāntisāgar carrying on his meditation,
though venomous snakes and red ants crawled over his body. 153 Especially in the
Indian environment, where asceticism and fasting are important aspects of religious
practice, and even more so among Jainas, stories like these are very likely to catch
the popular imagination.
The Digambara ascetic as represented by Śāntisāgar follows the Jaina values of
asceticism and ahiṃsā to the highest possible extent. His practice, renouncing even
the loincloth, eating only once a day and being constantly alert not to cause any
hurt even to the smallest living being, 154 earns the ascetic the respect and
veneration of the laity, and substantially contributes to his religious authority. In
this regard, Robert J. Zydenbos remarks:
The Digambara monks are people who have drawn the most
uncompromising consequences from their beliefs, and by living
accordingly they are living representations of the Jaina faith. They
represent the living essence of the faith much more vividly and
concretely than any image can […]. The renunciant is worshippable,
just as an image of a Tīrthaṅkara is worshippable […] (1999: 301).

Observances during field research for this thesis testify to the high level of
reverence lay Digambaras generally hold for Digambara munis. What all lay
Digambaras spoken to admired most about their monks and nuns was the high level
of asceticism practised by them. Especially the naked muni, it was explained,
deserved the highest veneration, for he had taken the last step of renunciation by
abandoning even the last piece of clothing. Śvetāmbara ascetics, in comparison,
were frequently described as being lax in their ascetic practice, for they did not
practice the Digambara ascetic’s rule of having food only once a day. Interestingly,

152
Āryikā Jñānamatī, for instance, includes a list of the fasts taken by Śāntisāgar (Āryikā
Jñānamatī 2004: 28-29).
153
See, for instance: Āryikā Jñānamatī 2004: 24; Divakar 2006: 60-61. Especially snakes feature in
some popular stories about Śāntisāgar, exemplifying his strong willpower, fearlessness, and his
ability to even attract wild animals by his ascetic power. The story of a snake appearing to take
darśana of Śāntisāgar shortly before he passed away was also recounted by a lay Digambara met
at Kunthalagiri during field research, who as a child, along with his family, was around when the
ācārya performed sallekhanā.
154
The ascetic’s vow of ahiṃsā, observed to the most possible extent, for instance does not allow
him to take a bath, since this could cause harm to tiny living beings.

140
when Śvetāmbara lay men where asked about their perception of Digambaras (in
general), in several cases they began to speak in a very approving way about
Digambara naked munis and their high level of asceticism.
In the imagination of Digambaras, the naked monk, in his imitation of the life of a
Tīrthaṅkara, represents the `essence of Digambara Jainism´ at its fullest. This
`essence´ is seen in the uncompromising practice of asceticism, and, through this,
of ahiṃsā. In this respect, the naked Digambara monk becomes a symbol for
Jainism as the Indian religion, which, according to the self-definition of its
followers, practises the `Indian´ values of asceticsm and ahiṃsā more than any
other religious tradition does.
The religious authority of the naked Digambara monk is based on his focus on
asceticism. How, then, does this authority show? In the example of Śāntisāgar it
can be seen how lay followers accompanied him on his wanderings and travelled a
great distance to witness his sallekhanā. Michael Carrithers has described
Śāntisāgar as a model of the Digambara ascetic “as a charismatic leader” (1989:
232). This leadership was not confined to Śāntisāgar’s contribution of `reviving´
the ascetic tradition and guiding others on the ascetic way. His publicity contributed
to leadership in a broader sense, and included lay Digambaras of different castes,
regions and backgrounds. He did not become a spokesman of a specific caste, and
did not limit his activities to a special region.155 This leadership stood in strong
contrast to the leadership of a bhaṭṭāraka, which was restricted to a special region
and a special caste. The religious authority which Śāntisāgar held over lay
Digambaras could be instrumentalised by mobilising his followers for special
activities. In this regard, Śāntisāgar used his impact on wealthy lay followers, to
ensure the preservation of ancient scriptures. 156 Furthermore, he was instrumental
in the founding of schools, such as a still existing residential school at Shedbal,

155
The latter point becomes evident in the long journeys which led Śāntisāgar to places far from
the area of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka.
156
He was, for instance, instrumental in getting precious manuscripts, which had been collected at
Mudbidri, South Karnataka, engraved on copperplates. For Śāntisāgar’s engagement in the
preservation of Jaina scriptures, see: Āryikā Jñānamatī (2004: 21-22).

141
North Karnataka, which was established in 1927 for the education of children from
poor Digambara families, after Śāntisāgar had spent cāturmāsa at the village. 157
Since Śāntisāgar several ascetics have made use of their religious authority to
raise financial means for the founding of institutions, temples or for other activities.
During field research in Karnataka, the degree of success some ascetics attained in
raising huge sums of money for individual projects appeared remarkable. 158
According to my personal observations, their religious authority enables them to
mobilise lay followers more easily than any appeal of lay followers or lay
organisations can do.
This power to mobilise the laity is the fundamental feature of what Michael
Carrithers (1989: 230-232) has described as `charismatic leadership´. During the
20th century Śāntisāgar was the first individual who could act as an undisputed
representative of what can be called the `Jaina cause´ during the controversy about
the Bombay Temple Entry Bill. 159 With his severe fasting against the application of
the bill to Jaina temples, he became the leader of Jainas irrespective of caste or
region, temporarily unified by their protest against a bill which included Jaina
among Hindu temples.
Michael Carrither’s analysis of Śāntisāgar as the role model for the ascetic as
“charismatic leader” (1989: 232) also takes into account the historic circumstances
of Śāntisāgar’s activities, especially the emergence of new concepts of collective
religious identity and religious communities. These new concepts, propagated by

157
Personal communication from local Digambara Jainas of Shedbal, whose family is in charge of
the school and temple complex. The institution was, according to them, in a poor condition in the
1970s and its reviving was also strongly motivated by a Digambara muni. This ascetic, Ācārya
Subalsāgar, was closely connected to the āśrama at Shedbal, and chose the place to end his life by
sallekhanā in 2004. Subalsāgar’s sallekhanā as a `public event´ will be described in chapter five.
158
This becomes especially noteworthy, since the economic situation of Digambaras in the rural
areas of Karnataka in general is much lower than that of Digambaras in the North and West of
India.
159
Shortly after Indian Independence in 1947, the so-called Bombay Temple Entry Bill was
intended to put an end to any caste restrictions concerning the entry to Hindu temples. The bill
originally included Jaina temples, which caused protests among Jainas, who insisted on the
distinctiveness of their religion and community and refused to have their temples counted among
Hindu temples. The protest, eventually, was successful and the bill was not applied to Jaina
temples. For further details about the Jainas’ protest and Śāntisāgar’s role within the controversy,
see: Divakar (2006: 283-303).

142
lay reformers and their organisations, corresponded more to the rising influence of
Digambara munis, than to the authority of bhaṭṭārakas as caste gurus (Carrithers
1989: 232). Whereas until the beginning of the 20th century the religious authority
had mainly been held by the bhaṭṭārakas, whose influence remained limited to a
special region and a special caste, the naked Digambara muni was better fitted to
represent modern ideas of supra-locally, supra-caste-based religious communities.
Wandering around, accepting food from any devout Digambara family, the monk is
not bound to any region, caste, or economic class.
Śāntisāgar’s example of the muni as, using Michael Carrither’s phrase,
“charismatic leader” (1989: 232) also has its impact on the practice of
contemporary Digambara ascetics. Since his death, several munis have acted as
spokesmen for the Jaina, or more specifically Digambara cause during communal
affairs, 160 or have tried to campaign for the general upkeeping of Jaina values. The
latter point, for instance, is illustrated in Muni Tarunsāgar’s Ahiṃsā Mahākumbh 161
movement against slaughter-houses and meat export. The Digambara ascetics’
moving openly in public, revived by Śāntisāgar, seems to be carried to its highest
possible level by Tarunsāgar, who frequently uses modern media, such as television
and the internet, to spread his main message, the propagation of ahiṃsā and
vegetarianism, also among non-Jainas. The naked monk as a public figure, acting in
the public sphere, is represented here to the fullest extent. The naked Digambara
ascetic as a public figure, who is able to mobilise lay followers, will be further
discussed in chapter five. Here, however, it is important to stress that the figure of
the Digambara mendicant as a religious authority, based on his severe asceticism
and his `imitation´ of the life of a Tīrthaṅkara, had its origin during the first half of
the 20th century. With what has been called the `revival´ of naked asceticism,
Digambaras not only gained a new authoritative figure and “charismatic leader”

160
An example is Ācārya Vidyānanda’s commitment during the so-called Bahubali Affair, which
will be further discussed in chapter five.
161
Can be translated as `great festival of non-violence´.

143
(Carrithers 1989: 232), but, on a more symbolic level, a `living representative´ of
the Jaina values of asceticism and ahiṃsā.
The Digambara muni as a `symbol of Digambara Jainism´, however, also has a
less imaginative but more pragmatic aspect. In his outward appearance, complete
nudity plus his only possessions of piñchī and kamaṇḍalu, he remains a distinctive
figure. In this regard, his outward appearance marks him much more concretely as
`Digambara Jaina´ than the appearance of any lay Digambara or a bhaṭṭāraka does.
The naked monk, therefore, can be seen as both a more metaphorical symbol for the
values of Jainism, as well as a more concrete symbol for the Digambara Jainas as a
`distinct community´.

The Naked Monk and the Intellectual Jaina Elite

The last part of this chapter will focus on the relationship between the naked
Digambara ascetics as new religious authorities and the intellectual lay Jaina
reformers who have been discussed in chapter three. How did these lay leaders
react to the emergence of the naked ascetic as a leader figure? Have there been any
connections and common goals, or did both groups, ascetics and intellectual lay
Jainas, stay apart from each other in their interests and activities?
First of all, regarding their economic, social and especially educational
background, there existed a huge gap between the typical lay reformer and the
typical naked ascetic. While the former, furthermore, had a very rationalistic and
universal approach to religion and was highly in favour of social reforms, the latter
focused his life on the performance of ascetic practices and religious rituals, and
was rather conservative in his outlook.
When the various volumes of the reformist intellectual Jainas’ main organ, The
Jaina Gazette, are searched, Jaina ascetics are hardly mentioned at all.
Occasionally, the arrival of some ascetics at a special place, or the performance of a
special ascetic ceremony, such as dīkṣā or keśa loñca (an ascetic’s pulling out of
head and facial hair by hand) find a short notice. The Jaina Gazette of May 1927
featured a comparatively longer report about four naked ascetics visiting a private

144
house in Lucknow (Shaw 1927: 138-140). The article, in which the monks’ daily
practices are described, was, however, not written by a Digambara, but a Western
Christian. Interestingly, the reported visit took place at the private house of a
leading Jaina reformer, the editor of The Jaina Gazette, Ajit Prasad, on whose
invitation the meeting most probably had been arranged.
Other occasions, for which notes on Jaina mendicants gain entry into The Jaina
Gazette, rare as these are, are less positive than the report of Ajit Prasad’s Western
visitor. The monks’ low educational level and more conservative attitude
unsurprisingly caused some critical remarks on the part of progressive Jainas.
Though dealing with Śvetāmbara ascetics, the following statement about the
Annual Śvetāmbara Conference’s resolution for the need to educate their ascetics,
gives an example of the intellectual Jainas’ attitude towards uneducated
mendicants:
The ignorant Sadhu who can not even pronounce Sanskrit words
correctly, and who has only committed to memory some wrong
versions of sacred texts is certainly an object of ridicule in the eyes of
the general Non-Jain public and the fewer their number the greater the
dignity of the community. 162

This remark was published in 1916, at a time when naked Digambara ascetics were
still hard to find. However, it does not seem difficult to imagine that the emergence
of the Digambara muni, in most cases not much better educated than his
Śvetāmbara counterpart, would be received among the intellectual Jaina elite with a
similar critical attitude.
An entry in The Jaina Gazette of October 1936 shows that not only the typical
ascetic’s lack of education was criticised, but also his alleged conservative outlook
regarding all aspects of life. Remarking on the decision of two Jaina ascetics to
learn Bengali in order to be able to speak to the Bengali population, the author,
whose name is not mentioned, comments:
These Munies are [the] first of their order who [have] taken the bold but
right step of getting out of the rut of the beaten track - passing all their

162
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XII, No.5, 6 and 7, May, June and July 1916:
110.

145
 lives in Rajputana, and places near about, and speaking to familiar
audiences on familiar subjects.
It will be to their edification to note that the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy was conferred at Cambridge on the venerable Vajirana
Thera, who is thus the first Buddhist monk to study for and pass the
Examination at an English University. Most of the Jain Sadhus have not
even mastered the Elements of Jain Philosophy; and there is hardly one
who can be called an All-round Doctor of Philosophy. 163

Here, we find a comparison with other religious traditions, in which Jaina monks
were ridiculed for their alleged conservatism and indolence. That this indolence,
however, did not hold true for all ascetics, was testified by the lifestory of
Śāntisāgar and his disciples, who went all the way from Karnataka to Delhi.
Due to the short and vague character of the notes published about Jaina ascetics in
The Jaina Gazette, it sometimes proves difficult to make out the ascetic tradition,
the mendicants belonged to. Regarding critical remarks about idleness and
indolence, however, it seems to be more likely that Śvetāmbara and not naked
Digambara monks were the target of the reformers’ verbal attacks. One of the
reasons which make this assumption plausible is the much higher number of
Śvetāmbara ascetics moving in public, while the naked Digambara monk, though
increased in numbers since the first decades of the 20th century, up to the present
day remains, in most regions, a rather rare sight. The extreme ascetic rules of a
Digambara monk, especially the giving up of all kinds of clothing, and the limit on
food and water to be consumed, makes it furthermore rather unlikely to expect
anybody to become a naked monk for the main motivation of his own convenience.
The explicit mentioning of naked Digambara ascetics by authors publishing in
The Jaina Gazette mainly concerned the defence of the ascetic’s right to move
around naked in public. The most ardent defender of what he regarded as a
religious right was Champat Rai Jain. In a fierce article published in The Jaina
Gazette in 1931, he argued: “The views of society may change from time to time,
but religion is unchanging; it cannot change; if it did change it will cease to be
correct and true” (1931a: 134). The Jainas were “exalted and sanctified with the

163
“Jain Sadhus.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XXXIII, No.10, October 1936: 328-329.

146
nudity of Saints, they worship it” (1931a: 134). If, as according to Champat Rai
Jain, an independent India meant a ban on processions of naked ascetics, “no
Swarajya is worth the having” (1931a: 136). In the same year, 1931, Champat Rai
Jain published a tract, called The Nudity of Jaina Saints, in which he argued that the
Digambara monk’s nudity was “no innovation. There are old documents - books
[sic] to show that the practice is at least thousands of years old (1931b: 16-17).”
Therefore, he concluded:
The function of the authorities is not to forbid such rights [of ascetics’
nudity], but to enforce them. The Jaina Saints have been freely moving
about all over India, including the Native States. There has [been] no
obstruction, nor complaint. It is clearly the duty of the authorities to
help them observe their religion, as they have been doing all along […]
(1931b: 23).

Champat Rai Jain wrote this tract, which is obviously mainly addressed to the
British authorities, in the same year when Śāntisāgar and his saṅgha approached
Delhi for the first time. Considering the fact that Jain’s pamphlet was published by
The Jain Mittra Mandal, a Jaina organisation, at Delhi, it seems to be likely that the
publishing of the tract was related to the controversy about the visit of naked monks
in Delhi.
Naked Digambara monks may have been looked down upon by intellectual Jaina
reformers for their lack of education and conservative attitudes. Their severe
asceticism, however, seemed to have secured them respect. The defence of the
Digambara ascetic’s alleged right to complete nudity in public reflects not only the
lay leaders’ respect for the ascetic practice, but can also be interpreted as a way to
state the distinctiveness of the (Digambara) Jaina tradition. In this regard, the
Digambara monk could be seen as the representative of ancient Jaina values, which
had to be protected.
Regarding reform, especially socio-religious reform as propagated by progressive
lay Jainas, Digambara ascetics and lay leaders had very few common interests.
Though, as Michael Carrithers (1989: 232) remarks, some of Śāntisāgar’s activities,
such as his support for the printing of religious manuscripts and the founding of

147
schools, were in accordance with the interests of the well-educated, reform-minded
Jaina elite, Śāntisāgar remained conservative, particularly regarding more secular
reform goals of some progressive lay leaders, such as widow remarriage or a ban on
child marriage. 164 In this respect neither he nor his disciples shared any reformist
goals with intellectual lay Jainas.
The revival of the naked Digambara tradition, on the other hand, has, perhaps
unintentionally, contributed to the emergence of a rising awareness of the
Digambaras as a supra-locally, supra-caste-based religious community. The naked
ascetic’s growing authority corresponded more with the modern idea of a universal
collective Digambara Jaina identity and community, than with the authority of the
bhaṭṭārakas as locally restricted caste gurus. In this regard, the emergence of the
Digambara monk as a new religious authority and a `living symbol of Digambara
Jainism´ has been a development, which, though rather unintendedly, contributed to
the Jaina lay leaders’ aims of establishing a sense of community which transcended
regional and caste-based boundaries.
The image of the Digambara monk as the `ideal ascetic´ added the `core value´ of
asceticism to the picture of Jainism painted by the first English apologetic writings
as a rational, logical and scientific religion. This focus on asceticism, although not
very much stressed in the apologetic writings of progressive Jaina reformers, was
not in contradiction with the concept of Jainism as propagated by reformist lay
Jainas, who acknowledged it, next to ahiṃsā, as the main principle preached by the
Tīrthaṅkaras and practised for hundreds of years by Jaina ascetics and
householders. It has to be noted that the stress on asceticism as a religious `core
value´ is not a new development. Apologetic writings of medieval Jaina scholars
stressed the alleged superiority of their religious path and its focus on asceticism. In
this regard, the stress on asceticism, as well as ahiṃsā, is not a unique and novel
feature of the modern intellectual Jaina discourse. However, the revival of the

164
In personal communication with several lay Digambaras in Maharashtra, who had taken a great
interest in the local Jaina history, among them the scholar Vilas A. Sangave, it was stressed, that
Śāntisāgar had no inclination towards any kind of social reform and took the conservative
standpoint in controversies about reform aims such as widow remarriages.

148
naked ascetic tradition among Digambaras during the early 20th century
substantially contributed to the integration of asceticism as a `core value´ into the
modern 20th century intellectual Jaina discourse. This `integration´ of the concepts
of asceticism and ahiṃsā into the modern identity discourse heavily relied on the
`re-interpretation´ of these concepts, as will be further discussed in the following
chapter.

The present chapter has shown how the re-establishment of a Digambara ascetic
order during the first half of the 20th century has contributed to a broader concept of
community among Digambara Jainas. At the same time, the picture of the naked
monk has become a symbol for the Jaina values of asceticism and ahiṃsā.
Since the time of Śāntisāgar, the number of Digambara ascetics has been steadily
increasing and most of the present day ascetics state that their ascetic lineage goes
back to Śāntisāgar. According to the latest statistics available, 165 the number of
Digambara ascetics - male and female, from kṣhullaka to ācārya - in the year 2006
was 1075. This number, according to the source, includes more than 50 ācāryas
and more than 350 fully initiated naked monks. Compared to a previous estimation
of Padmanabh S. Jaini (1979: 247), who stated the number of Digambara monks for
the year 1977 as 65, and a Hindi newspaper clipping shown to Michael Carrithers
(1989: 221) in 1984 estimating the number at 100, the statistics of 2006 present a
significant growth rate. Regarding observations during field research for this thesis,
however, this growth in numbers seems to be valid. While Michael Carrithers
(1989: 221) in 1989 observed that munis were few and during two of the three years
he spent on field research no monk stayed for cāturmāsa at Kolhapur and the
surrounding area, which is rich in Digambara Jainas, the frequency with which
solitarily travelling monks or groups of ascetics could be seen in the area of
Karnataka and South Maharashtra in 2006 and 2007 was remarkable. The high

165
In the Caturmas Patrika, published every year, the ascetics of the different Jaina sects are
counted while stating the place where they are going to spend the rainy season. Although the
exactness of the count cannot be guaranteed, the publications present an interesting source.
Unfortunately, a recent issue was not available. Nevertheless, the data of cāturmāsa 2006 was
found cited in the Jaina magazine Sanskar Sagar from January 2007 (Malaya 2007).

149
number of ascetics travelling through the region at that time certainly must be
explained in connection with two big mahāmastakābhiṣeka ceremonies 166 held at
Shravana Belgola and Dharmasthala in the spring of 2006 and 2007, and another
big religious festival at Varur, near Hubli (North Karnataka) which attracted groups
of ascetics. This explanation, however, does not diminish the actual number of
Digambara ascetics.
In the first part of the following chapter, the impact of contemporary Digambara
ascetics on the concept of a collective Digambara identity, and the sense of
community among Digambara Jainas will be discussed.

166
Literally `great head anointing´ ceremonies. The ritual will be further discussed in chapter five.

150
 5. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY AND
COLLECTIVE RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AMONG
DIGAMBARAS TODAY:
THE ROLE OF ASCETICS, PUBLIC RITUALS AND LAY
ORGANISATIONS

While the previous two chapters have focused on the period between the end of the
19th up to the first decades of the 20th century, the present chapter aims at analysing
the concepts of collective religious identity and the establishment of community
based on religion within the framework of the present day time period. Most of the
source material for this analysis was collected during January 2006 and June 2007
in the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. The main focus will be laid on
the impact of ascetics, public rituals and lay organisations.
The first part of this chapter will discuss Digambara ascetics, especially in their
interaction with the laity. The argument raised in chapter four will be further
developed. Digambara ascetics fulfil several roles in the establishment of
community among Digambaras and the concept of a collective Digambara identity.
As in chapter four, the greater focus on male ascetics is not meant to diminish the
role of female ascetics. However, due to the lesser ascetic rank assigned to female
renouncers in the Digambara tradition, the spiritual authority of male mendicants,
generally speaking, is considered superior to that of nuns. 167 This ascetic hierarchy,
to a certain extent combined with concepts of gender relations held among
traditional patriarchic (lay) society, finds its further expression in the higher
tendency of male ascetics to assume an active `leadership role´.
The role of distinct Digambara rituals and festivals will be analysed in the second
section of this chapter. In this context, it will be argued that the performance of

167
In individual cases, however, special spiritual authority may be assigned by lay followers to
some highly venerated nuns, such as the previously mentioned North Indian female ascetic Āryikā
Jñānamatī who in the year 1987 was the first Digambara nun to initiate a male follower (Wiley
2006: 113).

151
particular Digambara rituals is instrumental in constructing a sense of community,
as well as in defining the essential values of Digambara Jainism.
In the third part of this chapter, which focuses on lay organisations, the main aim
is to present the modern (Digambara) Jaina discourse on collective identity and the
concept of the (Digambara) Jainas as a distinct community. As will be argued, this
concept of community reflects the discourse of the first Jaina reformers and stays
on a rather abstract level. Furthermore, it will be shown that the present day Jaina
discourse has to be seen in a transnational, global context.
The following sections will also illustrate that different `layers´ of identity among
(Digambara) Jainas co-exist, and the `hierarchy´ of these identities depends on
specific contexts.

`Particular´ and `Routine´ Ascetic-Laity Interaction:

The Different Roles of Digambara Ascetics

The previous chapter has provided an account of the so-called `revival´ of the
naked Digambara muni tradition. It has also been stated that in 2006 the number of
male and female Digambara ascetics of all grades of initiation was counted as 1075,
including more than 50 ācāryas and 350 naked monks. Before discussing the
various roles Digambara ascetics fulfil in interaction with Jaina and non-Jaina
society, it is necessary to examine the developments which have taken place
between the period of Śāntisāgar, who died in 1955, and today.
Śāntisāgar’s direct lineage was passed on, shortly before his death, to his disciple
Vīrsāgar, who was the first muni initiated by him. Today, the saṅgha is led by
Ācārya Vardhamansāgar. John E. Cort, in his article “The Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak
Jain Mendicant (1991)”, has given a detailed comparison between the present day
hierarchical structure of Śvetāmbara and Digambara ascetics, as it had been
presented by Michael Carrithers (1989) two years earlier. Cort makes the following
interesting observation:

152
 The evidence presented by Carrithers and Bābūbāl Jain indicates that
the Digambar mendicants do not have a detailed internal hierarchy.
There are several Digambar ācāryas in addition to the many munis; but
it is not clear whether the status of ācārya is a formal post into which
one is initiated, or a non-initiatory mark of public respect. The principal
hierarchical differentiation among Digambars occurs before full
initiation as a muni, in the levels of advanced householdership of
brahmacārī, kṣullak, and ailak, while the mendicants consist mainly of
the single level of munis, with hierarchy determined by seniority of
initiation. The Śvetāmbars, on the other hand, exhibit a uniformity
among the laity […] but a graduated hierarchy of initiatory ranks
among the mendicants (1991: 663).

Cort’s statement is important, as it shows the relatively loose hierarchical system

among Digambara ascetics. During my field research for this thesis, the somewhat
weak hierarchical organisation became obvious, since various ascetics preferred to
travel and spend their period of cāturmāsa differently. Some munis travelled alone,
some in groups of two, while others stayed with their respective ācārya and his
saṅgha of male and female ascetics. 168 Every contemporary initiated ascetic has a
dīkṣā guru, but this does not necessarily imply a lasting teacher-disciple bond
between them. Some ascetics choose to stay with their respective ācārya or his
successor, and others do not. Each fully initiated Digambara monk’s religious
authority depends more on his status as muni (which he has in common with all
other Digambara monks) and his individual characteristics (which appeal to lay
followers), than on his lineage of succession. In this regard, Michael Carrithers
speaks of a Digambara muni’s “personal charisma” (1989: 230), which, rather than
his line of succession or his belonging to a special order, establishes his authority
over the laity.
Though Digambara ascetics generally enjoy the respect and veneration of the
laity, some have been more popular and, as “charismatic leaders” (Carrithers 1989:
232) more influential than others. Since a mendicant stays an individual - with
individual characteristics and attributes - after his initiation into the ascetic order,

168
In the case of female ascetics, however, their freedom of choice is limited, since they always
travel in company.

153
this is unsurprising. However, since the time of Śāntisāgar some changes have
taken place, most importantly regarding the educational background and initiation
age of Digambara ascetics. The majority of present day Digambara monks and nuns
were born and raised in the rural surroundings of Maharashtra and Karnataka, and
did not receive more than basic formal and religious education. In recent times,
however, a growing number of highly educated professionals can be seen seeking
initiation into the ascetic order. One of the most popular present day ascetics,
Ācārya Vidyāsāgar (born in 1946), seems to be especially successful in attracting
young people with high education to seek initiation into his saṅgha. Vidyāsāgar
himself comes from a rural background and had only very little formal education.
However, after he renounced the householder’s life, he engaged himself in the
study of Jaina literature and is now acknowledged for his learning. 169 During the
field research, meetings with two younger ascetics took place, who had received
higher education before they took initiation, and could converse fluently in
English. 170
Another noteworthy field research observation was the relatively high frequency
of meeting Digambara ascetics who had taken initiation at a young age. In 1989
Michael Carrithers (1989: 224) had remarked that most Digambara monks had
taken initiation at an advanced age, after having led a householder’s life for the
greatest part of their lives. The ācārya Vidyānanda, who took his kṣullaka initiation
at the early age of 19 and became a fully initiated naked monk at 38, according to
Carrithers in 1989, “is regarded as a prodigy” (1989: 224). Though any
demographic data about the average initiation age of the present day Digambara
ascetics is missing, the tendency to seek initiation in early life, instead of regarding
it only as an option for one’s later days, seems to be increasing since the time of
Carrither’s observations. Not only the large saṅgha of Ācārya Vidyāsāgar (who
himself had taken muni dīkṣā at the age of 22) consists of a relatively high number
of female and male ascetics, who opted for asceticism as their life purpose (instead

169
For an English biographical account of Ācārya Vidyāsāgar, see: Muni Kṣamāsāgar (2006).
170
Kṣullaka Prayatnasāgar, met on 19.10.2006 at Bangalore; Upādhyāya Kāmakumār Nandī, met
on 31.12.2006 near Shedbal (Belgaum District, Karnataka).

154
of getting married and raising children first); 171 among the Digambara ascetics
interviewed during field research several had renounced the worldly life in their
teens or early twenties. 172 It could be argued that these are exceptional cases and
that, in general, the number of ascetics who have taken the ascetic vows at a later
stage in life is much higher. Nevertheless, during field research, among the groups
of male and female ascetics who were observed a substantial proportion of the
ascetics appeared to be in their twenties and thirties.
The increasing number of young renouncers certainly has its impact on the fact
that nowadays the former Jaina intellectuals` criticism against the “ignorant Sadhu”
as “an object of ridicule in the eyes of the general Non-Jain public” 173 in various
cases no longer holds true. Notwithstanding the fact that some of the younger
ascetics hold university degrees, those with only little formal education also seem
to be highly motivated to study Jaina scriptures and publish pamphlets and
translations themselves. 174 This does not mean that the uneducated Digambara
monk is a relic of the past which gradually died out after Śāntisāgar. The relatively
low level of the average Digambara ascetic’s formal and religious education is still
criticised by some lay followers. 175 While, as argued in chapter four, Śāntisāgar
was venerated among the laity for his strict ascetic practice, which reflected the
Jaina ideals of asceticism and ahiṃsā in its ultimate form, present day ascetics also
gain their religious authority mainly through their ascetic practice. However, unlike
in the case of Śāntisāgar, some contemporary Digambara mendicants owe their

171
For pictures of the munis in Vidyāsāgar’s saṅgha, see, for instance:
http://www.digambarjainonline.com/dharma/greatja8.htm, last visited on 01.06.2009: 2;
http://www.sarvodya.20m.com/munisangh.htm, last visited on 01.06.2009: 1-3.
172
These are the already mentioned Kṣullaka Praytnasāgar (who became a spiritual renouncer at
the age of 18) and Upādhyāya Kāmakumār Nandī (born 1967, renunciation year 1988); Muni
Tarunsāgar (born in 1967, renounced at the age of 13 and took muni dīkṣā in 1988), as well as the
Yuvācārya Guṇadharanandī (born in 1973, took muni dīkṣā in 1989).
173
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette, Vol.XII, No.5, 6 and 7, May, June and July 1916:
110.
174
As an example for the latter, Ācārya Vidyāsāgar must be mentioned who, after having left his
parents’ house, spent years on the study of ancient languages and Jaina scriptures. He has learned
several classical and modern Indian languages and published several translations.
175
In personal communication with an educated lay Digambara, himself active in publishing Jaina
scriptures, it was explained that the lack of educated munis, according to his opinion, caused a
regrettable shift of focus from philological studies to the performance of rituals (personal
communication, 25.05.2007, Mumbai).

155
special popularity among lay followers also to their religious expertise. This holds
true in the case of Ācārya Vidyāsāgar who especially attracts young professionals,
and that of Ācārya Vidyānanda, founder of a well-renowned Prakrit research
institute at Delhi, who enjoys special respect among intellectual lay Digambaras
and lay scholars. Among female ascetics, the mainly self-taught Āryikā Jñānamatī
is highly venerated for her scholarship in Jaina cosmography (Wiley 2006: 113).
Apart from religious expertise, another element of an ascetic’s special
characteristics has a strong impact on his/her authority over lay followers, and
therefore contributes largely to his/her capacity as a leader who can mobilise the
masses. This will be called `social commitment´. The phrase defined here describes
a Digambara mendicant’s willingness and motivation to engage with his/her
environment in a broader sense than what will here be called the `routine form´ of
ascetic-laity interaction in religious rituals and the taking of food. An example of
this social commitment can already be seen in Śāntisāgar’s involvement in the
Jainas’ protest against the application of the Bombay Temple Entry Bill to Jaina
temples. This example, however, comes from a strictly religious Jaina context, and
Śāntisāgar’s commitment and leadership exclusively concerned Jainas. Other
ascetics, however, have been practising social commitment in a wider sense
concerning matters not purely religious and at times not restricted to Jainas. In this
regard, it will be argued that since Śāntisāgar`s revival the role of the Digambara
ascetic, in various cases, has also been enriched by a stronger element of social
commitment - with individual monks as educationists, social reformers and political
advocates. This development has to be seen in close connection with an increase of
ascetics from a professional background and, in particular, an increase of young
ascetics, who regard their ascetic `career´ as more than an option for retirement.
Regarding social commitment which did not exclusively aim at religious
purposes, the figure of the Maharashtrian ascetic Samantabhadra can be taken as an
176
important example. Born as Devcand Kasturcand Shah to middle-class

176
The following short account of Samantabhadra is based on: Kakrambe (1991: 44-115), and
meetings with former pupils of Samantabhadra at Bahubali, Maharashtra, on 04.12 and
05.12.2006.

156
Digambara Jaina parents in 1891, he attained higher Western education at Solapur,
Bombay, Poona and Jaipur, passing his BA at Bombay in 1916. Afterwards, still as
a lay man, he went to Karanja, a Digambara Jaina centre of Maharashtra, to study
Jaina scriptures. In the following years, he engaged himself in the modern re-
establishment of the ancient gurukula system of education. 177 This re-establishment
aimed at the provision of religious education for young Digambara Jaina boys,
combined with instruction in modern formal education, as Devcand had received
himself. In 1933, when he approached Śāntisāgar asking for kṣullaka dīkṣā, a
heated discussion among religious scholars broke out, about whether Devcand,
after his initiation, would still be entitled to teach and look after the gurukulas.
Eventually, Śāntisāgar initiated him as Samantabhadra. Up to his muni dīkṣā, taken
in the year 1952, Samantabhadra was instrumental in the founding of several
gurukulas. 178 As a fully initiated ascetic, he retired from his active work in the
management of the gurukulas, but carried on giving advice to his helpers. In 1988
he took sallekhanā and died on August 18 at the Maharashtrian pilgrimage place of
Bahubali, where he had spent most of his time after his muni dīkṣā.
The life and impact of Samantbhadra illustrates some noteworthy features. The
reverence lay people showed towards him was not only due to his status as an
ascetic, but also to his expertise in Jaina scriptures and his commitment to the
establishment and management of Jaina gurukulas. As a “charismatic leader”
(Carrithers 1989: 232) he made use of his religious authority to appeal to the laity
for donations for his institutions. Furthermore, his permanent presence at Bahubali
had a special impact on the local Digambaras of the Kolhapur and Sangli area, as
Carrithers remarks:
The presence of a Digambar muni at the site inspired Digambars not
only to send their sons there, but also to spend on more quarried stone
and concrete. Especially after Independence the newly burgeoning
cooperative sugar mills around Kolhapur pumped money into the local

177
Ancient Indian system of education in which students stayed with their teacher for many years
until they completed their education.
178
The first of these was founded at Karanja in 1918. From 1934 onwards, 13 gurukulas were
established in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. For a list of these
institutions, see: Kakrambe (1991: 85).

157
 economy and a good deal of it found its way to Bahubali. Yet more
religious and educational buildings appeared in the Digambar school
precinct (1988: 817).

In this regard, Samantabhadra’s presence had a profound impact on the Kolhapur

region. His own educational background, which was very different from that of
Śāntisāgar, had made him believe in the utility of modern secular education, and a
synthesis of religious instruction and formal education was what he believed to be
best suited for the younger generation. To some extent, then, the example of
Samantabhadra illustrates that the public role of a Digambara ascetic does not have
to be restricted to purely religious matters.
This social commitment, which makes some ascetics more widely known or
influential than others, can also have a political dimension. When in the 1980s a
communal dispute about the pilgrimage place of Bahubali broke out, it was not the
already very aged Samantabhadra who became the religious leader for the
Digambara cause. 179 As the conflict became more severe, the previously mentioned
Ācārya Vidyānanda who himself had grown up at Shedbal (North Karnataka, not
far from Bahubali) entered the scene. Unlike the elderly Samantabhadra,
Vidyānanda had the power to become an energetic leader of the Digambara cause:
Vidyanandaji identified strongly with the cause of the local Digambar
leaders, but he brought with him a capacity they did not possess.
Having traveled widely in the North, he could speak knowledgeably of
other, similar conflicts. He was experienced in public religious affairs,
and could take the local case to a wider constituency. He could be the
focus of broad and specifically religious loyalty among the Digambar
Jains of the region. […] Vidyanandaji’s entry would make the local
fracas a larger and more serious matter (Carrithers 1988: 820).

Apart from fasting, in which Samantabhadra joined, Vidyānanda’s main `tool´ was
his eloquence and experience in public speech. In his rhetoric he appealed to the
personage of Bāhubali, a mythological figure highly venerated among Digambaras.
The legendary account of Bāhubali can be summarised as follows. Bāhubali was

179
The communal dispute first broke out between Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras, while later also
Marathas and untouchables got involved. For a detailed analysis of the conflict, which became
known as the Bahubali Affair, see: Carrithers (1988).

158
the son of the first Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabha. When Ṛṣabha decided to renounce the
world and become an ascetic, he divided his kingdom among his many sons. The
eldest, Bharata, wanted to become a cakravartin, emperor of the whole world.
Among his brothers it was only Bāhubali who rejected his claims. In a number of
single combats between the two brothers, Bāhubali defeated and thereby humiliated
his elder brother. His victory did not give any satisfaction to Bāhubali, but made
him feel disgust towards all worldly aims. Therefore, he became a naked ascetic
and meditated in the standing position, until he finally attained spiritual
liberation. 180 Vidyānanda’s rhetorical appeal to the figure of Bāhubali not only
unified “all Digambars […] momentarily” into “a broader `imagined community´
[…]” (Carrithers 1988: 829); the spiritual authority assigned to the figure of
Bāhubali and, as his `successors´, to Digambara munis, could also be interpreted in
a political way. According to the legend, Bharata, after Bāhubali’s renunciation the
universal emperor, bows to his brother, the ascetic, and acknowledges his moral
superiority. This alleged moral superiority as the characteristic of a Digambara
monk, accordingly, also provides the latter with the power to claim obeisance from
worldly rulers, in the modern context politicians. In this regard, the gesture of
Indira Gandhi begging Vidyānanda to end his fasting was highly symbolic for
Digambaras (Carrithers 1988: 832). The rhetoric and symbolism used by
Vidyānanda during the Bahubali Affair and at various other occasions is highly
illustrative for the modern Digambara identity discourse, especially in the context
of nationalism and communalism. Vidyānanda, taking the role of an exponent of a
“Jain patriotism” (Carrithers 1988: 839), did not refrain from talking about political
matters. The justification for this is not only derived from the alleged moral
superiority of a Digambara ascetic, but also, in a nationalist context, from the
alleged contribution the Jainas have made to India and, in particular, to Indian
Independence. Carrithers summarises this argument as follows:

180
Accounts of this popular story can be found in: Dandavathi (2005: 18-23); Sangave (1981: 66-
68); Settar (1981: 49).

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 Jainism contributed to the Indian nation through Gandhi, and through
the nation, to the world, the principle of non-violence. Hence India has
a special place in the world history, Jainism has a special place in
India’s history, and Jains owe a special allegiance to India. And to Jain
audiences he [Vidyānanda] adds, that, since Jainism is morally and
spiritually preeminent, Jains are preeminent in patriotism (1988: 840).

The reference to the Jaina influence on Mohandas Gandhi is not a new topic within
the Jaina discourse. Already before Independence it had been stressed by Jaina
intellectuals. 181 New, indeed, was its explicit usage by a Digambara monk within a
political and nationalist context. On a more symbolical level, a muni’s
announcement to fast to death in order to get a resolution moved shows a striking
reference to Gandhi’s fastings. This element of passive resistance, demonstrating
the suggested moral and spiritual superiority of the ascetic over worldly (that is
mainly political) powers - among modern Digambara ascetics first used by
Śāntisāgar - was also adopted by Vidyānanda and other munis after him. Similarly,
Vidyānanda’s involvement in politics has also been followed by other Digambara
ascetics, who do not see a conflict between their ascetic status and their
commitment to social and political reforms.
One of the most prominent of these ascetics is the already mentioned Muni
Tarunsāgar. 182 Born in Madhya Pradesh in 1967, he left his family at the very
young age of 13 and took muni dīkṣā in 1988. As a skilled orator, his public
speeches, delivered in Hindi, cover a variety of social and political topics, such as
meat export, alcohol abuse, female infanticide, corruption and communal violence.
During his cāturmāsa stay at Bangalore in 2006, I attended several of his lectures.
His style is very lively, sometimes aggressive, sometimes amusing, but always
seems to capture his audience. A number of his speeches have been published in
book form, some of them translated into English and several Indian languages.
These books, along with audio and video CDs, posters, pictures, and all kinds of

181
See, for instance: Mehta (1929: 200).
182
The following information about Tarunsāgar is mainly based on an interview with the muni,
conducted on 18.10.2006 during his cāturmāsa stay at Bangalore, and the following publications:
Mishra (2003); Muni Tarunsāgar (2003); Tarun Kranti Manch Trust (2006).

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souvenirs are sold from the several vans of his main organisation, the Tarun Krānti
Mañch, 183 which accompany him on his travels. Among the several honorific titles
which he received is the title of Rāṣṭra Sant, `National Saint´, awarded to him in
2003 by the government of Madhya Pradesh. On January 1, 2000 he delivered a
speech from the Red Fort, Delhi, starting his movement against slaughter-houses
and meat export. The location of this public speech, the Red Fort at Delhi, as well
as the many photographs included in his publications, showing prominent political
figures being blessed by him, are of a highly symbolic significance. Similar to
Vidyānanda and other ascetics before him, his spiritual authority gives him the right
to get involved in political matters and to claim obeisance from worldly rulers. The
presentation of rich picture material published by his organisation also seems to
imply that Tarunsāgar’s spiritual authority is not restricted to Digambaras. Several
pictures depict him giving speeches in front of members of the Indian army,
blessing a group of Śvetāmbara nuns, and conversing with prominent Hindu
gurus. 184 Tarunsāgar’s message, and the way he propagates it, strongly reflects a
universalistic approach to religion and spirituality. According to his own
description, his main aim is to spread the Jaina message among everybody,
regardless of caste and religion:
Jains have a very good commodity called Mahavir, but its packing is of
low quality; while today it is the packing which matters the most.
Jain society has either to open up [the] doors of its temples to each
and every person or otherwise take out Mahavir from its confinement to
the common man, they have to take Him to the cross-roads. By taking
Him to the crossroads, I do not mean that I am tampering with his
respect. My intention is to take Lord Mahavir and his message to each
and every person (2003: 16).

`Mahavir’s message´, according to Tarunsāgar, mainly consists in the principle of

ahiṃsā, most prominently expressed in the movement for world wide peace and
vegetarianism. Another of Tarunsāgar’s aim is the cooperation among different

183
Literally `Tarun Revolution Forum´, named after Tarunsāgar who is called `Revolutionary
Jaina Saint´.
184
For these pictures, see: Tarun Kranti Manch (2006: 13; 28; 50-51).

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Jaina sects. When his cāturmāsa camp was held in Bangalore, it was surprising to
see that among his followers were all sects of Jainas and also non-Jainas in big
numbers. The committee organising his cāturmāsa stay consisted not only of
Digambaras but also different groups of Śvetāmbaras. Paryuṣaṇa 185 in his camp
was celebrated for 18 days, instead of eight and ten days according to the different
traditions among the Jaina groups. This cooperation certainly owed a substantial
part of its success to the fact that Tarunsāgar delivers his speeches in Hindi, and
most Śvetāmbaras residing at Bangalore have their origin in North India and
practice Hindi as their native tongue. Nevertheless, cooperation of this kind is
generally rare, and a Sthānakvāsī lay woman and voluntary helper at Tarunsāgar’s
camp frankly explained that she has never before visited a Digambara monk.
Tarunsāgar’s aims, spreading the message of ahiṃsā, propagating social reform and
uniting different Jaina sects, reflect the approach taken by reformist intellectual
Jainas earlier in the twentieth century. In this regard, continuity is found in the
modern Jaina discourse.
As Tarunsāgar’s message presents him as the prototype of a `modern muni´, so
does his extensive usage of modern media in order to spread his message. This
liberal approach towards the use of modern media and technology is shared by
other Digambara ascetics who, like Tarunsāgar, have taken the ascetic vows at a
rather young age. While the speeches of various munis are published in books or
recorded on tapes and CDs, some ascetics can even be contacted by mobile phone
or use computers. 186 (For pictures of Muni Tarunsāgar see Appendix 1)
As can be expected, the opinion of the laity varies. 187 Some dislike the use of
modern media by ascetics or their involvement in collecting donations for the
establishment of religious, social or educational institutions. According to their
opinion, a Digambara ascetic should avoid any danger of worldly attachment by
185
Paryuṣaṇa is a very important Jaina festival of austerities celebrated during cāturmāsa. The
Śvetāmbaras celebrate for eight days while the Digambaras celebrate for ten days.
186
The technical equipment, strictly speaking, is not owned but nevertheless used by them.
187
During field research various conversations with lay Digambaras from different social and
educational backgrounds took place, in which they offered their opinions about their like or dislike
of some ascetics’ practices.

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staying aloof from society as far as possible. Others see Digambara monks and
nuns as the real messengers of (Digambara) Jainism and therefore accept
everything that they regard as helpful for spreading the `Jaina message´.
The examples of Samantabhadra, Vidyānanda and Tarunsāgar do not suggest that
all present day Digambara monks have been actively engaged in education, politics
and social reform. The majority, certainly, has not, and the usage of the internet and
mobile phones is also restricted to a minority. Furthermore, the reformist approach
and social commitment of Tarunsāgar is an exception, and does not suggest that all
present day mendicants welcome social change or religious and inter-sectarian
dialogue. Nevertheless, the above mentioned examples show that a Digambara
ascetic can fulfil several roles within the Digambara and non-Digambara society,
and his/her public appeal sometimes transcends the purely religious sphere and the
boundaries of sect and religion. The examples of Vidyānanda and Tarunsāgar also
show that active participation in the Jaina identity discourse and the presentation of
`Jainism´ to non-Jainas is not restricted to lay followers.
On the other hand, it is important to stress that Digambara ascetics are not a
homogenous group of world renouncers, but individuals with individual concepts of
the `ideal role´ of a Digambara ascetic. In this regard, both lay followers and
ascetics have their individual approach to the Jaina tradition, and lay men and
women generally will be more attracted to individual ascetics whose practice and
speech is more in line with their own concepts of Jaina practice and belief. For
instance, a lay follower who strongly dislikes the worship of yakṣīs, female
protecting deities of the Tīrthaṅkaras, will naturally not be too attracted by monks
and nuns engaged in yakṣī-worship, but favour ascetics who also do not preach and
practice any worship except of the Jinas’. Those who do not accept ascetics using
modern media most likely will not become a follower of Tarunsāgar, but there are
other munis, living in the more traditional way, who can be venerated instead.
It has to be noted that although Samantabhadra, Vidyānanda and Tarunsāgar
represent the Digambara ascetic tradition, their impact on the construction of
community among Digambara Jainas differs. Samantabhadra’s role as authorative

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religious figure was mainly restricted to local Digambaras of the South
Maharashtrian area; furthermore, his religious expertise represented the ancient
scriptural Digambara tradition. In his appeal to Digambaras, Vidyānanda was much
less locally confined. This is amply illustrated in his nationwide travels and
speeches, the latter not only directed at Digambaras, but also non-Digambara Jainas
and non-Jainas. However, while his rhetorical appeal aimed at a broader
construction of the Jainas as representatives of the highest moral values and ardent
nationalists, in more concrete terms he became the leader of the Digambaras in
sectarian disputes between Digambaras on one side, and Marathas and Śvetāmbaras
on the other. These different `roles´ taken by Vidyānanda do not necessarily
contradict each other. While propagating the broader concept of the Jainas as a
community preeminent in patriotism and the practice of moral values, at the same
time Vidyānanda represented local Digambaras and their practical interests in a
regionally confined communal dispute, which he managed to turn into a national
affair.
The last example for a muni’s `social commitment´, Tarunsāgar, demonstrates that
a Digambara ascetic’s sphere of influence can transcend the `boundaries´ of
sectarian and religious affiliations. While Tarunsagar attracts also non-Digambara
and non-Jaina lay followers, in his religious practice and outward appearance he
represents Digambara Jainism. In his rhetorical approach he aims at the
construction of Jainism as a universal tradition, whose values can be practised by
anybody irrespective of sectarian or religious background. It has to be noted that
Tarunsāgar’s appeal to non-Digambaras and non-Jainas, which could be witnessed
during his cāturmāsa stay in Bangalore, is extraordinary, because – as was stated in
interviews with lay Jainas of different sectarian backgrounds and was confirmed by
personal observations during field research - lay Jainas usually do not venerate
ascetics of other sectarian divisions. In this respect, the example of Tarunsāgar and
his extraordinary appeal to non-Digambaras illustrates how special circumstances
and occasions can `broaden´ or transcend otherwise more narrowly defined forms
of collective identities. For instance, while in their daily religious routine and socio-

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religious practices, such as the arrangement of marriages, Śvetāmbaras residing in
Bangalore will hardly have any intercourse with local Digambaras, an extraordinary
event such as Tarunsāgar’s cāturmāsa stay in Bangalore can create a broader
`temporary community´ of Jainas (and also non-Jainas) with different sectarian and
caste backgrounds.

Apart from the individual characteristics and activities of Digambara ascetics -

illustrated in the examples of Samantabhadra, Vidyānanda and Tarunsāgar - which
make some more popular or controversial among the laity than others, the everyday
`routine interaction´ between a Digambara ascetic and the laity also has an
important impact on lay Digambara social and religious life. In chapter four it was
described how, with Śāntisāgar, the Digambara monk became a `public figure´,
with nearly all of his actions being watched by the laity. A muni or nun is rarely on
his/her own. During their wanderings, they are accompanied by lay followers.
When they leave one place, an escort of lay Digambaras will go with them. In the
case of more popular munis, often travelling with their saṅgha, special
arrangements for accommodation will be made, for instance in public buildings
such as schools, and sometimes a number of vehicles will accompany the group,
transporting the luggage of escorting lay followers and food to be prepared for
them. 188
The most important daily ritual in which an ascetic interacts with the laity is the
highly ritualised begging for food. The giving of food, āhāra dāna, complies with
strict rules regarding the purity of the food, the religious conduct followed by the
lay followers preparing and giving the food, and the way in which the food is to be
taken by the ascetic. 189 On the part of the laity, it involves great effort, for all
preparations, from personal cleanliness to the cooking itself, will take several

188
For instance, these arrangements were made when the popular Ācārya Devanandi travelled
with his saṅgha near Humcha (Shimoga District), Karnataka, in February 2007. When Devanandi
was briefly interviewed he explained that there are four vehicles to carry the luggage of lay
followers, and I was offered the opportunity to join them.
189
For a description of the ritual of āhāra dāna, see: Carrithers (1989: 227-228); Cort (1999: 96-
98); Wiley (2006: 27-28); Zydenbos (1999).

165
hours. However, since it completely depends on the ascetic, if he or she chooses
food from one person or another, the careful preparation does not necessarily imply
that the food will be accepted by an ascetic. Bearing these aspects in mind, the
efforts taken by lay followers, mainly women, illustrate the high symbolical value
attached to the ritual of feeding an ascetic. According to observations during field
research, the women felt more than happy to get the chance of feeding an ascetic,
which is considered both an honour and a way to gain religious merit. Strictly
speaking, the sustaining of the body through food and water is the only aspect in
which an ascetic depends on the laity. However, John E. Cort (1999) regards the
renunciation of Jaina ascetics not as anti-social, but as a social institution in itself.
In this regard, he rightly remarks:
With the exception of their dependence upon the laity for food, water,
and shelter, the mendicants’ daily routine […] is largely independent of
the laity. But in actual practice, there is frequent interaction between the
mendicants and the laity in both the private and the public spheres
(1999: 93).

These interactions have a profound impact on the establishment of community

among Digambaras and the concept of a collective religious identity. In chapter
four some important aspects of an ascetic’s impact were discussed. The completely
naked muni, having no possessions and eating only once a day, symbolises the
Jaina values of asceticism and ahiṃsā to the highest possible extent. In this regard,
for Digambaras, he becomes the `living symbol of Digambara Jainism´ and
deserves just the same veneration as a Tīrthaṅkara does. In actual practice, this
veneration shows in the way a muni is treated by lay followers, who bow in front of
him, massage and wash his feet and perform the ritual of āratī to him, worship with
lamps, also offered to the image of Tīrthaṅkaras. In his outward appearance the
Digambara muni, as a distinctive figure, is more concretely recognisable as a
Digambara Jaina than any other Digambara.
For Digambaras, his example of practised asceticsm and ahiṃsā is not only
worthy of worship, but can also be inspiring. Furthermore, since ascetics are
expected to deliver spiritual discourses, they also act as teachers of the Jaina

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tradition. Although many monks and nuns may not be very well educated, most of
them will have undertaken some religious studies after their renunciation and will
at least have read some Jaina scriptures in vernacular translations, which makes
them, on the whole, not as ignorant as the harsh criticism on the part of early lay
Jaina reformers claimed them to be.
Regarding the conceptualisation of the Digambaras as a community, the impact of
Digambara ascetics is found not only in a symbolical aspect, but also in a very
pragmatic issue. The visit of an ascetic to a special location always acts as an
impulse for the social and religious life of a group of local Digambaras. An ascetic
or, even more, a group of ascetics usually brings a festive and devotional
atmosphere to the places visited. Special pūjās 190 and functions will be organised
and held. In this regard, the social intercourse between local Digambaras, in their
specific role as members of one religious community, will normally be higher
during the special occasion of an ascetic’s visit. The cāturmāsa time especially,
when the ascetics stay at one place for several months, gives vital impulses for the
social and religious life of local Digambaras as a community. In practice, the stay
of a group of ascetics at one place for four months depends on a high level of
preparations, which again require the involvement of as many voluntary helpers as
possible. During the cāturmāsa stay of Tarunsāgar and his kṣullaka Prayatnasāgar
at Bangalore in 2006, not only a high degree of voluntary help, but also of financial
aid was required. In this specific example, donations from all Jaina sects were
needed to refund the costs. 191 On a concrete, practical level, the service of lay
followers towards ascetics mainly contributes to the establishment of community
among local groups of Digambaras. However, interaction between lay followers
and ascetics is also conducive to conceptualising the notion of Digambaras as a
community in a wider sense. On the more pragmatic level, this can be seen in the
interaction between Digambaras from various local backgrounds while escorting
groups of ascetics or organising their further travels. On a more symbolic level, a

190
Pūjā means a formal, ritualised adoration.
191
Personal communication with a local Digambara whose family had been involved in organising
Tarunsāgar’s stay.

167
Digambara ascetic’s impact on the notion of a distinct Digambara identity,
achieved through his outward appearance, his practices and teachings, also
contributes to the notion of a distinct religious community of all those who identify
themselves as Digambaras.
In the next section, another important constituent in the formation of collective
religious identity will be discussed, in which all sectors of Digambaras participate -
religious rituals and festivals. In this regard, the Jaina value of asceticism also holds
a preeminent position, as will be shown in the following section.

`Fasting and Feasting´:

The Role of Rituals and Festivals

The present section will focus on two Digambara Jaina rituals which, it will be
argued, are important for the establishment of the concept of Digambaras as a
supra-caste, supra-locally-based religious community. As the headline suggests, the
first is deeply connected with `fasting´ and, as such, with the utmost practice of
asceticism. Among Digambaras usually known as sallekhanā, the voluntary gradual
reduction of food up to the point where all kind of food and even water is
renounced, follows strict rules. Inscriptions and memorials found at the South
Indian Digambara pilgrimage centre Shravana Belgola testify that the ritual had
mainly been performed by ascetics between the 7th and 10th century. From the 10th
to the 15th century, sallekhanā taken by lay persons is also recorded, while after the
12th century the performance seems to have become less (Settar 1986: 3-124; Wiley
2006: 181-182). In the present day context, the vow of sallekhanā may be taken by
lay men and women during a terminal disease. Among ascetics, however, there may
be different reasons for taking the vow. Most importantly, sallekhanā may be
practised when a particular physical condition, related to disease or old age, makes
the proper observance of the ascetic rules impossible. Generally, the ritual is more
common among Digambara than Śvetāmbara ascetics. This interesting point, which
is mentioned by Kristi L. Wiley (2006: 182) and John E. Cort (1991: 654-655) also

168
conforms to field research observations, although the exact reasons for this
phenomenon need to be the topic of further research. While the ritual, known
among Śvetāmbaras by the name of santhārā, during the 20th century has only very
rarely been practised by a few Terāpanthī and Sthānakvāsī ascetics (Cort 1991:
654-655; Wiley 2006: 182), among Digambaras the formal vow of sallekhanā has
not only been taken by some lay followers, 192 but - after the example of Śāntisāgar
- seems to have become the ideal ascetics try to follow. Although any empirical
data is missing, personal observations during field research suggest that the vow is
taken more often than might be expected. In the year 1999, Ācārya Vidyānanda,
now permanently residing at Delhi, took the special vow of niyam sallekhanā,
which means a gradual reduction of food and liquids over the period of twelve
years. At some places in North Karnataka and Southern Maharashtra local
Digambaras explained about the sallekhanā recently performed there by an ascetic,
while at Kunthalagiri, where Śāntisāgar ended his life, several munis and two nuns
had taken sallekhanā. Furthermore, in his biography of Ācārya Vidyāsāgar, his
disciple Muni Kṣamāsāgar mentions several ascetics of the saṅgha having
performed the ritual (2006: 118-127).
The practice of the ritual is noteworthy for several reasons. One is the extreme
physical hardship involved in it. Seen from this viewpoint, the complete renouncing
of any kind of food and liquid seems to be a logical climax to a muni’s or nun’s
ascetic life. Therefore, sallekhanā can be regarded as the ultimate symbol of
asceticism, which, again, is a core value of Jainism. However, since the vow is
mainly taken by lay followers and ascetics belonging to the Digambara fold,
sallekhanā is more a distinct feature representing the Digambara tradition.
On a deeper level, the ritual not only symbolises utmost asceticism and self-
control, but also absolute individualism and independence. During his life as a

192
Regarding sallekhanā practiced by old and/or terminally ill lay followers, several lay
Digambaras interviewed during field research mentioned cases from their own family. At one
family’s home at the village of Ugar Bundruk, near Shedbal, pictures were shown of the recent
sallekhanā of an elderly, seriously ill female family member (15.01.2006).

169
mendicant, a Digambara muni is free from any human bonds and has to submit to
nobody. Even his dependence on the laity for food can be regarded as relative,
since he has mastered bodily desires and, if no food is available, will practise
fasting. Independence and individualism have been stressed by Carrithers (1989:
225-230) as main characteristics of a Digambara muni. Seen in an Indian context,
these elements gain special importance, since “a person’s independence and
autonomy is by implication also an assertion of superiority” (Carrithers 1989: 226).
In deciding when and in which way to die, an ascetic’s autonomy is taken to the
highest possible degree. In this regard, the ritual of sallekhanā can be considered an
expression of a Digambara ascetic’s suggested moral and spiritual superiority and,
in a wider sense, of the Digambara tradition as such.
While the performance of sallekhanā among Jainas and non-Jainas is regarded as
an especially extraordinary event, what makes it even more special is the fact that
some ascetics perform it openly in public. A person’s fasting to death as a `public
event´ certainly seems to be rather unusual for a Western spectator. During a field
research visit to Shedbal (North Karnataka) in January 2006, local Digambaras
invited me to watch a set of video CDs with the recordings of the sallekhanā of
Ācārya Subalsāgar who, after having taken the vow of niyam sallekhanā in 1992,
spent his last months at Shedbal, before he passed away on March 17, 2004. On
altogether 10 CDs the most important functions and rituals, performed during the
ācārya’s last months and weeks, were recorded. Surrounded by his saṅgha of male
and female ascetics, as well as other ascetics and several bhaṭṭārakas, watched by a
number of lay followers, the ascetic’s death was a public event. So were the
following procedures and rituals, from the positioning of the dead ācārya’s body in
a sitting position, immediately after his death in the night, to the last pañcāmṛta
abhiṣeka 193 to the dead body of the ācārya and his cremation on the following day.
As could be seen from the recordings and as was testified to in personal
communication with local Digambaras, the last weeks in the life of Subalsāgar

193
Pañcāmṛta abhiṣeka is the ablution with five precious substances.

170
attracted thousands of devotees and spectators to Shedbal, from far beyond the
regional borders. However, the events at Shedbal were no exceptional case
regarding the performance of an ascetic’s sallekhanā taking the form of a public
devotional festival. An ascetic’s announcement of the intention to take sallekhanā
is received by the laity as an exceptional devotional and spiritual event. When
visiting Shedbal for a second time in December 2006, local Digambaras explained
that a muni belonging to the late Subalsāgar’s saṅgha had announced his own
sallekhanā, and I was invited to come back in a few weeks time to witness the
passing away of the ascetic. As this incident shows, the performance of sallekhanā
is not only highly venerated by lay Digambaras, but also a practice Digambaras
take substantial pride in. Regarding the establishment of a sense of community
among Digambaras, the ritual can be considered an extraordinary event which not
only brings together a local group of Digambaras, but also draws Digambaras from
other regions. In the case of prominent ācāryas or munis fasting to death, also many
non-Jainas and even politicians pay their respect to the ascetic. Since it also attracts
non-Jainas, who are free to partake as spectators, the performance of sallekhanā -
even if rather unintendedly - contributes to the presentation of the Digambara
tradition and its alleged moral superiority to non-Jainas. In this regard, sallekhanā
as a `public event´ demonstrates Digambara values to the non-Jaina society while,
at the same time, it acts as a special occasion, at which Digambaras of different
localities and economic backgrounds come together to join into a distinctive
Digambara Jaina ritual.

While the ritual of sallekhanā, more than anything else, symbolises the Jaina
value of asceticism, the Digambara festival of mahāmastakābhiṣeka, discussed in
the following subsection, combines the aspects of `feasting and fasting´ in a distinct
and, for the spectator, spectacular way. According to Indian tradition, the ritual of
anointing or ablution, abhiṣeka, forms an important element in the worship of
sacred statues. The ritual, performed by Hindus, Buddhists and Jainas, is an integral
part of the first installation of an image, but is also frequently performed during

171
regular worship. What makes the abhiṣeka ceremony performed in the form of
mahāmastakābhiṣeka (`great head anointing ceremony´) mainly at Digambara
pilgrimage places of Karnataka special, is the immense height and size of the
images adored. In this regard, the ablution of the image’s head requires special
arrangements and therefore will be performed only around every twelve years. A
further noteworthy feature is the figure worshipped in the festivals. Unlike in most
Digambara temples, where the images of Tīrthaṅkaras and their female guardian
goddesses, the yakṣīs or yakṣiṇīs, are worshipped, the colossal statues adored by
mahāmastakābhiṣeka are the images of the previously mentioned mythical figure
Bāhubali. The story of Bāhubali had found its expression in several literary works,
the first among them written during the 9th century CE in Sanskrit, and was taken
up by several influential Kannada poets. 194 As in literature, the figure of Bāhubali
in Karnataka also developed into an important subject in the field of arts. The most
famous and oldest colossal image of Bāhubali, also known as Gommaṭa or
Gommaṭeśvara, is situated at Shravana Belgola, where it was erected around 981
CE. It measures more than 58 feet. 195 In the coastal region of Karnataka, at Karkal
and Venur, two smaller statues of Bāhubali were erected in the years 1432 and
1604. A much smaller and not very well-known Gommaṭa statue is located near
Mysore at a place called Gommatagiri (Dandavathi 2005: 46-50). Finally, in 1975 a
huge statue of Bāhubali was erected at Dharmasthala, South Karnataka. These are
the most prominent colossal Bāhubali images, which testify to the prominence of
the Bāhubali cult among the Digambaras of Karnataka. In this regard, the
mahāmastakābhiṣeka of Gommaṭa is a distinct Digambara ritual, most prominent in
the South. In the following, I will mainly focus on the grandest of these ceremonies,
the mahāmastakābhiṣeka at Shravana Belgola.

194
These poets include Pampa and Cavundaraya (both 10th century). For more details, see: Settar
(1981: 47).
195
The measurements of the Karnataka University’s Indian Art History Institute, taken in 1980,
give the total height as 58.8 feet (Dandavathi 2005: 28-29).

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 The first mahāmastakābhiṣeka at Shravana Belgola most probably took place
shortly after the completion of the statue. Some epigraphic evidence mentions the
performance of the ritual during the following centuries. During the 20th century it
was performed eight times (Dandavathi 2005: 34-35), and the last
mahāmastakābhiṣeka took place in February 2006. During a period of around ten
days the huge statue was anointed daily with thousands of litres of water, milk,
sugarcane juice, diluted turmeric, sandalwood, and other precious substances. Tens
of thousands of Digambaras from all parts of India, a big congregation of ascetics,
and also many non-Jainas came to witness the event. In the weeks and even months
preceding and following the mahāmastakābhiṣeka, the number of Digambara
pilgrims visiting Karnataka was much higher than usual, as many Digambaras from
North and West India used the opportunity to visit other Digambara centres of
Karnataka. The mahāmastakābhiṣeka at Shravana Belgola is the most splendid and
most well-known ritual performed by Digambara Jainas in South India. However,
the funding 196 and organisation of the ritual is managed by Digambaras from all
over India, and many wealthy Digambaras from North and West India spend large
sums bidding for the right to perform parts of the ablutions. The cooperation
between Digambaras from different parts of India in the organisation of the festival
does not necessarily imply that everything will be decided and all necessary work
will be distributed in a harmonious way. In personal communication, some
voluntary helpers in the arrangements complained about unfair distribution of work
load and high politics behind the scenes. This does not come as a surprise, since the
event involved the activities and, at times, different interests of various individuals.
However, individual personal rivalries do not diminish the fact that thousands of
volunteers had temporarily been working for the same, distinct Digambara, cause.
Regarding the devotees visiting Shravana Belgola during the time of the ceremony,
a `temporary community´ of worshippers, joining a specific Digambara festival,
was established. Although originally a festival of South Indian Digambaras, by
attracting Digambaras from all parts of India, disregarding their local or caste

196
The immense costs of the mahāmastakābhiṣeka are also, to an extent, covered by the national
and state governments.

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background, the mahāmastakābhiṣeka at Shravana Belgola acts as a public platform
to represent Digambara Jainism on a supra-local level. This especially holds true
for the ceremonies held during the 20th century, when the notion of a universal
religious community of Digambara Jainas first had taken its form. This last point,
the nationwide representation of Digambara Jainism, has an important impact on
the concept of Digambaras as a religious community as held among non-
Digambaras. In other words, it contributes to the establishment of an image of
Digambara Jainism and the Digambaras from the `outside´ perspective.
Regarding the mahāmastakābhiṣeka at Shravana Belgola as a distinct Digambara
ritual it has to be noted that also a number of non-Digambara Jainas and non-Jainas
witnessed the ceremony in 2006. The performance of the rituals, however, was
restricted to Digambaras. Considering the fact that the festival is a large-scale and
extraordinary event, its appeal to the wider public is not surprising. Therefore, it
would be misleading to suggest that Digambaras and non-Digambaras join the
mahāmastakābhiṣeka with the same motives or become a unified `temporary
community´ of worshippers. While for Digambaras the event combines worship
with partaking in an extraordinary event, for non-Digambaras, especially non-
Jainas, the latter aspect will be the main motivation. In this respect, this section
does not argue that the mahāmastakābhiṣeka as such transcends sectarian or
religious differences. Rather, its contribution to the establishment of a broader
concept of collective religious identity remains confined to Digambaras; however,
by presenting a distinct Digambara Jaina ritual to non-Digambaras and non-Jainas,
the concept of a supra-locally and supra-caste-based Digambara community is
demonstrated to the non-Digambara public.
Regarding the representation of Digambara Jainism to non-Jainas, another
important aspect has to be mentioned. Judging from the personal impressions
gained during the mahāmastakābhiṣeka performed in 2006, the festival was
anything else than dry, “most colorless, […] most insipid”, to use the previously
cited phrase with which the Sanskrit scholar Hopkins (1902: 296-297) had
characterised the Jaina tradition in general. Although Hopkins wrote this statement

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in 1902 the `orientalist legacy´, described in chapter two, still lingers on. Jainism,
accordingly, in the popular (non-Jaina) imagination is restricted to the focus on
strict ascetic practices, such as meditation and fasting. But whoever imagines the
Jaina tradition as a colourless, rigid ascetic system, will have to reconsider this
approach after having witnessed festivals such as the mahāmastakābhiṣeka at
Shravana Belgola. Colours, scents, music and dancing, all these elements combine
in the veneration of Bāhubali, the ideal ascetic, thereby combining the two elements
of `feasting and fasting´ into a distinct festival. The mahāmastakābhiṣeka at
Shravana Belgola is not the only festival which combines `feasting and fasting´;
however, for non-Jainas it is the most visible and most prominent one. (For pictures
of the ceremony see Appendix 2)
At first glance, both of the discussed rituals, sallekhanā and
mahāmastakābhiṣeka, do not seem to have much in common, apart from both being
distinctively Digambara and acting as an important religious occasion, when
Digambaras from different localities and social backgrounds come together.
However, on a symbolic level, both rituals can be regarded as the illustration of
asceticism as a core value of Jainism. Earlier in this chapter, Ācārya Vidyānanda’s
rhetorical appeal to the figure of Bāhubali was discussed. In this interpretation, the
Digambara muni acts as the `successor´ to Bāhubali’s spiritual and moral authority.
While the image of Bāhubali gets anointed with precious substances during the
mahāmastakābhiṣeka, so too was the dead body of Ācārya Subalsāgar (after his
sallekhanā) in the performance of pañcāmṛta abhiṣeka. In both cases, the focus is
laid on the veneration of asceticism and the moral superiority attained by its
practice which, according to the Digambaras’ self-definition, is to its highest degree
found among Digambara Jainas.

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 Rhetoric and a `Re-imported´ Universal Approach:
The Role of Lay Organisations

Most of the present chapter has dealt with Digambara ascetics and asceticism as a
Jaina `core value´. This last section will be less focused on the aspect of asceticism.
Nevertheless, though discussing other suggested `core values´ of Jainism, the
various parts of this chapter are connected by the same inherent theme: the
suggested moral superiority of Jainism. In the case of the Digambara ascetic this
`moral superiority´ has been used to justify an ascetic’s involvement in political and
social issues and define the Jainas’ alleged contribution to the Indian nation as
profound. The following paragraphs will illustrate, in what ways the suggested
`moral superiority´ of Jaina values is used in the discourse of contemporary lay
organisations.
Regarding the first reformist Jaina organisations founded at the beginning of the
20th century, the DBJS has carried on as an organ of the educated middle or higher
middle-class. However, at present a substantial number of its members consist of
middle-aged and retired elderly men. Its various branches are mainly active in
running educational institutions, most prominently student boardings, and
managing temples and pilgrimage places. The following short account of the
present state of the DBJS mainly focuses on its impact on the concepts of a
collective Digambara identity and the Digambaras as a distinct community. Apart
from my own observations made during visits of DBJS institutions and interviews
with members, 197 much is owed to the work of Michael Carrithers (1991).
As Carrithers (1991) remarks, the influence of the DBJS during the 20th century
has been noteworthy for two related aspects. The first (concrete and visible) one
has been the establishment of educational institutions aiming at the educational
(and also economic and social) progress of the local Digambaras. The second (less
tangible) one is its continuous discourse on the Digambaras as a community. This
`community´ acquires its practical and visible form through the educational efforts

197
During field research, several weeks were spent at DBJS run student boardings at Hubli,
Belgaum, Kolhapur and Sangli, where members of the DBJS were interviewed.

176
of the DBJS whose institutions are open to every Digambara, in other words to
every member of the `Digambara community´. This `community´, then, can be said
to consist of all those born into a family which belongs to one of the Digambara
castes. In this respect, the rural Digambaras of North Karnataka and Southern
Maharashtra are united in as far as they belong to an “improving community”
(Carrithers 1991: 265) regarding their educational and economic progress since the
founding of the DBJS in 1899. Besides this very basic definition, the DBJS`s public
discourse on the Digambaras as a community stays on a mainly secular and rather
abstract level. In its public discourse mainly addressed to local Digambaras, this
secular and abstract level does not come as a surprise when the organisation’s
traditional `protestant´ approach to Jainism is considered. Similar to what can be
called `protestant movements´ among Hindus, such as the Ārya Samāj, or
`protestant Buddhism´ in Sri Lanka, this “Jain Protestantism” (Carrithers 1991:
274) lays its main focus on reform and a critical approach to traditional institutions
and authorities (such as temple priests and bhaṭṭārakas). Furthermore, its
preference is for the publication and study of religious scriptures rather than for the
performance of rituals and building of temples (Carrithers 1991: 273). It seems to
be evident that the DBJS’s discourse on the Digambara Jainas as a community
rather focuses on the Jainas as ardent proponents of special universally valid values,
than on a community connected by the partaking in the same rituals and festivals.
This approach is illustrated in a speech delivered at the organisation’s yearly
meeting of 1985. Commenting on the `moral decline´ of Indian society, the DBJS’s
new president declared:
In these circumstances a new problem has been placed before the
followers of Jainism […] who cherish […] the eternal values such as
truth, ahiṃsā, and non-possession […]. For the past thousands of years
the founders and teachers of Jaina dharma have set their moral stamp
on those of other faiths. Today as well by the example of (good)
conduct this stamp must be set on other communities. This
responsibility falls on followers of Jainism. In the future this
responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Jain youth (S.T.Patne, cited
in: Carrithers 1991: 271-272).

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This open declaration of the Jainas’ suggested moral superiority resembles the
rhetoric of the ascetic Vidyānanda, earlier discussed in this chapter. In both cases,
the Jainas’ alleged impact on Indian history is regarded as profound. However, as
the DBJS is a lay organisation, the moral superiority claimed in the above cited
speech is not based on Digambara ascetics and the element of asceticism. Here,
Jainas are seen as those who follow “the eternal values such as truth, ahiṃsā, and
non-possession” (S.T.Patne, cited in: Carrithers 1991: 271). It does not become
clear if these values, according to the speaker, are considered the sole `patent´ of
the Jainas and have only been `adapted´ by other religious traditions after the
Jainas’ example. In any case, since the Jainas are seen as `responsible´ for the
`moral progress of Indian society´, they are regarded as allegedly practising the
“eternal values” (S.T. Patne, cited in: Carrithers 1991: 271) in the most ardent way.
The above mentioned statement seems to be a rather extreme example of the
feeling of moral superiority expressed in Jaina rhetoric. However, the idea that the
Jainas as followers of a special timeless and universally valid set of concepts are in
the position to contribute largely to the moral progress of society in general, has not
only survived since the first apologetic writings of an educated Jaina elite, but also
still seems to be in full blossom. Before a further elaboration of this argumentation
will be developed, it has to be noted that the discourse on the moral superiority of
Jainism is not a `product´ of the late 19th and 20th century. The Jaina tradition has a
long history of apologetic writings in which the Jaina philosophy was presented as
the ultimate path to spiritual liberation. These writings were mainly produced by
Jaina scholars during the medieval period and reflect intellectual disputes with
proponents of other philosophical and religious systems. This discourse had its
focus on intellectual discussion between individuals who were well-learned in
religious and philosophical aspects of their traditions. Neither did these writings
address a larger non-highly educated audience, nor did they illustrate particular
interest in presenting the Jaina tradition as a means to provide solutions for worldly
matters. Regarding the latter point especially we find a novel development within
the modern Jaina discourse which presents an interesting `re-interpretation´ of
ancient Jaina concepts. This `re-interpretation´ and its focus on the construction of

178
Jainism as a universally valid, supra-sectarian and supra-caste-based `way of life´
will be illustrated in the following discussion of a recently established Jaina
organisation, The Young Jains of India. 198 The analysis is based on the program
booklet from their first convention, held at Indore in December 2005; field research
observations; personal communication with some members, conducted in 2006 and
2007 at Dharwad, Hubli and Varur (Karnataka); and on written communication
with leading members via the internet. Established in the year 2005, the
organisation especially targets young and professional Jainas, regardless of caste or
sect. According to their self-description, the YJI are “[a]n organization dedicated to
promote Jainism as a way of life, a practice, and an observance” (YJI Program
Booklet 2005: 1). This concept is further illustrated in the words of a leading
member:
Our aim is to simplify Jainism without compromising on the basic
principles and fundamentals so that the youngsters do not perceive
religion as a complicated set of Do’s and don’t [sic] to follow, rather
they get guided towards self-realization with deeper understanding of
Mind, body & Soul [sic] .
We do not preach Jainism as a religion but as a way of life that can be
adopted/followed by any individual regardless of caste/creed/religion.
We believe that Jain Way of Life is based on very scientific and logical
principles which help in improving the quality of one’s life. So not only
Jains but anyone can and should learn to understand and practice it
(personal written communication from a leading member of the YJI,
June 2008).

Regarding the rhetoric used by the YJI, the phrase `Jain Way of Life´ is particularly
noteworthy. According to the YJI program booklet from 2005, the Jain Way of Life
consists of three concepts, which form “core Jain principles” (YJI Program Booklet
2005: 13). These principles are: Ahiṃsā (non-violence), aparigraha (non-
possession or non-possessiveness) and anekāntavāda (can roughly be translated as
`non-onesidedness´). The choice of these concepts as `core values´ requires some
further remarks. The first two, ahiṃsā and aparigraha, both form parts of the five-
fold vow Jaina ascetics take and also householders may adopt to a lesser degree.

198
In the following the short form YJI will be used.

179
Regarding the emphasis which Jainas place on the principle of ahiṃsā, its inclusion
as a `core value´ is logical. The choice of aparigraha, however, is less easily
explained. For instance, it may be asked why (apart from ahiṃsā) among the
concepts included in the ascetic’s and householder’s vows aparigraha and no other
was chosen. The third concept propagated as part of the Jain Way of Life, finally, is
not part of the vows, but a metaphysical concept and philosophical method. The
term anekāntavāda can be translated as “the theory of non-onesidedness” or “the
theory of the many-sided nature of reality” (Matilal 1981: 1). Reality, accordingly,
is manifold and should not be described in an unconditional statement. For
instance, the self (jīva) can be said to be both permanent and impermanent,
depending on the viewpoint. In this regard, the Jaina tradition grants partial truth to
other religious systems which are either based on the theory of permanence or
impermanence (Wiley 2006: 36). However, Jaina philosophy rejects any
philosophical system which claims to contain the absolute truth as ekānta,
`onesided´. As a philosophical method, also known as syādvāda, which can be
translated as `the doctrine of may be´, anekāntavāda was used by medieval Jaina
monks as a polemical weapon in religious disputes, by making it possible to defend
their own doctrine, while pointing out that rival systems only contained the partial
truth. 199
A look at the `modern interpretation´ of the three concepts, as provided by the
YJI, makes it clearer why these principles were chosen. The YJI program booklet
from 2005 provides the following explanation:
The world today is in a dire need of the Jain principles of Non-Violence
(Ahimsa), Non-Possessiveness (Aparigraha) and Non-Onesidedness
(Anekantvaad). When we read the newspaper or turn on the television,
we hear of hatred and anger along with on-going wars and acts of
terrorism. The spirit of ahimsa is urgently needed. Today, there is ever-
increasing greed for money, power, fame and other materialistic
objects. The principle of aparigraha offers a solution to overcome the
greed and live a life of contentment. Fundamentalism and differing
views divide us to the point of violence. The principle of anekantvaad

199
For the Jaina doctrine of anekāntavāda, see: Cort (2000: 325-327); Dundas (2002: 229-233);
Jaini (1979: 89-97); Matilal (1981); Wiley (2006: 36).

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 also referred as multiplicity of views, makes us realize that the reality
may be perceived differently from different points of views (YJI
Program Booklet 2005: 2).

Within this modern interpretation of Jainism and the concept of a Jain Way of Life,
the focus on ahiṃsā is not really new, but reflects the stress on ahiṃsā as the `sole
remedy´ for the modern world’s problems, as propagated from the beginning of the
20th century onwards in the first English apologetic writings. Regarding the
interpretation of aparigraha, its usage as one of the `core values´ becomes more
evident. In the modern context, aparigraha, similar to ahiṃsā, loses its original
focus on individual spiritual progress, and becomes an important tool for the
progress of the whole world. In this regard, the Jaina tradition is re-interpreted as a
tradition of ecological awareness, with aparigraha as a responsible approach to the
environment, the saving of natural resources, and a substantial means to create a
fairer world.
However, seen in the modern context the most revealing re-interpretation
concerns the concept of anekāntavāda. This modern interpretation has already been
promulgated in academic and popular accounts of Jainism from the beginning of
the 20th century onwards. Here, anekāntavāda is interpreted as `intellectual
ahiṃsā´. The term `intellectual ahiṃsā ´ was coined by the Indian scholar A.B.
Dhruva, who first used it in 1933 (Cort 2000: 327). 200 In this context, anekāntavāda
is regarded as tolerance towards other opinions. In his article “`Intellectual Ahiṃsā´
Revisited: Jain Tolerance and Intolerance of Others” (2000), John E. Cort has
shown how the interpretation of anekāntavāda as `intellectual ahiṃsā ´ was
adopted by other scholars and “has had a powerful afterlife” (2000: 328).
However, as Cort (2000) and other Western scholars (Dundas 2002: 229-233;
Wiley 2006: 36) have demonstrated, the interpretation of anekāntavāda as
`intellectual ahiṃsā ´ in the form of tolerance towards the (religious) views of

200
A.B. Dhruva first used it in his Introduction to Syadvadamanjari of Mallisena with the
Anyayoga-Vyavaccheda of Hemacandra. Bombay Sanskrit and Prakrit Series 83, The Department
of Public Instruction, pp.xiii-cxxv, here: p.lxxiv. As this publication has not been available to me,
I rely on: Cort (2000: 327; 344-345).

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others, must be regarded as a “misreading” (Dundas 2002: 232) of the original
doctrine. Most Jaina teachers, who made use of anekāntavāda in its dual aspects as
a metaphysical concept and philosophical method, still considered the Jaina
doctrine and practice the only one which could lead to salvation. Furthermore, a
history of Jaina literature shows instances of religious intolerance and sometimes
rather harsh critical remarks against non-Jaina texts and beliefs (Cort 2000: 331-
336; Dundas 2002: 232-233; Wiley 2006: 36). Finally, the re-interpretation of an
ancient complex doctrine as `religious tolerance´ proves to be problematic, as Paul
Dundas rightly states:
Religious tolerance, effectively a political concept born in the European
Enlightenment, does not transpose itself particularly comfortably into
the traditional Indian context in which Jain philosophy was located.
Although there can be no doubt about the general persistence of flexible
attitudes towards objects of worship in South Asia, Indian religions and
philosophical movements were highly critical of the knowledge systems
and ideologies of their rivals (2002: 232-233).

However, anekāntavāda, according to its modern interpretation as used by the YJI,

has not stayed confined to respect for other opinions in the intellectual field. In a
broader context, it has become an expression of religious tolerance and harmony in
a globalised world. Furthermore, it takes the role of an intellectual weapon against
any kind of intolerance, fundamentalism and terrorism.
The interpretation of anekāntavāda as `intellectual ahiṃsā´ has been widespread
especially among Jainas of the British and North American diaspora, 201 who
attempt “to situate themselves within the new global and pluralistic context of
religious expression” (Cort 2000: 330). In various ways, the interpretation is used
“with the corollary implication that the Jains thereby occupy a moral and
intellectual high ground in the arena of religious pluralism” (Cort 2000: 330).
Cort’s remark is important regarding two aspects. First, it demonstrates the Jainas’
claim of `moral superiority´. Second, Cort’s reference to the Jaina diaspora leads
exactly to the place, to which the YJI and the Jain Way of Life owe their

201
In this thesis the term `diaspora´ is used in its broadest sense of being dispersed from the
original homeland for a variety of reasons, including work opportunities. For a discussion of
different usages of the term, see: Cohen (1997).

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`existence´: the establishment of the YJI was highly influenced by a diaspora Jaina
organisation, the Young Jains of America. Two active members of the latter
organisation were instrumental in the founding of the YJI. Furthermore, the Jain
Way of Life evolved in the US as part of a Jain Vision 2020, developed by a group
of Jaina professionals. The Jain Vision 2020 is introduced as follows on the
internet:
We Jains have been on a path of Non-Violence, Non-Absolutism
(Anekantvad), and Non-Possessiveness (Aparigrah) for 1000’s of years.
And recently Science is walking with us- hand in hand on this path. For
1000’s of years Jains have believed in […] animal compassion,
vegetarianism, environmentalism, equal rights for women, respect for
other culture, religion, and traditions, forgiveness, and more. […] Jains
are sitting on a treasure and have so much to offer. Imagine if we had
shared this treasure with the world 1000’s of years ago, this world
would have been a very different place. But it is not too late
(http://www.jainlink.org?page=vision, last visited on 30.06.2008:1-2).

Other maxims included in the Jain Vision 2020, which are worth mentioning here,
are the `branding´ and `positioning´ of Jainism, in order to make it easy to be
understood and be compared with other religious traditions: “[W]hen someone asks
what is Jainism - we give a short crisp response”
(http://www.jainlink.org?page=vision, last visited on 30.06.2008: 3). The creation
of the Jain Way of Life evidently reflects some kind of `branding´. Three Jaina
principles have been taken out of their traditional context and been given a new
interpretation, which represents Jainism as a universal `way of life´, which can be
practised by anybody without the need for formal conversion.
This `vision´ is interesting, for it not only reflects a universalistic approach to
religion, but furthermore illustrates the context of religious diaspora. Immigrant
Jainas share important similarities with other immigrant religious groups in North
America. As other South Asian immigrants, Jainas feel the necessity to adapt their
tradition to the new surroundings. This becomes especially important regarding the
second and third generations, for whose members traditional languages, rituals and
symbols often have lost their meaning. Parents mostly seek the assistance of

183
organisations at the crucial point, when their children begin to socialise outside of
the home (Williams 1998: 189).
Furthermore, in the diaspora context the question of individual and group identity
is more pronounced. This process of identity formation in the diaspora is closely
linked to religion, as South Asian immigrants to the US, according to their own
statements, “are more religiously active than they were in India or Pakistan” which
“[…] reflects the power inherent in religion to provide a transcendent foundation
for personal and group identity in the midst of the enormous transitions that
migration entails” (Williams 1998: 188). Apart from the search for their own
identity, the defining of their own religious tradition for its presentation to outsiders
is considered crucial. Therefore, `branding´ and `positioning´ of their own religious
tradition become maxims for activists of immigrant religious groups. 202 In this
respect, a missing focus on internal divisions within the newly `branded´ religious
traditions is not surprising, for it would diminish a clear presentation to outsiders.
Regarding the propagation of a Jain Way of Life, we do not find any references to -
in practical life existing - further divisions and more narrowly defined forms of
collective identities along caste and sectarian lines. The YJI’s discourse uses the
conceptualisation of community among Jainas in the widest possible sense, not
only including Jainas of all regional, caste and sectarian backgrounds, but, more
than that, propagating Jainism as a practical way to live one’s life, open to anybody
without the need for formal conversion.
Regarding the background of the North American Jaina diaspora, the YJI are
certainly a special example for a modern Jaina lay organisation. However, the
example is chosen for an important reason. In the modern globalised world with
transnational networks - especially electronic media such as the internet - religious
ideas, concepts and organisations spread, and developments among religious groups
in the diaspora have their influence directed back to the Indian `homeland´
(Williams 1998: 193-194). This process, however, also works vice versa. In this

202
For a study of Hindu immigrants to the USA and their organisations’ aims at the `codification´
of an `American Hinduism´, see: Kurien 2004. The felt necessity to `define´ the own religious
tradition in the context of the North American Hindu diaspora is also discussed in: Eck 2000: 233-
235.

184
regard, the modern interpretations of the three principles of ahiṃsā, aparigraha and
anekāntvāda, for instance, could already be found in India decades before the YJI
adopted the Jain Way of Life from North American Jaina immigrants. A `branding´
of Jainism, however, seems to be an issue more important in the context of the
religious diaspora.
Contemporary religious developments among South Asian immigrants to North
America and Europe will not be further discussed here.203 Suffice to say that the
organisation of Jainism in the diaspora in many ways has been similar to
developments among other South Asian religious communities in North America
and Europe. The discourse on the Jaina Way of Life, developed among Jaina
immigrants and `re-imported´ to India by the YJI, shares a similar argumentation to
the modern representation of other Indian religious traditions, mainly Hinduism, in
its emphasis on `timeless ethical values´ such as non-violence and (religious)
tolerance. While the YJI’s propagation of these values greatly resembles the
universalistic approach of the first English apologetic Jaina writings and speeches,
its stress on Jainism “as a way of life that can be […] followed by any individual
regardless of caste/creed/religion” (personal written communication from a leading
member of the YJI, June 2008) further contributes to a rather abstract and secular
concept of the Jainas as a universal community.

The present chapter has aimed at illustrating in what ways the concepts of
collective religious identity and supra-caste, supra-locally-based religious
community have been established among Digambara Jainas in modern times. One
common theme connecting the impact of ascetics, distinct rituals and lay
organisations is the interpretation and presentation of Jaina values as `morally
superior´ and best suited for universal progress. In this regard, the Jaina discourse,
as started by early Jaina reformers from the end of the 19th century onwards, has
proved to be persistent. Although the `moral superiority´ of the `Jaina values´ of
asceticism and ahiṃsā seems to be widely accepted among different sectors of

203
Among academic publications discussing the South Asian religious diaspora in North America
and Britain, see: Coward et al. (2000); Kurien 2004; Williams 1998.

185
Digambaras, the concept of the Digambara Jainas as a distinct, concretely defined
religious community remains blurred and abstract; in this respect, the most visible
and `concrete´ form of a Digambara Jaina community finds its expression in lay-
ascetic interaction and the performance of distinct Digambara rituals.
The previous sections have illustrated various forms of collective identities among
Digambara Jainas; these `multiple identities´ and concepts of community formation
co-exist with shifting `hierarchies´ - depending on individual motivations and
external circumstances. While, for instance, in his speeches the Digambara ascetic
Vidyānanda makes use of a broader concept of a `Jaina community´ with specific
`Jaina values´, in the context of a communal dispute he became the leader and
proponent of the Digambara interests. That the establishment of community can
have a temporary nature and substantially depends on individual circumstances was
illustrated in the discussion of Tarunsāgar’s cāturmāsa stay in Bangalore in 2006
which attracted a substantial number of Śvetāmbara Jainas who temporarily joined
local Digambaras in rituals and devotional activities. Regarding the establishment
of a supra-locally, supra-caste-based concept of community among Digambaras, the
large-scale festival of the mahāmastakābhiṣeka provides a special occasion for the
establishment of a `temporary community of worshippers´ consisting of
Digambaras of different regional, caste and social backgrounds.
The broadest conceptualisation of community and collective identity among
Jainas is propagated by the contemporary lay movement of the YJI. While the YJI’s
discourse shares the DBJS’s stress on the alleged moral superiority of the Jaina
tradition and defines `Jainism´ in a rather abstract and secular sense, both
organisations appeal to different Jaina groups. Originated as an organisation of
regional Digambara castes of the South Maharashtrian and North Karnataka area,
the DBJS still represents Digambaras of the area. The YJI aim to represent all
Jainas regardless of regional, caste or sectarian background. Their main message,
therefore, does not consist in the propagation of a `Digambara´ or `Śvetāmbara´,
but a `Jain Way of Life´. The universal message of this Jain Way of Life is
furthermore stressed by the claim that anybody - irrespective of his or her religious

186
background - can practise it. During a public meeting of a local section of the YJI
near Hubli, North Karnataka, in 2007 several members invited me, a non-Jaina, to
join the organisation. It may be argued that the YJI’s broad and universal
conceptualisation of Jainism as a practice open to everyone is no more than a
theoretical construct with no practical value. However, the fact that regarding
socio-religious practices caste, and especially sectarian divisions among Jainas play
an important role, does not necessarily diminish the possibility of other, broader
forms of collective identities among Jainas. These identities may be heavily relying
on discourse and may be more `imagined´ than more narrowly defined sectarian
and caste-based forms of identity; nevertheless, these broader concepts of
community and collective identity among Jainas have developed into an influential
intellectual force. This development finds a practical expression in campaigns for
nationwide minority status which are substantially based on the notion of a unified,
broader Jaina community. These campaigns will be discussed in the following
chapter. The discussion will focus on the question to what extent the modern Jaina
discourse of intellectual lay leaders and reform movements such as the YJI - with
rather abstract and `blurred´ definitions of the Jainas as a separate, non-Hindu
community - have an impact on the legal status of the Jainas as a community.
Furthermore, the chapter aims to show in what ways the `Jaina case´ differs from
developments among other Indian religious groups - Sikhs and Buddhists in
particular.

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 6. ARE JAINAS HINDUS?
POLITICS AND THE QUESTION OF CULTURAL AND
RELIGIOUS IDENTITY

The previous chapters have described and tried to analyse the processes of
community building among a regional sub-group of the Jainas. It was shown in
chapter two, in what ways `Jainism´ as a distinct religious system was `defined´ by
orientalist scholars like Hermann Jacobi from the last decades of the 19th century
onwards. Around the same period, the term `Jain´ as a separate category also found
its entry into the Indian census. Among Jainas, as among other Indian traditions, the
discourse on a communal religious identity and special `values´ was led by a small
educated elite. The construction and propagation of a distinct, separate Digambara
Jaina community whose members adhered to `universal Jaina values´ such as
ahiṃsā, asceticism and tolerance has been strengthened by lay-ascetic interaction
and the performance of distinct rituals.
Nevertheless, one important aspect within the Jaina identity discourse has
remained blurred. If, as stressed by apologetic writers, the Jainas had preserved the
most `original Indian values´ such as ahiṃsā in their `purest form´, how has the
relationship between Hindus and Jainas to be defined? As we have seen in chapter
three, for men such as Virchand Gandhi or Lala Benarsi Dass, a clear distinction
between `Hindu´ and `Jaina´ had never been a pressing concern. Neither was the
establishment of exclusive communal boundaries between Jainas and other Indian
religious traditions part of other Jaina reformers’ rhetoric agenda. What, according
to the reformers’ discourse, made Jainism special was its alleged timeless and
universal approach, while being firmly rooted within ancient Indian tradition. In
this regard, Jainism and Hinduism (as well as Buddhism) were held to share the
same cultural heritage. The main distinction between Jainas and Hindus (and
Buddhists), then, was rather found in the grade, in which special `original Indian
values´, such as vegetarianism, were practised. Although this stream of
argumentation, which constructed the Jainas as `torch bearers´ of ancient Indian

188
civilisation, stressed the Jainas’ `Indianness´ and `patriotism´, it proved to be less
than helpful when issues of communal political representation or legal procedures
about religious rights of communities were concerned.
The present chapter will take up the issue of the intermingling of politics and
communal identity, in the case of the Jainas mainly represented in their campaigns
for the official legal recognition as a nationwide religious minority community. The
aim will be to discuss the Jainas’ position within the modern Indian nation state’s
framework of a Hindu majority and several officially recognised religious minority
communities. Within the context of the modern Indian nation state, the position of
the Jainas will be compared to that of the officially recognised religious
minorities, 204 the Buddhists and Sikhs in particular. Like Jainas, Buddhists and
Sikhs follow a religious tradition which originated on the Indian subcontinent.
Unlike in the case of the Jainas, however, both Buddhists and Sikhs have been
included as national religious minorities and are therefore legally regarded as
separate, non-Hindu religious communities. The reasons for these different
developments, as will be argued here, are mainly due to two interrelated factors in
which the Jaina `case´ differentiates from that of Buddhists and Sikhs (as well as
the other officially acknowledged religious minorities): first, historical and socio-
political factors, such as the small number and wide distribution of Jainas, which
have made an efficient political organisation among Jainas difficult to achieve;
second, closely interrelated, the dominant identity discourse among the lay leaders
of the respective communities, which has used the rhetoric `tool´ of the
“construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) to various degrees. Before I
discuss the Jainas’ position within India’s religious pluralist and communal
landscape, a general outlook on the issue of minorities in Indian legislation will be
provided.

204
On 23.10.1993 the Indian Central Government issued a notification, declaring the following
religious groups as religious minority communities: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Zoroastrians (Government of India, Ministry of Welfare: 23 October 1993, Notification
8.0.No.810. F. No.1/11/93/MC [D]).

189
 Minorities and the Indian Legal System

When after Independence the Constitution of India was officially adopted on

January 26, 1950, its framing body, the Constituent Assembly, had gone through
months of lively discussions about the question of minorities in Indian society.
Apart from ethnic and linguistic diversity, the legal system had to deal with the
issue of religious minorities. The traumatic experience of Partition and the founding
of Pakistan, accompanied by violent expulsions, communal riots, and the killing of
hundreds of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, had made relations between the Hindu
majority and India’s other religious communities, especially the Muslims, a crucial
and very sensitive topic. Unlike in the case of Pakistan, the Constitution of India
defines India as a democratic, liberal and secular state (Mahajan 1999: 31). The
principle of secularism did not imply any hostility or discrimination against religion
and religious practice as such, but was meant to ensure that all religious traditions
would be treated as equal by the state (Bhasin-Malik and Aiyar 2007: 103). Article
25 of the Constitution of India accordingly guarantees each citizen “freedom of
conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion” (Article 5 [1],
Constitution of India). 205 Regarding minorities, Article 29 declares the protection of
their interests: “Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any
part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the
right to conserve the same” (Article 29 [1], Constitution of India). The definition of
minorities stated here includes ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities. However,
during the framing of the Constitution, the especially established Advisory
Committee on Fundamental Rights of Citizens and Minorities only included
representatives of religious minorities (Mahajan 1999: 61). The criteria for the
representation of a respective religious group were seen in its cultural
distinctiveness and smaller numerical strength, compared to the Hindus as India’s
religious majority. In this regard, the framers of the Constitution regarded Muslims,
Sikhs, Parsis and Indian Christians as religious minorities. This classification,
205
This information, as well as other parts of the Constitution of India cited in this chapter, are
downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department),
Government of India (http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html).

190
already controversial at the time of the Constituent Assembly, allowed
representatives of the named communities to officially take part in the debates
about minority rights (Mahajan 1999: 61).
Provisions for special rights of respective communities had already been made by
the British colonial power and the rulers of some princely states. 206 Regarding the
religious communities which later on, during the Constituent Assembly debates,
were to be regarded as religious minorities, it was the Muslims who had been the
first in British India to be granted separate electorates, after the constitutional
reforms of 1909. In 1919 and 1935 provisions for special representation in the
legislature were also granted to Sikhs and Indian Christians. Apart from provisions
for special representations in the political field, the colonial state furthermore
granted reservations in government employment (Bajpai 2000: 1837; 1843 fn.1).
As Rochana Bajpai points out:
Ever since the introduction of the constitutional reforms of 1909 […]
religious minorities had been the prime beneficiaries of the colonial
state’s policies of group preference. In constitutional drafts and
deliberations, political safeguards encompassed provisions for reserved
seats in legislatures, quotas in government employment, reserved posts
in the cabinet and the creation of administrative machinery to ensure
supervision and protection of minority rights (2000: 1837).

The above mentioned special political safeguards enjoyed in British India,

however, did not find their introduction in the final draft of the Indian Constitution.
Though representatives of religious minorities, who had benefited under the British,
aimed at securing reserved seats in political bodies and reservations in government
employment, these special benefits eventually were only granted to the so-called
‘scheduled castes´ and `scheduled tribes´, whose members were not only
economically and educationally backward, but were also regarded as having had a
long history of exploitation and unequal treatment inflicted by the higher Hindu
castes. The final decision to exclude religious minorities from any constitutional
political safeguards was only reached after extensive debates within the Constituent

206
See: Bajpai (2000: 1837). For special reservations and provisions for scheduled castes and
tribes, as well as the so-called `other backward castes´, see: Galanter (1984: 18-40; 154-159). For
a special focus on the princely state of Kolhapur, see: Latthe (1924); Salunkhe (1994).

191
Assembly, which will not be repeated here. 207 Suffice to say that the dominant
nationalist opinion regarded special political rights of religious communities as
undesirable and dangerous within a democratic, secular nation state (Jha 2003:
1581).
While special rights for political representation of religious minorities were
largely regarded as against the democratic and secular character of the Constitution,
the right to practise and preserve their respective religion and culture was not.
Although initially the right to establish educational institutions and receive
governmental aid for these was to be limited to linguistic minorities, the final draft
of the Constitution, as Article 29 testifies, included religious minorities (Jha 2003:
1582). Therefore, religious minorities had been granted the right to establish and
manage their own institutions and provide religious education in these. Ideally,
Article 29 aims at protecting a minority’s cultural distinctiveness against the threat
of assimilation by the majority community. As Gurpreet Mahajan puts it:
“Collectively, these rights sought to protect the independence and autonomy of the
religious minorities while simultaneously providing an assurance that their cultural
identity would not be tampered with by the state” (1999: 62). Seen in the context of
the recent history of Partition, the Constituent Assembly’s focus on a minority’s
right to keep its own cultural and religious identity was mainly targeted at Muslims,
who remained the largest religious minority in independent India. In practice, the
Constitution granted religious minorities non-interference by the state in their
religious affairs, while, at the same time, educational institutions founded and run
by religious minorities were eligible for governmental aid.
With the framing of the Constitution, however, controversies about the rights of
religious minorities continued. Here, one main point of debate concerns the fact
that freedom of religious practice, as guaranteed in Article 25, led to the official
acceptance of different personal laws. In this regard, the Muslims’ practice of their
own personal law in dominant discourse has been seen as an obstacle to the
creation of a uniform civil code and as a violation of the principle of gender

207
For these debates and the different opinions held by members of the Constituent Assembly, see:
Bajpai (2000); Gupta (1999); Jha (2003); Mahajan (1999).

192
equality (Engineer 2006: 34-35; Mahajan 1999: 63). The ‘special treatment’ of
religious minorities in general, expressed in state aid for their educational
institutions, and of Muslims in particular, as reflected in their right to practise their
own personal law, also has led to a popular discourse arguing that the Hindu
majority is disadvantaged and unfairly treated. 208
These discourses will not be further discussed here, since they do not hold a
prominent position within the framework of this thesis. Other controversies about
the legal status of religious minorities, however, do, and these are mainly concerned
with blurred, if not completely missing definitions. First of all, one has to ask:
which groups are India’s religious minorities? We have already seen earlier in this
chapter, that those communities which had already benefited under the colonial rule
were invited to send representatives for the Constituent Assembly’s debates about
minority rights. Among them, Muslims and Sikhs had been the most audible ones,
whose claims for special representation had first been acknowledged by the British.
On the dual basis of being smaller in number than the Hindu majority and
possessing a distinctive culture, Parsis and Indian Christians were also included in
the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights of Citizens and Minorities.
However, nowhere in the Indian Constitution, nor in any other official legal
document, is a comprehensive definition of `minority´ given. The present listing of
the officially recognised nationwide religious minorities, also including Buddhists,
is found in a Ministry of Welfare Notification from October 23, 1993. But even
here, a definition of the specific character of a ‘minority community’ is missing.
Though, as Dipankar Gupta stresses, minorities tend to be defined by secularists
as static, unchanging entities, they are dynamic (1999: 47). These dynamics do not
only find their expression in the various opinions voiced in official debates about
minority rights. 209 Geographically speaking, on the basis of numerical strength a
nationwide minority can be a majority in specific areas, in the Indian context the
208
This popular discourse is mentioned in: Mahajan (1999: 63). During field research in
Karnataka and Maharashtra several lay Jainas interviewed stated that they regard a separate
personal law for Muslims as an unfair treatment of all other religious communities.
209
For a short overview about changing attitudes towards which groups should be legally included
among the minorities, see: Mahajan (1999: 47-48). Regarding the question, which groups should
be included among `scheduled castes´ and `other backward castes´ the legal discourse has proven
to be even more profound. For a historical account, see: Galanter (1984: 119-147; 154-281).

193
respective states. This holds true for Muslims, who are the majority in Jammu and
Kashmir, as well as Sikhs in Punjab and Christians in the North-Eastern states of
Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
In the following section, a historical account of the Jainas’ campaigns for
recognition as a distinctive Indian religious minority will be given.

The Jainas’ Campaigns for Nationwide Minority Status:

Phase One: Under British Rule

One of the main contemporary Digambara Jaina activists for the recognition of the
Jainas as a nationwide religious minority, the DBJS member Bal Patil, in 2009
considered the “Jain demand for minority status […] a century old” (2009: 1).
Strictly speaking, back in 1909, the issue at stake was not the minority status as
such, but political reservations for Jainas. When, accompanying the so-called
Morley-Minto Reforms, the British considered reserving seats in the Legislative
Council for “important minorities” (Patil 2009: 1), the Bombay-based Digambara
merchant and reformer Seth Manekchand Hirachand, at that time acting President
of the Bhāratavarṣīya Digambara Jain Mahāsabhā, appealed for the inclusion of the
Jainas as an important minority. Since any explanation of what exactly made a
minority `important´ is missing, we can only speculate about the nature of an
`important´ minority. Regarding the historical and social circumstances, the felt
need of the British to stabilise their rule after the partition of Bengal, it does not
take much imagination to regard `loyalty´ as a major criterion for a minority’s
importance. Furthermore, the reservations were only meant for a tiny section of the
minority, namely the upper class Western-educated elite. Regarding the most likely
criteria for a community’s `importance´ during the British rule, loyalty,
cooperation, economic power and educational standard became important
characteristics, stressed in petitions for the granting of special reservations to
respective communities. Accordingly, in his “Memorandum of Evidence”,
submitted on October 13, 1924, to the Reforms Enquiry Committee at Simla,
Nanoo Mal, Honorary Secretary of the Jain Mitra Mandal at Delhi, listed the

194
following reasons as justification for the Jainas’ claim for separate representation.
First of all, the Jainas were among the richest communities of India and regarding
literacy held the highest rank after the Parsis. Apart from being an ancient
community with a glorious past, the Jainas had strenuously cooperated with the
East India Company and had rendered profound service to it (1924: 274-275).
During World War I the Jainas had shown their loyalty by supplying the British
with money as well as men: “As such their welfare is the welfare of the Empire”
(1924: 275).
Sources like the above mentioned, about the political engagement of Jainas to
secure special reservations for the Jainas as a community from the time before
Independence, are rare. However, the few available articles from The Jaina Gazette
support the following reconstruction of Jaina activities during the first half of the
twentieth century. As the year 1909 with the passing of the Morley-Minto Reforms
had stimulated campaigns from the leaders of several communities, among them
the Jainas, the Government of India Act of 1919 also had its impact on the political
activity of minority groups. In this regard, several notes in The Jaina Gazette are
devoted to the political representation of the Jainas. In an article entitled “The Jains
and the Reconstruction of India”, published in 1919, the anonymous author starts
with praise of the alleged ancient glory, power and influence of the Jainas, before
he mentions the current political situation. Unlike the other (not specified)
communities, the Jainas, according to the author, missed their chance by their
inactivity. 210 After this criticism, he goes on to explain his concept of the role of the
Jainas for India as a nation:
When we preach the preservation of Jaina integrity and the principle of
self-determination we ought not be misunderstood. We don’t ask to
forget the higher call of the nation but this much we emphasise that the
future Indian Nation will be richer for maintaining the integrity of the
minor religious communities. Hence it is not inconsistent with our
national policy to insist on the special rights and privileges for the Jains
(“The Jains and the Reconstruction….”: 88).

210
“The Jains and the Reconstruction of India.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XV, No.3, September
1919: 86-89.

195
The article is interesting for several reasons. First of all, the above cited statement
highlights the aspect of `patriotism´ within the discourse on minority rights. Apart
from the focus on the Jainas as `most loyal citizens´, as expressed in Nanoo Lal`s
previously cited article, here we additionally find the issue of patriotism and
nationalism. This latter aspect is a very modern one in debates about special
privileges for religious minorities: though, according to the argument, a minority is
given special rights and privileges, its members’ main loyalty will still lie with the
nation. This argument seeks to counteract the majority’s fear of communal tensions.
In this regard, the above cited author implies that the Jainas have strong patriotic
and nationalistic feelings. By highlighting the alleged former glory of the Jainas,
their positive impact on India is stressed.
Apart from this apologetic statement, which sheds light on the dominant
presentation of the Jainas as patriots and loyal citizens, another important aspect of
the Jainas’ involvement in politics also finds its expression in the article. While
other communities take the chance of the Government Act to secure political
representation, the Jainas are described as rather indifferent. Critical remarks about
the alleged political disinterest of the Jainas as a community can be found in
various articles published in The Jaina Gazette. Though an anonymous article from
February 1920 states that individual members of the Jaina elite, such as Ajit Prasad
and Manak Chand Jaini (both Western-educated lay Jaina leaders) were active
members of the Congress, as a community “Jainas have never dabbled in
politics.” 211 In 1917, Ajit Prasad had established the so-called Jaina Political
Conference (“The Reforms Act 1919….”: 44-45). Due to deficient participation,
however, its existence proved to be shortlived.” 212
As was shown in chapter three, Jaina reformers during the first decades of the 20th
century criticised not only the conservative Jainas’ lack of interest in social and
educational reforms, but also their indifference regarding political representation of
the Jainas as a minority community. For reformist Jainas, such as the editors of The

211
“The Reforms Act 1919, and the Jainas.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XVI, No.2, February 1920:
44.
212
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XXV, No.7, 8 and 9, July, August and
September 1929: 208-209.

196
Jaina Gazette, the damage done by this indifference and passivity was even worse,
when considering the alleged glorious history and present economic condition of
the Jainas, which, in the eyes of lay Jaina leaders, made them worthy of being
counted among the “important minorities” (Patil 2009: 1). An article from 1926,
entitled “The Political Rights of the Jainas”, aimed at contrasting the Jainas’
`national importance´ with their actual lack of political representation:
It is a well known fact that the Jains form a very wealthy community in
India. Their contribution to the growth of Indian Industries and the
development of Indian Commerce is in no way an insignificant one.
Their religion and culture date from a period buried in the dim pre-
historic past. From the beginning of the historic age till even a century
after the advent of the British into our country the Jains have played
very influential parts in various capacities. There have been Jaina
Emperors, Kings, Ministers, Commanders-in-Chief, Legislators, Judges
and others […].
But what is our political status to-day? Owing to our own indifference
we are left unnoticed. Though we are the followers of a very ancient,
independent and separate Religion, we are wrongly considered as a
class of Hindus. Though we follow several customs and manners
peculiar to ourselves and occupy a prominent position in the Indian
Nation we are not recognised as an important minority community. We
are not given the privilege of sending our own representative to any of
the Legislative Bodies. 213

The same article also sought to demonstrate the main reason for the Jainas’ political
neglect, namely their own indifference. As a very small minority distributed over
the whole of India, the Jainas had to work hard to make themselves heard.
Therefore, the unnamed author insists: “The teaching is `Ask and it shall be given.´
If we don’t ask, nobody will know our needs. However important we may be, we
will be left unnoticed if we sit idle (“The Political Rights…”: 285-286). This
statement reveals an important aspect of the debate about minorities and their
rights: a community’s claims have to be audible. Though lay Jaina leaders, as the
above cited examples illustrate, regularly blamed the Jainas’ indifference and
passivity for their lack of audibility, it would be misleading to imagine the Jainas as
a group particularly indifferent to politics. Besides the failed attempt to secure

213
“The Political Rights of the Jainas.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XXII, No.9 and 10, September
and October 1926: 285.

197
reservations in 1909, the fact that in 1923 the Jainas of the Madras Presidency were
granted one seat in the Legislative Council demonstrates some Jainas’ engagement
in claiming special rights for the Jainas as a community. 214 Their lack of audibility,
then, was not merely due to missing initiative, but naturally also to the Jainas’ low
numerical strength. Their widespread distribution, furthermore, made it impossible
to build a numerically influential minority in any of the provinces. Their weakness
in numbers, combined with the lack of any geographical `centre´ - by contrast with
the case of the Sikhs - has certainly, up to the present day, been a substantial
obstacle to the Jainas becoming a very audible community.
Though, due to their economic influence, they may have been considered
`important´ by the British rulers, their lack of numbers made them a less influential
minority. In this regard, it has to be noted that within minority rights discourse the
numerical weakness of one respective community does not necessarily imply the
group’s preferential treatment compared with other minority communities, but
rather the opposite. Among various minority groups, that with the greatest
numerical strength will usually be the most audible and most dominant one.
Reflecting on the Constituent Assembly debates about minority rights, Rochana
Bajpai thus rightly remarks: “In minority claims, a given group’s numerical status
was invoked most frequently to denote numerical strength (rather than numerical
disadvantage) which made the group a force to reckon with and gave it better title
to safeguards than smaller groups” (2000: 1838). In this regard, The Jaina Gazette
of June 1922 in a short note remarks that the petition of Jainas in the Punjab for
legislative representation had been rejected due to their lack in numbers.215 Another
source from 1927 reflects the importance numbers have been given in claims for
minority rights. After having listed the Jainas’ “loyalty to the British Empire”, their
economic importance and wealth, as well as their “hoary antiquity in religion and
philosophy”, as factors for their `important position´ among India’s communities,
representatives of the Jainas of the Delhi Province state the following in their
petition for the granting of public holidays on Jaina festival days:

214
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol XIX, No.11, November 1923: 271.
215
“Notes and News.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XVIII, No.6, June 1922: 173.

198
 But in spite of their being most ancient, important, wealthy and law-
abiding people in India, we regret to state that the Jains being in a
minority, though an important minority, no Jain festival is declared by
the Government as a public holiday […]. Comparisons are not as a rule
desirable but the fact cannot be denied that as compared with the Sikhs,
the proportion of the Jains in the Delhi Province is about double (i.e.
2764 Sikhs and 4698 Jains). While in the Bank Establishments,
according to the latest Census figures, out of the total employees 5474,
the number of Jains is 377 (i.e. 7 per cent or 49 in 700), while the
number of the Sikhs is only 8 (i.e. roughly 1 in 700) […].
We do not intend in the least to minimize the importance of the
Sikhs, but we do wish to assert that the Jains are quite as important a
minority and greater in population in this province and so in the name
of justice and fair-play they can claim from the Government that they
should be granted at least as many public holidays as are now enjoyed
by their sister community, the Sikhs, whose numbers as shown above
are less in every respect. 216

Though the Jainas in the Delhi Province may have been larger in number and held
more positions in government employment than the Sikhs, in general the Sikhs
remained a more audible and influential minority than the Jainas. Unlike the Jainas,
who, in most cases without success, in various districts and Native States filed
petitions for their inclusion within political reservations and, as in the example cited
above, for the official recognition of Jaina festivals as public holidays, Sikh
political involvement and organisation within the state of Punjab had, since the time
of World War I, been closely linked with determined communal competition and
the entanglement of politics with Sikh identity. 217 Concentrated in the Indian state
of Punjab, before Independence and the Partition of India the Sikhs represented the
third largest community in the region, after Hindus and Muslims. From the 19th
century onwards, the Punjab had not only been an area of determined religious
competition and growing communal tensions, but with the outbreak of World War I
the area furthermore gained importance for its contributions in the form of war
loans, food provisions and men power (Kapur 1989: 62). Among the Punjabis

216
“Public Holidays for Jains.” In: The Jaina Gazette. Vol.XXIII, No.1, January 1927: 29-30.
217
For the growing connection between the establishment of collective religious identity and
politics among the Sikhs during the first half of the twentieth century, see: Barrier 1988: 174-190;
Kapur 1989: 36-207; McLeod 1989: 82-98; Attar Singh 1988: 226-232; Mohinder Singh 1988:
192-202.

199
recruited for the British army, the Sikhs represented the highest proportion. In this
regard, World War I for the Sikhs was an opportunity to show their loyalty to the
British. In 1916 the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League
drafted a scheme, according to which provisions for the representation of minority
communities in the provincial legislative councils should safeguard minority
interests. These minority interests, however, were only meant for the Muslims as
the largest and most influential minority. Accordingly, in the Punjab, fifty per cent
of the seats were granted to Muslims, while no reservations were given to the
Sikhs. This scheme, naturally, enraged Sikh leaders and intellectuals and had a
great impact on the further political activities of the Sikhs (Kapur 1989: 70-71). For
radical Sikh reformers, the expression of a distinctive Sikh identity and the
“construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between Hindus and Sikhs
became inseparable from the safeguarding of political power. In this regard,
boundaries also had to be erected along political lines. Making extensive use of the
printing media, Sikhs were vocal in demanding political representation for their
community, whose members, it was argued, had profoundly contributed and shown
their loyalty during the war:
The memorandum demanded that the Sikh community be granted
separate electorates in any future scheme of constitutional reform and
that Sikh representation in the council be based not on their strength in
numbers but `proportionate to the importance, position and services of
the community, with due regard to their status before the annexation of
the Punjab, their present stake in the country and their past and present
services for the Empire´ (Kapur 1989: 72-73).

With the constitutional reforms of 1919, the Sikhs were eventually granted
separate electorates. However, their demands regarding the percentage of
representation had not been fulfilled. Since “[f]or educated Sikhs there was a direct
link between the Indian war effort and future constitutional reforms” (Kapur 1989:
80), Sikh intellectuals demanded a much bigger share in political representation
than corresponded with their actual numbers. Besides their disappointment, the
alleged unwillingness of the Hindus to accept the Sikhs’ claims for separate
political presentation added fuel to the communal tensions between Sikhs and
Hindus in the Punjab (Kapur 1989: 74-75). The growing establishment of

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boundaries between both communities in the political field also found its
expression in the controversy over the management of Sikh Gurdwaras. It would
lead too far here, to go into more details about Sikh politics during the first half of
the 20th century. This short account of the growing entanglement of politics and
Sikh identity, however, indicates important differences between Jaina and Sikh
political involvement and organisation. Though members of both groups stressed
their community’s loyalty and contributions to the British rulers, the Sikh claims
expressed a heated atmosphere of communal tensions, in which Sikh intellectuals
regarded substantial political reservations for their community as essential for their
`survival´ within an allegedly hostile political environment, dominated by Hindus
and Muslims. While for Jaina reformers such as Ajit Prasad, the founder of the
shortlived Jaina Political Conference, the political involvement of Jainas had been
desirable along with social and educational reforms, for Sikh intellectuals of the
Punjab Sikh identity became inseparable from political representation. Regarding
the political situation in the Punjab, radical Sikh leaders did not merely demand
separate electorates corresponding to their community’s numerical strength, but
aimed at substantial political influence to safeguard the interests of their community
within an allegedly political hostile and highly communal atmosphere.
Therefore, the main difference between Jainas and Sikhs in their political
approach lay in different conceptions of `community´. Within dominant Sikh
discourse, Sikhs not only constituted a distinct and independent religious tradition,
but also an independent political entity. Both aspects of identity, religious and
political, had become more and more entwined. This development was supported
by the regional concentration of Sikhs and their sacred places, which led to the
concept of a `Sikh homeland´, the Punjab, expressed in a kind of religious
nationalism, which during the 20th century found its more radical form in the quest
for an independent Sikh state, `Khalistan´.
Though Jaina reformers had also aimed at unification and the establishment of
political organisations, the question of politics and religious identity had not been
an issue, neither was the concept of a `Jaina nationalism´. When some individuals,
such as Ajit Prasad, propagated the Jainas’ involvement in politics, they tended to

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stress the `benefit of the whole nation´, rather than communal interests. This
argumentation, for instance, is reflected in Jagmander Lal Jaini’s article “Jainas and
Politics” from 1920. Stating that all religions should tolerate each other, Jaini
stresses national unity as the highest goal for Indian citizens, including Jainas:
The duty of Jainas […] is to discard all their caste and sub-caste
distinctions and fuse themselves into one Jaina Community, bound by a
common creed, and into one national People bound by the interests of a
common country and pride in one pure and high national character
(1920: 71).

In the case of the Jainas, a tiny minority wherever they had settled within British
India and the Native states, a strong political organisation seemed to be impossible.
The construction of a separate religious identity and the notion of a distinct Jaina
community did not include the stress on a separate political identity; neither did it
strongly rely on the establishment of visible external boundaries between Jainas and
others, mainly Hindus. Though their intellectual lay reformers stressed their
distinctiveness and regarded the Jainas as an important minority community, the
Jainas did not become a political force, such as the dominant Muslim minority
community or the regionally concentrated Sikhs. The position of the Jainas within
the landscape of India’s religious communities under the British rule was rather
difficult to locate, and has remained blurred up to the present day. The undeniably
original Indian roots of the Jaina tradition, the location of their sacred places within
the Indian subcontinent, and their centuries long close cultural interaction with and
co-existence next to Hindus has made the religious and especially cultural
boundaries between Jainas and Hindus blurred. The same can be said for other
Indian religious traditions, which originated and developed on the Indian
subcontinent, namely Buddhism and Sikhism. In this regard, both Buddhists and
Sikhs have also repeatedly been claimed as part of the Hindu fold. While the case
of the Indian Buddhists and their official recognition as a minority community will
be discussed and compared to the `Jaina case´ later in this chapter, regarding the
Sikhs, their profound level of political organisation, it will be argued, has largely
contributed to the official recognition of the Sikhs as a distinct minority
community. This strong politicisation, combined with a focus on the establishment

202
of religious boundaries through the extensive usage of external symbols, certainly
makes the Sikhs stand out among the Indian religious minority communities.
However, these special features have been substantial in translating their own
dominant identity discourse to the outside, in a visible and audible form. Though
their religious tradition originated in India, Sikhs, according to the message, are
different and distinct from Hindus. This distinctiveness not only expresses itself in
different external symbols, sacred places and a `Sikh homeland´, but furthermore,
on a political level, in the call for separate political representation to safeguard Sikh
interests in a hostile communal atmosphere.
It has to be stressed that the concept of the Sikhs as a unified, universal
community may no less be called an `intellectual imagination´ or theoretical
construct than that of the Jainas. Neither have caste, regional differences and
sectarian divisions lost their importance in the sphere of socio-religious practices
and the formation of collective identities; nor has the ideal of the bearded, turban-
wearing Sikh replaced all other forms of Sikh identities. In this respect, we find
multiple identities among Sikhs, as among members of other religious groups.
However, what differentiates the case of the Sikhs from that of the Jainas is the
extent to which the radical Sikh reformers’ `imagination´ of a `collective Sikh
identity´ has not only been influential among Sikhs themselves, but has also been
successfully presented outside of their own community. Among the external factors
which have contributed to this development, the political situation in Punjab must
be regarded as an important factor. In this respect, it may be argued that the strong
politicisation and the radical Sikh leaders’ efforts at political organisation not only
required campaigns for internal unification, but also largely depended on external
differentiation.
Considering the different developments between Sikhs on the one hand and Jainas
on the other, it becomes clear that Jainas could not easily act as a `political pressure
group´. In a few individual instances, Jainas of a respective region succeeded in
securing reservations in regional legislative bodies or the official acknowledgement
of Jaina festivals as public holidays. However, generally and seen on a nationwide

203
scale, the Jainas do not appear as a strong communal force during British rule and
at the time of the framing of the Constitution.
In the following section the Jainas’ campaigns for the recognition as a religious
minority community in independent India will be discussed.

Phase Two: After Indian Independence

As shown earlier in this chapter, with the adoption of the Constitution of India
religious minorities lost their rights for reservations in political bodies and
government employment. The benefits enjoyed under the British, however, lingered
on in the form that those communities recognised as `important minority
communities´ by the colonial power were also regarded as religious minorities
during the framing of the Indian Constitution. In independent India, a religious
minority was constituted through numerical disadvantage, plus cultural and
religious distinctiveness from what was regarded the Hindu majority. The latter
criterion certainly proved to be problematic, since exclusive definitions of `Hindu´
culture and religion did not exist. In this regard, popular discourse tended to club
the religious communities residing in India into two groups: those whose religious
tradition had originated on the Indian subcontinent, namely Hindus, Buddhists,
Jainas and Sikhs; and those with a non-Indian origin, including Muslims,
Christians, Parsis and Jews. The latter group, again according to popular discourse,
naturally qualified for `religious and cultural distinctiveness´, even if its members’
practices, beliefs and customs had been thoroughly `Indianised´ and showed
considerable differences from the practices and beliefs found outside India. This
simplistic model of differentiation between Indian and non-Indian religions heavily
relies on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s nationalistic definition of the term `Hindu´.
Though often cited, Savarkar’s highly influential definition shall be repeated here:
[…] we Hindus are bound together not only by the tie of love we bear
to a common fatherland and by the common blood that courses through
our veins and keeps our hearts throbbing and our affections warm, but
also by the tie of the common homage we pay to our great civilization-
our Hindu culture, which could not be better rendered than by the word
Sanskriti suggestive as it is of that language, Sanskrit, which has been

204
 the chosen means of expression and preservation of that culture, of all
that was best and worth-preserving in the history of our race. We are
one because we are a nation a race and own a common Sanskriti […]
(2003: 91-92).

Savarkar’s definition of a `Hindu´, then, regarded all those individuals as Hindus,

who claimed India not only as their `fatherland´, but also as their `holy land´ (2003:
116). In this regard, Savarkar regarded Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas and Sikhs as
Hindus, while Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews could not possibly be included
among Hindus, for their `holy land´ lay outside India, and they adhered to customs,
beliefs, practices, festivals and religious laws `foreign´ to the Hindus. It is
important to note that for Savarkar, who first composed his tract Hindutva: Who is
a Hindu? while being imprisoned by the British for his involvement in the
nationalistic movement, the term `Hindu´ as such is not exclusively meant for the
follower of a specific religion. According to Savarkar, `Hinduism´ as “the system
of religious beliefs found common amongst the Hindu people” (2003: 103) can
only be defined after an answer to the question `who is a Hindu?´ has been
established. Western Orientalist scholarship had made the mistake of first trying to
define `Hinduism´, and then to declare, who could be regarded as a Hindu
according to this, in Savarkar’s opinion, faulty definition. This Western tendency
had caused a lot of avoidable controversies and “[…] so much of bitterness
amongst some of our brethren of Avaidik school of thought, the Sikh, the Jain, the
Devsamaji and even our patriotic and progressive Aryasamajis” (Savarkar 2003:
103). What then, in Savarkar’s theoretical framework, is the religion of a `Hindu´?:
All […] bitterness is mostly due to the wrong use of the word,
Hinduism, to denote the religion of the majority only. […] The religion
of the majority of the Hindus could be best denoted by the ancient
accepted appellation, the Sanatan dharma or the Shruti-smriti-puranokta
Dharma or the Vaidik Dharma; while the religion of the remaining
Hindus would continue to be denoted by their respective and accepted
names Sikha Dharma or Arya Dharma or Jain Dharma or Buddha
Dharma (2003: 107).

Savarkar’s work, first published in 1923, has been immensely influential, especially
among Hindu nationalistic movements. `All-embracing´ definitions of the term

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`Hindu´, also propagated in the universalistic approach of so-called Neo-Hinduism,
as made popular by Vivekananda and organisations such as the Ramakrishna
movement, also had their impact outside the so-called Hindutva movement. While
Savarkar’s usage of the term `Hindu´ as all-inclusive regarding traditions which had
originated on Indian soil aimed at the raising of a national spirit and the foundation
of a national identity, adherents of those religious traditions clubbed among the
umbrella term `Hinduism´ have been concerned about what they regarded as their
own religious and cultural tradition - be it Buddhist, Jaina, or Sikh - being absorbed
by the Hindu majority.
This concern found its expression shortly after the adoption of the Constitution of
India, when Sikh and Jaina leaders protested against Explanation II of Article 25 of
the Constitution, which states the following:
In sub-clause (b) of clause (2) [regarding reform or the opening up of
Hindu public religious institutions to all classes of Hindus] the
reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to
persons professing the Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religion, and the reference
to Hindu religious institutions shall be construed accordingly (Article
25, Explanation II, Constitution of India).

In January 1950, a Jaina delegation submitted a petition to Jawaharlal Nehru and

other politicians, “to draw their attention to the anomalous position of the Jains.” 218
In a letter dated January 31, 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru’s principal private secretary
replied:
With reference to the deputation of certain representatives of the Jains,
who met the Prime Minister on the 25th January, I am desired to say that
there is no cause whatever for the Jains to have any apprehensions
regarding the future of their religion and community. Your deputation
drew attention to Article 25, Explanation II, of the Constitution. This
Explanation only lays down a rule of construction for the limited
purposes of one provision in the Article, and, as you will notice, it
mentions not only Jains, but also the Buddhists and the Sikhs. It is clear
that Buddhists are not Hindus. Therefore there is no reason for thinking
that Jains are considered as Hindus. It is true that Jains are in some

218
Writ Petition in the High Court of Judicature at Bombay Civil Appelate Jurisdiction, 1997, Shri
Bal Patil and Another versus The Union of India and Others: 22. A copy of this document, as well
as copies of other petitions and submitted by Bal Patil on behalf of the DBJS, has been made
available for this thesis by B.B. Patil, a life member of the DBJS. In the following, this petition
will be cited as Writ Petition 1997.

206
 ways closely allied to Hindus and have many customs in common; but
there can be no doubt that they are a distinct religious community and
the Constitution does not in any way affect this well-recognised
position. 219

Though this statement does not contain any further explanation why, out of the
three included religious communities, it should be especially “[…]clear that
Buddhists are not Hindus […]” (“Unpublished Letter dated 31.01.1950…”), it was
clearly meant to reassure Jainas, as well as Buddhists and Sikhs, that their religious
distinctiveness had not been tampered with by the Constitution. Explanation II of
Article 25, however, has repeatedly given rise to controversies. Though officially
already acknowledged as a nationwide minority in 1993, in 2002 Sikh leaders still
felt irritated by the wording and appealed to the so-called Constitution Review
Commission claiming that Explanation II “affected their independent status and
hence should be amended.” 220 The somewhat confusing character of Explanation II
regarding the status of Buddhists, Sikhs and Jainas is also reflected in Western
academic writing. In his Orientalism and Religion (1999) Richard King, for
instance, interprets Article 25 as an inclusive definition of the term `Hindu’, when
he states the following:
Although the modern Indian Constitution (article 25 (2)) classifies all
Buddhist, Jains and Sikhs as `Hindu´, this is unacceptable for a number
of reasons. First, it rides roughshod over religious diversity and
established group-affiliations. Second, such an approach ignores the
non-brahmanical and non-Vedic elements of these traditions.
Fundamentally, such assimilation effectively subverts the authority of
members of these traditions to speak for themselves. In the last analysis,
neo-Vedāntic inclusivism remains inappropriate for the simple reason
that Buddhists and Jains do not generally see themselves as followers of
sectarian denominations of `Hinduism´ (1999: 108-109).

Though King’s reading of Explanation II as an open inclusion of Buddhists, Jainas

and Sikhs among `Hindus´ seems somewhat too extreme, his statement reflects the
219
“Unpublished Letter dated 31.01.1950 from A.V. Pai, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime
Minister, Prime Minister’s Secretariat New Delhi, to S.G. Patil, Representative of Jains
Deputation, New Delhi, No. 33/94/50-PMS.” A copy of this document was provided by B.B.Patil,
DBJS.
220
Patil, Bal: “A Note on the Constitutional Position of the Jain Religious Community according
to various Supreme Court and High Court Judgments.” Unpublished article, provided by Bal Patil.
The short article also provides a discussion about Explanation II of Article 25.

207
discourse about Indian religious minority communities’ potential threat of being
absorbed by an all-inclusive Hindu ideology.
For Jaina activists, however, the definition of Explanation II became crucial in
their campaigns for the official inclusion of the Jainas among the nationwide
minority communities. In a court case from 1976, cited in the Writ Petition 1997,
the following conclusion from Explanation II was drawn: since Explanation II
explicitly mentions the Sikh, Jaina and Buddhist `religion´, it supports the
221
distinctive character of these traditions as independent from Hinduism.
Accordingly, as minorities, Sikhs, Jainas and Buddhists cannot possibly be
regarded as `Hindu sects´ but as independent religions. Had they been part of the
Hindu fold, sections of the Hindus themselves would be declared minorities, which
would make the Hindus cease being the majority (Writ Petition 1997: 28). For
Jainas claiming the minority status, this statement had two important implications.
First, Explanation II established Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism as independent
religions. Second, the recognition of a religious minority status acted as a further
proof of a minority community’s distinctiveness as not being part of the Hindus.
When in 1993, however, the government notification issued did not include Jainas
among the officially declared minority communities, Jaina activists regarded this
decision not only as an unwillingness to acknowledge the independent status of
Jainism, but furthermore as against the Constitution itself. In this regard, Bal Patil
and the DBJS argued:
[…] if the Buddhists and Sikhs included in the definition of Hindus (for
the purposes of sub-clause (b) of clause 2 of Article 25) have been
declared as Minorities under the above Notification, there is no reason
why the Jain community should have been excluded. This is clear
discrimination not permissible under the Constitution. This non-
inclusion of Jains by the Government of India in the listing of Minority
Commission for the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992 is an
unconstitutional denial of equal treatment and the equality before the
law protected by Article 14 of the Constitution (Writ Petition 1997:
23).

221
ASE Trusts Vs. Director of Education Delhi Admn. AIR 1976, Del. 207. Cited in: Writ Petition
1997: 28-29.

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 Up to the present day, the official status of the Jainas regarding their inclusion
among the nationwide religious minorities has been undecided. According to the
rather vague and minimalistic definition found in the National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992, a minority means “a community notified as such by the
Central Government.” 222 In 2005, however, the Supreme Court of India declined an
appeal made by Bal Patil concerning the recognition of the Jainas as a religious
minority throughout India, referring to a court case of 2002, 223 in which the court
had decided that minorities should be considered state-wise, not nation-wise (“Jain
Minority Proposed Amendment”: 5). State-wise, Jainas have been granted religious
minority status in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkand, West Bengal and Delhi.
While this was made possible by the campaigns of regional Jaina organisations, and
grants the Jainas in the respective states the right of foundation and management of
their own educational institutions, the exclusion of the Jainas from the nationwide
minority communities still causes severe dissatisfaction among Jainas engaged in
campaigns for minority status.
Though mainly based in Maharashtra and Karnataka, where Jainas enjoy the legal
status of religious minority, the DBJS has been among the most active campaigners
for the nationwide minority status, since they - in 1995 and 1996 - “took up the
issue in a Constitutional and legal context” (personal communication with Bal Patil
in an e-mail, received on 03.10.2009). Apart from the DBJS, other individuals and
organisations have been participating in the campaigns for nationwide minority
status, among them Rameshchandra Jain, president of the All-India Digambar Jain
Parishad. One reason for the ongoing campaigns concerns educational and financial
benefits. For instance, some scholarships granted by the Central Government are
only available for members of nationwide minorities (“Jain Minority Proposed
Amendment”: 3). A more subtle reason, however, is the suspicion that the denial of
the nationwide minority status symbolises the denial of the recognition of the

222
Patil, Bal: “Jain Minority Proposed Amendment.” Unpublished document: 1. A copy was
provided by Bal Patil.
223
The courtcase T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State Govt. of Karnataka (2002) 8 SCC 481 concerned
educational rights of minority communities.

209
Jainas’ status as an independent and distinctive Indian religious tradition. The main
issue at stake, then, is not the eligibility of some educational rights and state
benefits, but the distinctiveness of the Jainas as a separate, independent community.
Petitions for the granting of minority status, which have been submitted
repeatedly since the official notification about religious minorities of 1993, stress
the independent and distinctive character of Jainism and the Jainas. In this regard,
Western orientalists such as Jacobi, as well as influential Indian politicians (like
Jawahrlal Nehru), academics, and the verdicts of court cases held since the early
decades of the 20th century are cited at length. An example for the argumentation
mainly used as proof for the distinctiveness of the Jaina tradition is found in the
already cited Writ Petition 1997. Under the heading “Legal and Judicial view on
Jain Minority Status” several court cases are cited, in which the court declared
Jainas as distinct from Hindus (Writ Petition 1997: 24-32). The works of Western
and Indian scholars find mention under the headline “Opinions on Jainism by
Scholars: Indian and Foreign” (Writ Petition 1997: 32-38). Within both sections,
special focus is laid on three aspects: first, the existence of a separate Jaina law;
second, the age of the Jaina tradition; and, third, distinctive beliefs and practices.
Regarding the first aspect, the question of a separate Jaina law, a strong link is
found between the early Jaina reformers and contemporary Jaina minority status
activists. Just as intellectual Jaina reformers had aimed at establishing the existence
of a separate Jaina law, contemporary petitions argue in a similar fashion. Citing a
treatise entitled Hindu Law Principles and Precedents, the Writ Petition 1997 states
the following:
So far as Jain law is concerned, it has its own law books of which
Bhadrabahu Samhita is an important one. Vardhamana Niti by the great
Jain teacher Hemachandra deals also with Jain law. No doubt by long
association with the Hindus who form the bulk of the population,
Jainism has assimilated several of the customs and ceremonial practices
of the Hindus, but this is no ground for applying the Hindu law as
developed by Vignaneswara and other commentators several centuries
after Jainism was a distinct and separate religion with its own religious,
ceremonial and legal system, en bloc to Jains […]. 224

224
Raghavachariar, N.R., 1970, Hindu Law Principles and Precedents. Published by the Madras
Law Journal Office. Cited in: Writ Petition 1979: 25

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 Compared with the issue of an independent Jaina law, the Writ Petition 1997
gives more importance (and room) to stressing the antiquity of the Jaina tradition.
As already noted in chapters two and three, the academic foundation of Jainism as
distinct from both Hinduism and Buddhism had, to a significant degree, relied on
the establishment of the antiquity of Jainism. Early Jaina reformers enthusiastically
anticipated the writings of scholars like Hermann Jacobi, who declared Mahāvīra
and Parśvanāth historical figures, and dated the origin of the Jaina tradition back to
ancient times. The issue of a religious tradition’s antiquity, which played an
influential role in the emergence of communal awareness at the beginning of the
20th century, still holds a dominant position within the discourse on the
distinctiveness of Indian religious traditions. In this regard, the Writ Petition 1997
states a court case from 1939, arguing that “it is true, as later historical researches
have shown that Jainism prevailed in this country long before Brahmanism came
into existence or converted into Hinduism.” 225
Among arguments for the distinctiveness of the Jainas regarding their beliefs and
practices, the Jainas’ rejection of the spiritual authority of the Vedas is given the
highest prominence within the Writ Petition 1997, which cites several court cases
and academic works stressing “the Vedas […] [as] the bedrock of Hinduism.” 226
Other differences from Hindu beliefs mentioned in the Writ Petition 1997 include
the uncompromised focus on ahiṃsā, the denial of a creator god, and differences in
the karma theory. Regarding ritual practices, the focus is mainly laid on the Jainas’
abstaining from the practice of śrāddha for a deceased person. 227
An important point to make here is the continuity of arguments used for the
establishment of the Jainas as a separate community from the end of the 19th
century until the present day. By citing either Western orientalists like Hermann
Jacobi and Heinrich Zimmer, later academic works which are based on the theories
of scholars like Jacobi, or court cases, in which, again, orientalist writings had been

225
Hirachand Gangji Vs. Rowji Sejpal [AIR 1939, Bombay, 377]. Cited in: Writ Petition 1997:
32.
226
Raghavachariar: Hindu Law Principles and Precedents. Cited in: Writ Petition 1997: 24.
227
For the cited differences, see: Writ Petition 1997: 24-38.

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used as proof, the Writ Petition 1997 in its argumentation strongly reflects the
arguments used by the first Jaina reformers and intellectuals. Interestingly, the
underlying concept of the `Hindu tradition´, used in the contemporary petition, also
reflects the image of `Hinduism´ as it was constructed by 19th century orientalist
scholarship. Accordingly, the belief in the sacred authority of the Vedas denotes a
main characteristic of `Hindu belief´, as the performance of the śrāddha ceremony
is regarded as a main component of `Hindu practice´. The definition of `Hindu´,
reflected here, corresponds strongly to what has been called `orthodox Hinduism´.
However, if we consider Savarkar’s all-inclusive definition of the term `Hindu´,
the above described argumentation for the Jainas’ independent status would not
contradict the Jaina tradition as being labelled `Hindu´. Savarkar argues for his all-
inclusive concept embracing Vedic and non-Vedic traditions alike under the
umbrella term `Hinduism´ in the following way:
The Vedas do not constitute an authority for all Jains. But the Vedas
are the most ancient work and the history of their race belongs to Jains
as much as to any of us. Adipuran was not written by a Sanatani, yet the
Adipuran is the common inheritance of the Sanatanis and the Jains
(2003: 96).

According to this model of Hindutva or `Hinduness´, Jainas, Buddhists and Sikhs

are all integral parts of the Hindus as a `nation´, `race´ and `culture´. This `Hindu
unity´, however, has been threatened by the communal tendencies already
manifesting themselves at the time of Savarkar’s writing. It has already been
discussed how among what Savarkar called “our brethren of Avaidik school of
thought” (2003: 103), the Sikhs had aimed for separate communal representation.
Concerning their campaigns, Savarkar remarks:
[…] we feel that, that claim should not have been backed up by our
Sikh brothers by an untenable and suicidal plea of being non-Hindus.
[…] The harm that a special and communal representation does is never
so great as the harm done by the attitude of racial aloofness. Let the
Sikhs, the Jains, the Lingayats, the non-Brahmins and even, for the
matter of that, Brahmins press and fight for the right of special and
communal representation, if they honestly look upon it as indispensable
for their communal growth. For their growth is the growth of the whole
Hindu-society. […] Let the Sikhs be classed as Sikhs religiously, but as
Hindus racially and culturally (2003: 126).

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 Though after Independence the question of communal political representation has
no longer been an issue, the controversy about a Hindu cultural nationalism, as
reflected in the Hindutva ideology supported by several political organisations, is
still an important theme within the discourse about minority rights. In this regard, it
is not completely unexpected that the main activists for the Jaina minority status
blame the Hindutva influence on contemporary politics for the exclusion of the
Jainas from the officially recognised nationwide minorities. 228 By denying the
Jainas the status of nationwide religious minority, it is argued,
[t]he very identity of the Jain community as a distinct religious minority
is imperiled by the Hindutva onslaught. It is imperative for the Jains to
stand up and fight for their survival. The recognition of the Jains as a
minority will be a crucial test of the secular, democratic character of the
nation as conceived in our Constitution […] (“Memorandum for
Declaration…”: 22).

It would lead too far to discuss the question of the contemporary Hindutva
movement’s impact on the discourse about religious minorities and their rights. For
the extent to which this thesis reaches, another question has to be regarded as more
important: if the Hindutva concept of a `Hindu´, as formulated by Savarkar,
includes Jainas, Buddhists and Sikhs, how can it be explained that Buddhists and
Sikhs are included among the nationwide minorities, while the Jainas are not?
In the concluding part of this chapter, this question will be discussed.

The Sikhs, Buddhists and the `Jaina Case´

As already expressed in the previous parts of this chapter, a rather troublesome

aspect of the minority debate is the question: in what ways does a community
possess a “distinct culture” (Article 29 [1], Constitution of India) and thereby
qualifies to be counted as a minority community? With regard to religious
minorities, it should be asked: what elements establish their cultural and religious
228
See, for instance: Bal Patil: “Letter dated 20.06.1997 to the Prime Minister.”; “Memorandum
for Declaration of Jain Community as a Minority.” Dated 11.05.1995, addressed to the Home
Minister, Govt. of India: 4-22. Copies of these documents were provided by B.B.Patil (Kolhapur)
and Bal Patil (Bombay).

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distinctiveness? Since the Constitution does not give any legally valid definition of
`Hindu´ culture and religion, it remains an impossibility to objectively decide who
is a `Hindu´ and who is not. Considering the problem of missing definitions, it
becomes clear that a religious minority is not only a question of numerical strength.
Equally, if not even more important, is the aspect of identity. Does a group of
individuals regard themselves as members of the same religious community, and, if
so, do they regard their community as distinct from others, especially the majority
group categorised as Hindus? Seen from the outside: is the community recognised
as such by those not belonging to it?
The case of the Sikhs demonstrates that the dominant identity discourse within a
group, when strongly reflected in the relations to outsiders, can change the way the
group is regarded by non-members. The radical Sikh leaders’ campaigns for a
distinct Sikh identity, combined with a focus on political organisation, has not only
proved dominant among Sikhs, but also largely contributed to their official legal
recognition as a distinct religious community. The important point here is to note
that a religious community’s “distinct culture” (Article 29 [1], Constitution of
India) very much depends on the dominant identity discourse within the group and
the community leaders’ success in propagating it outside the group. As shown by
Oberoi (1994), the rather exclusive khālsā Sikh ideal propagated by radical Sikh
leaders is not the only concept of their tradition and identity held among Sikhs, and
a substantial number of Sikhs most likely do not care too much about the
“construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between Sikhs and Hindus.
Nevertheless, the radical Sikh leaders’ concept of a distinct Sikh identity has been
established as the dominant one.
The important role of a community leader’s will and effort to both establish
`religious boundaries´ to the Hindu majority, and make himself audible, is also
reflected in Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s Buddhist movement, which during the
1950s led to the conversion of several hundred thousands of his low caste followers
to Buddhism. In Ambedkar’s distinctive interpretation of Buddhism, also known as
the `neo-Buddhist movement´, social equality and the abolishing of any caste
distinctions hold the most prominent position. Since caste, according to Ambedkar,

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was a fundamental aspect of Hindu religion, he felt it necessary to officially break
with Hinduism altogether. In this regard, he evolved several vows to be taken by
converts, thereby openly declaring a break with the worship of gods and the
practice of rituals which he considered part of the Hindu religion. One of the vows
taken by Ambedkar and his followers openly renounces Hinduism: “I embrace
today the Bauddha Dhamma, discarding the Hindu religion which is detrimental to
the emancipation of human beings and which believes in inequality and regards
human beings other than Brahmins as low-born” (cited in: Elst, Koenraad: Are neo-
Buddhists Hindus? Available from: http:// koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com
/books/wiah/ch11.htm, last accessed on 23.10.2009: 2-3). Ambedkar’s leadership
and resolute attitude regarding himself and his followers being outside of the Hindu
fold made the Indian Buddhists an audible religious minority. With his open
renunciation of the Hindu religion Ambedkar publicly constructed `religious
boundaries´ between his interpretation of Buddhism and Hinduism. In this regard,
Koenraad Elst states:
[…] neo-Buddhists are not Hindus, because they say so. Indeed,
whereas […] other groups […] developed their identities naturally, in a
pursuit of Liberation or simply in response to natural and cultural
circumstances, only to discover later that this identity might be
described as non-Hindu, the neo-Buddhists were first of all motivated
by the desire to break with Hinduism (Elst, Koenraad: Are neo-
Buddhists Hindus? Available from: http://koenraadelst.
voiceofdharma.com/books/wiah/ch11.htm, last accessed on 23.10.2009:
31)

Here, we find a powerful `intellectual contruct´ or `imagination´ of collective

identity. Ambedkar’s resolute break with Hindu customs, such as the worship of
Hindu gods, may have had little impact on the actual socio-religious practices of his
followers; however, Ambedkar’s theoretical construction of a collective religious
(non-Hindu) identity of the `neo-Buddhists´ had a substantial practical impact in
form of its contribution to the inclusion of the Buddhists among the nationwide
religious minorities. It is important to stress that - as in the case of other religious
groups - there is no unified `Buddhist community´ or `collective Buddhist identity´,
and multiple identities also exist among Indian Buddhists. Furthermore, although

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constituting the majority of Buddhists in India, the so-called `neo-Buddhists´ do
not represent Buddhism in India as a whole. Other forms of more `traditional´
Buddhism also prevail, which makes the Indian Buddhists, similarly to other
religious groups, a heterogeneous community. Though Ambedkar’s followers -
whose deliberate conversions to Buddhism were strongly motivated by the socio-
political Dalit movement - regarding their religious practice and geographical,
economic and social background do not have much in common with `traditional´
Buddhists in the Himalaya region or Tibetan Buddhists in Indian exile, the unique
character of the neo-Buddhist movement substantially contributed to the
recognition of Indian Buddhists as a religious minority.
The examples of Sikhism and Indian (neo)-Buddhism - although both are unique
on their own account - show some similarities, which, it is argued here, differ
substantially from the case of the Jainas. One is the already discussed “construction
of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between their own group and outsiders,
mainly the Hindu majority, and open declaration: `We are not Hindus.´ Although
the dominant Jaina identity discourse discussed in chapter three and five of this
thesis also stated the Jainas’ distinctiveness, the Jaina discourse has not been
focused on the establishment of strict boundaries between Hindus and Jainas.
Furthermore, due to their lack of organisation, especially in the political field, their
missing geographical centre, and numerical weakness, Jainas have not succeeded in
being a particularly `audible´ community.
Another important aspect of the discourse on minorities, which also connects the
case of the Sikhs with that of the (neo)-Buddhists, has to be mentioned here: a
religious minority is not only established because the members of a religious
community regard and declare themselves as not belonging to the majority.
Minority identity can also be strengthened by the process of “minoritization”
(Gupta 1999: 38), which Dipankar Gupta defines in the following:
This process, by which minorities are created, unbeknownst to them, is
what has been termed here as minoritization. When minoritization takes
place the communities that are picked on for persecution are decided
upon by the majority, or those `others´ who are on the outside. The
constitution of minority identity in these cases takes place from the
outside rather than the inside […] (1999: 52-53).

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The case of the Sikhs, with the anti-Sikh riots and killings following the
assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, constitutes a drastic recent example for the
process described by Gupta (1999: 50-54). Regarding the neo-Buddhists, the last
decades have also shown several instances of persecution inflicted on them by caste
Hindus. Though these assaults were targeted at neo-Buddhists not because of their
Buddhist religion, but rather because of their Dalit background, the strengthening
impact on the minority consciousness of the victims is similar to the case of the
Sikhs. The process of minoritization, in the context of the modern Indian nation
state, has resulted in communal disturbances between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs,
Christians and, in some cases, Buddhists. Jainas, however, in recent history have
neither been the victims of minoritization, nor have they been designated as the
`others´, nor been accused of being disloyal to the Indian state. In this regard, the
case of the Jainas differs substantially from the situation of other Indian religious
communities.
Concluding this section, another important factor for the `Jaina case´ must be
mentioned. Detrimental to the campaigns for nationwide minority status are the
differing opinions among Jainas themselves. While Digambaras, especially those
of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, generally seem to be more supportive
of the inclusion of Jainas among the religious minorities, 229 a substantial degree of
opposition is prevalent among a section of Jainas, mainly belonging to the
Śvetāmbara tradition of Gujarat. The argumentation used by prominent opponents
of the minority status for Jainas strongly resembles the rhetoric used within the
Hindutva movement. Accordingly,
[a]ny move to extend minority status to any section of the society
today is equal to attacking the integrity of the country. It should be seen
as an attempt to destabilise the harmony between various sections of the
Hindu society. 230
229
This assumption is supported by the fact that campaigns for the granting of the minority status
to Jainas are mainly led by Digambara organisations, most prominently the DBJS. In interviews
with lay Digambaras during field research in Karnataka, South Maharashtra, Mumbai and Delhi,
campaigns for the minority status were generally described as important for the establishment of
the Jainas as a distinctive community.
230
Ācārya Vijay Ratnasunder Sūrīśvarjī, cited in: “Jains are Part of Hindu Society- Jain Acharya
Vijay Ratnasunder Surishwarji.” In: Ahimsa Times. March 2009 Issue. Available from:

217
 This public statement of a Śvetāmbara mūrtipūjaka ācārya was made during a
meeting organised by the Viśva Hindu Pariṣad at Delhi in 2009. Already in 1997,
an article posted on the internet had declared:
The Jain Samaj has made it clear to all concerned including the
government that Jains are not a minority and that those who are trying
to seek that status - or grant that status - should desist from such
attempts.
The Jain Samaj has further reiterated their stand that they are Hindus.
Ever since the attempt of some people to get the Jains declared as a
minority, various Jain Acharyas, including late Acharya Tulsi, have
publicly stated that the Jains are Hindus and that they have no intention
of seeking the status of a minority (Udavant 1997: 1).

Who exactly constitutes the “Jain Samaj” (Udavant 1997: 1) mentioned here
remains unclear. Both above cited statements reflect the ideology of Savarkar and
the Hindutva movement and have to be seen in the context of Hindu nationalism, as
expressed by organisations such as the Viśva Hindu Pariṣad. This stream of
argumentation, based on an `all-inclusive´ definition of the term `Hindu´ and the
internal unity of all Hindus as the highest priority, is also illustrated in Sandhya
Jain’s article “Jainas: Cream of Hindus” (2006):
Hindu and Jaina traditions are like the weft and woof of the unstitched
garment favoured by our saints; they cannot be separated without
severe haemorrhage to both. The shared spirituality of the Indic
tradition is like an unstitched garment - whole, inclusive, interlinked,
and unthreatened by the inevitable loss of culture, tradition and
diversity that accompanies monotheistic traditions (Sandhya Jain 2006:
2).

The controversy among Jainas about minority status is motivated by various

factors, and is not confined to different interpretations and definitions of the term
`Hindu´. Since in popular opinion the phrase `minority status´ often carries the
negative connotation of having to rely on financial benefits, especially members of
the wealthier section of Jaina merchant classes regard the inclusion of Jainas among
minority communities as a humiliation. This popular assumption, however, is based

http://www.jainlibrary.org/elib_master/magazine/ahimsa_times/Ahimsa_Times_2009_03_SrNo_1
05_023605.pdf, p.3, last accessed on 24.05.2010.

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on a misunderstanding of the legal concept of religious minorities in India. This
misconception is illustrated in heated discussions about the granting of the
statewide minority status to the Jainas in Delhi. For instance, on an internet
discussion forum a message was posted arguing that the wealth of the Jainas
residing at Delhi and their inclusion among the religious minorities were an open
contradiction (http://mboard.rediff.com/newboard/board.php?service_name=&
boardid=new, last accessed on 06.04.2010: 1).
As this short discussion illustrates, the issue of the minority status is controversial
and complex. The important point to stress here is that internal controversies among
different sections of Jainas further contribute to the discussed historical and
political factors which have led to what has been called the `Jaina case´ regarding
the Jainas’ position among India’s religious communities. This is not to say that
among other groups, for instance the Sikhs, there is absolute uniformity of opinions
regarding the distinctiveness of their own group as a separate, non-Hindu
community. Here again we have to differentiate between actual practice and
intellectual discourse or `imagination´. While regarding socio-religious practices
`boundaries´ between Hindus and Sikhs often `blur´ in the performance of local
festivals or the arrangement of marriages, and regional and caste-based forms of
collective identities hold an important position, strict boundaries between Sikhs and
Hindus have been constructed mainly in the field of intellectual discourse and the
way in which community is `imagined´ in the dominant discourse of radical Sikh
leaders. It is the impact of this discourse, as argued within this thesis, which
contributes to the popular image of the Sikhs as non-Hindus. The same holds true in
the case of Ambedkar’s Buddhist movement and the official classification of the
neo-Buddhists as members of a non-Hindu minority community. Considering these
points, it has to be stressed that regarding socio-religious practices and the
prevalence of multiple forms of collective identities the `Jaina case´ does not
particularly differ from the case of the Sikhs and Buddhists. It is in the field of
intellectual discourse, and here mainly in the extent, to which this discourse has
been successfully voiced and made audible also among outsiders, where we find the
difference. Though - similar to the discourse of the leaders of other newly defined

219
religious communities - reformist Jaina leaders have tried to propagate the Jainas as
a uniform and distinct community, their discourse did not focus on a clear
definition of `boundaries´ between Jainas and Hindus.

In the present chapter it has been argued that `blurred boundaries´ between Jainas
and Hindus have impacted on the undecided legal status of the Jainas regarding
their inclusion among the nationwide religious minority communities. Regarding
socio-religious practices, for instance the partaking in religious festivals or the
arrangement of marriages, `blurred boundaries´ between different religious
communities in India are not confined to Hindus and Jainas. However, in the field
of intellectual discourse and the way in which broader collective identities have
been `imagined´, the powerful rhetoric tool of “the construction of religious
boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between their own group and outsiders, mainly the
Hindu majority, has hardly been used by Jaina intellectuals.
Although since the first constitutional reforms of 1909 Jaina leaders have
repeatedly filed petitions for the granting of reservations in political bodies for the
Jainas as an `important´ minority, and after Independence the Jainas have been
granted the minority status in ten Indian states, on a nationwide scale they are not
included among the officially recognised religious minorities. While Digambara
Jaina activists hold a Hindutva influence on contemporary Indian politics
responsible, a comparison between the Jainas and Indian religious communities
which have been granted the status suggests some more complex reasons. In this
regard, the missing of any influential political organisation among Jainas, mainly
caused by their small number and wide distribution over the whole of India, has to
be taken into account. Unlike the Sikhs who, for different historical reasons, have
been able to act as a `political pressure group´ and make themselves audible, the
Jainas have remained a less audible group. This also holds true when compared to
the Indian neo-Buddhists, who, with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, had a prominent
leader and, as part of the Dalit movement, have been more politically involved.
Regarding both aspects, a community’s audibility and its leaders’ efforts at creating
distinct lines between the group and others, again the examples of Sikhs and neo-

220
Buddhists stand out. While the dominant Sikh identity discourse has heavily relied
on “the construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) and a focus on
politicisation, Ambedkar’s conversion ceremony openly denounces a convert’s
affiliation with the Hindu tradition. In both cases, the message of the dominant
discourse is clear in stating: `We are not Hindus.´
The tendency to regard their own group as different from the majority can be
further strengthened by the process of `minoritization´. This process has been
painfully witnessed by Sikhs during the anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi’s
assassination. In the case of the (Dalit) neo-Buddhists, repeated attacks by caste
Hindus may have caused a further alienation from the Hindus. On the other hand, in
recent times Jainas have not been the target of the Hindu majority’s aggression.
Finally, ongoing controversies among different sections of Jainas themselves
suggest that, unlike among the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka, among other local and sectarian groups of Jainas the concept of the
Jainas as a separate, distinctive, non-Hindu tradition, and its official recognition in
the granting of the nationwide minority status is less prevalent. Different opinions
regarding the question of religious and cultural distinctiveness are not `unique´ to
the Jainas. However, as the comparison with the case of the Sikhs suggests, the
extent to which a particular discourse is presented as the dominant one has
substantial impact not only inside the community, but especially on the view
outsiders will hold.
The following chapter will provide a short summary of this thesis’ previous
chapters and some concluding remarks regarding the Jaina community’s undefined
position within India’s religious landscape.

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 7. CONCLUSION

This thesis has aimed at analysing in which way and to what extent from the late
19th / early 20th century onwards novel formulations of collective religious identity
and supra-caste, supra-locally-based concepts of community have been established
among the Digambaras of South Maharashtra and North Karnataka, a regional sub-
group of the Indian religious tradition of the Jainas. In this respect, the present
research has argued that the wider `shift´ from locally restricted, caste-based
concepts of community to broader conceptualisations of pan-Indian or `universal´
religious communities - as witnessed among other Indian religious groups, most
prominently Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs - has found parallel developments among
Jainas. While more narrowly defined forms of collective identities along regional,
sectarian and caste-based lines still exist among Jainas, as among members of other
Indian religious communities, intellectual discourse and `imagination´ has
developed broader concepts of collective religious identifications. These universal
religious identities and constructions of community may be more `imagined´ than
more narrowly defined forms of collective identities which find their expression in
socio-religious practices and traditions. Nevertheless, the intellectual reformers’
concepts of supra-locally, supra-caste-based religious communities have not only
developed into alternative possible forms of identifications; more than that, these
novel forms of identity and community formation also had substantial impact
outside the field of intellectual discourse. In this respect, the concepts of supra-
locally, supra-caste-based religious communities and collective identities have
found a practical expression in campaigns for the official declaration of the
distinctiveness of the Jaina tradition and the Jainas’ inclusion among the nationwide
religious minority communities.
At the same time, the analysis provided in this thesis indicates important
differences between the dominant Jaina discourse discussed here, and
developments which have taken place within movements among members of other
numerically small religious groups whose traditions originated on the Indian sub-
continent, namely Sikhs and neo-Buddhists. As this research has aimed to

222
demonstrate, most prominent among these differences is the extent to which, in
Harjot Oberoi’s (1994) term, the “construction of religious boundaries” between
their own group and outsiders has been used by lay leaders in order to define their
own religious tradition. The main argument presented here is that - unlike in the
case of radical Hindu and Sikh leaders, as well as Dalit neo-Buddhists - Jaina
reformers have not focused their Jaina identity discourse on the establishment of
boundaries to other religions. In this respect, in the field of intellectual discourse
boundaries between `Hindus´ and `Jainas´ have remained blurred up to the present
day, which finds its most tangible expression in the undecided legal status of the
Jainas regarding their inclusion among the nationwide minorities. It has to be
stressed that regarding socio-religious practices `blurred boundaries´ do not only
exist between Jainas and Hindus, but also between Hindus and other religious
groups in India. However, what differentiates the `Jaina case´ from that of other
numerically small Indian religious communities, mainly Sikhs and neo-Buddhists,
is the extent to which their lay leaders’ dominant discourse has aimed at
`transforming´ these `blurred boundaries´ regarding socio-religious practices and
traditions into the powerful intellectual concept of clear-cut boundaries between
their own religious tradition and outsiders, especially the Hindu majority.
The discussion provided in this thesis has taken the last decades of the 19th
century as the historical starting point, when the Jaina tradition became the
academic focus of some Western orientalists. As has been indicated in chapter two,
the Western orientalists’ `discovery´ and `definition´ of a religious tradition called
`Jainism´ or `Jinism´ reflects substantial similarities with the orientalists’ preceding
`framing´ of `Hinduism´ and `Buddhism´. This is not to argue that `Jainism´ (or,
similarly, `Hinduism´ and `Buddhism´) was `invented´ by Western orientalists.
Regarding the Jaina textual tradition, medieval scholars stressed their tradition’s
distinctiveness in their apologetic writings. What has been called the Western
orientalists’ `discovery´ and `definition´ of Jainism is meant to describe the process
in which `Jainism´ was defined as a religious system in accordance with the
European concept of `a religion´ as a universal, unchanging entity, which had been
developed during the period of the Enlightenment. Orientalist writings on Jainism

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were exclusively based on translations of ancient Jaina texts. Jainism, then, as
defined by Western scholars, was a textual tradition, with a main focus on
asceticism and renunciation. From the 1880s onwards, especially through the
academic writings of the German scholar Hermann Jacobi, orientalist research
proposed the independent origin of Jainism from Buddhism, thereby `establishing´
Jainism as one of the oldest independent and separate religious traditions with
Indian origin.
Similar to the case of Hindu and Sikh intellectuals in India, orientalist writings
had a profound impact on a small Western-educated intellectual Jaina elite, whose
members tried to accommodate themselves within the colonial intellectual and
political atmosphere. In this regard, Western orientalist concepts of distinct,
exclusive Indian religious systems substantially contributed to the emergence of
new concepts of an exclusive `religious identity´ shared by all those who
constituted the same equally exclusive `religious community´.
Chapter two has furthermore illustrated that the emergence of communal
awareness among Indian intellectuals was strongly supported by the introduction of
the census in British India during the last decades of the 19th century. The census-
takers’ focus on the caste and religion of each citizen strengthened the concept of
communities established along religious lines. Reflecting the changing attitude in
orientalist writings regarding the independent origin of the Jaina tradition, from
1882 onwards the Jainas appeared as a separate category within the census takings.
This category, however, was to remain blurred and fluent, for during the following
census operations a substantial number of Jainas were counted among, and
regarded themselves, as Hindus. The blurred lines between Jainas and Hindus in the
census takings indicate the abstract and highly theoretical level on which Jainism,
as a separate religious tradition, had been defined. Here, we find the contrast
between `imagined´ or `constructed´ supra-locally, supra-caste-based religious
communities and collective identity on one side, and in actual practice existing
more narrowly defined forms of community and collective identities along regional,
sectarian and caste-based lines on the other. While, according to the Western
orientalists’ scholarly definitions, the Jainas were neither Hindus, nor Buddhists,

224
but followed their own independent tradition, in socio-religious practices lines
between Hindus and Jainas remained vague and fluid.
It has to be stressed that among other religious groups, like Hindus and Sikhs,
academic exclusive definitions also did not necessarily express the practical
experiences of the common, non-intellectual masses. A large amount of confusion
in entries during the census takings eventually created the myth of declining, or,
more dramatically, `dying´ communities among Hindus, Sikhs and Jainas. This
alleged development alarmed intellectuals. Reformist organisations founded among
Hindus and Sikhs, such as the Ārya Samāj and the Singh Sabhā - established
within an atmosphere of growing communal tensions between Hindus, Sikhs,
Muslims and a determined Christian mission - aimed at `re-conversion´ of former
converts to Islam or Christianity. More importantly, radical Hindu and Sikh leaders
regarded the stress on religious boundaries as significant means to `save´ their own
religious tradition and safeguard its members’ share in political power. Especially
among the Sikhs, the intellectual leaders’ dominant discourse focused on the
“construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994) between Sikhs and Hindus.
This point is especially important, since the element of establishing outward
boundaries between one’s own group and outsiders, as has been argued within this
thesis, largely contributed to different developments among Jainas and other
religious minority groups in India. While, as demonstrated in chapter two and three
of this thesis, allegedly dwindling numbers also caused concern, unlike in the case
of radical Hindu or Sikh leaders, Jaina intellectuals did not focus on the creation
and propagation of boundaries with other groups as a means to define their own
tradition.
Chapter three has illustrated in what ways Jaina intellectuals have tried to
`protect´ and `propagate´ the Jaina tradition by means of internal organisation,
unification and a definition of Jainism. Regarding the first `self-definitions´ by
Jaina intellectuals, the work of Western orientalists was used in order to prove the
independent origin and character of the Jaina tradition, as well as its antiquity.
Negative statements about Jainism, on the other hand, prompted the composition of
English apologetic writings, in which Jainas defended their tradition. Though Jainas

225
may have been less confronted with an aggressive Christian mission than Hindus
and Sikhs in the Punjab, Western writings on the Jaina tradition were also
frequently motivated by the idea of Western cultural and religious superiority.
Therefore, these writings prompted similar reactions among reformist Jaina
intellectuals to those they had caused among other religious groups, most
prominently Hindus. Among the first apologetic writers were lawyers who had
spent some time in Europe themselves. The World’s Parliament of Religions held at
Chicago in 1893 delivered the first big scale opportunity for Jainas to present their
tradition to Westerners. The Gujarati Śvetāmbara Virchand R. Gandhi (1864-1901)
as Jaina representative presented Jainism as an ancient tradition, rational, logical,
scientific and with a universal approach. This definition, which very well reflected
the Universalist and Theosophic intellectual atmosphere of the Parliament, was
further developed by the writings of the Digambara lawyers and progressive
reformers Jagmander Lal Jaini (1881-1927) and Champat Rai Jain (1867-1942).
According to their interpretation, Jainism was a fully logical, scientific religion, and
its eternal values such as ahiṃsā made it the most suitable, timeless and universal
religion. While this definition highlighted the importance the Jainas, although very
small in numbers, allegedly held within Indian civilisation as the `torch bearers´ of
ancient Indian values and spirituality, it did not focus on the establishment of
religious boundaries with other communities. In the discourse of these early
reformers, the relationship between `Hindus´ and `Jainas´ remained vague.
Although the first apologetic writings produced by Jaina reformers contributed to
the framing of `Jaina core values´ such as ahiṃsā, tolerance and compatibility with
science, the boundaries between Jainas and Hindus remained largely undefined and
unclear. In this respect, the dominant identity discourse of the early 20th century
Jaina lay leaders did not contribute to a clear positioning of the Jainas as a religious
community within the framework of Indian religious pluralism.
Chapter three has furthermore aimed at suggesting an answer to the question, in
what ways religious organisations based on modern Western models have
contributed to broader concepts of community and collective religious identity
among Jainas. The chosen example of the DBJS, a reformist organisation of the

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Digambaras in the regional Digambara centre of South Maharashtra and North
Karnataka, has illustrated that the organisation’s main activities in the field of
social and educational reform were in line with the reform goals of progressive lay
organisations and individual reformers of other regional and religious backgrounds.
In the social field, campaigns against child marriage and for widow remarriage took
the most prominent position, but only met with very limited success. Reacting to
the general intellectual atmosphere of their times, the leaders of the DBJS
furthermore stressed education, in the form of higher Western education, female
education and basic education for the masses. Especially when seen within the
context of the regional Digambaras’ agricultural, low economic and educational
background, the DBJS’s focus on education and the establishment of educational
institutions and student hostels became more pressing. The development of hostels
for Jaina students, which started from the native state of Kolhapur, was furthermore
in close connection with the Maharashtrian Anti-Brahmin movement and its ardent
advocate Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur (1874-1922). Annasaheb Latthe
(1878-1950), lawyer, politician and leading member of the DBJS, closely worked
with Kolhapur’s ruler and was personally involved in the Anti-Brahmin-Movement.
As a pragmatic leader, Latthe had a profound influence on the DBJS. The progress
of the local Digambaras, according to Latthe, largely depended on their educational
improvement, as well as their inner unification. To achieve more unity among
Digambaras, progressive members of the DBJS, led by Latthe, campaigned for the
practice of inter-caste marriages and inter-caste dining. Although in their student
hostels inter-caste dining was practised and some members of the DBJS arranged
marriages of their family members with spouses from different castes, both
practices again only met with limited success. However, what the DBJS did
succeed in was the gradual shifting of a popular focus from a locally and caste-
based sense of community to the concept of a more universal supra-locally, supra-
caste-based Digambara community. Here, it has to be stressed that this wider `shift´
did not consist in a complete `replacement´ of regional, caste-based forms of
collective identity. Rather, the concept of a more universal Digambara identity
developed into an important additional form of collective identities held by

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Digambara Jainas. Although in actual practice castes remained and inter-caste
marriages only very gradually became more common, the DBJS - through its public
functions, its community newspapers and its collaboration with Jaina leaders and
associations from different regional and social backgrounds - propagated the
concept of a more universal Digambara Jaina community, consisting of Digambaras
from different regional, social and caste backgrounds. In this respect, as a modern
reform movement the DBJS not only propagated Western-influenced concepts of
social and educational reform, but furthermore adopted modern Western forms of
organisation. As the analysis presented in chapter three has shown, it was especially
the latter aspect - namely its organisational structure and activities, making
extensive use of the public sphere - which contributed to the establishment of a
broader concept of community among Digambaras.
This broader concept of the Digambara Jainas as a supra-locally, supra-caste-
based religious community, however, was not based on a conscious establishment
of religious boundaries with other groups, mainly Hindus. When Annasaheb Latthe
propagated the founding of student hostels in the Kolhapur area, he regarded the
Digambaras as one group among many other non-Brahmin castes. The Digambaras’
economic, social and educational progress was the main reform goal of the DBJS.
Here, we find an important difference from reform movements among Hindus and
Sikhs, whose leaders focused more on religious reform. Although religious reform
was also part of the progressive Jaina leaders’ reformist agenda, it remained far less
pronounced than calls for social and educational reform. In this respect, what can
be called the `purification´ of Jainism from alleged `Hindu´ influences did not hold
a very prominent position. Borrowing Harjot Oberoi’s phrase of “Sikhizing the
Sikhs” (1994: 306), we do not find a very strong tendency of `Jainising the Jainas´.
This aspect is important, as it suggests that intellectual Jaina reformers, such as
Latthe, did not consider the stress on a Jaina-Hindu dichotomy necessary for the
economic, social and educational progress of the Digambaras as a community.
The main aim of chapter four has been an analysis of developments among non-
middle-class protagonists. In this respect it has been argued that what was called
the `revival´ of the tradition of naked Digambara monks and the re-establishment of

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an ascetic order during the first half of the 20th century also had a great impact on
novel concepts of collective religious identity and community among Digambaras.
By discussing the ascetic career of the South Maharashtrian Ācārya Śāntisāgar
(1872-1955), it has been demonstrated that Śāntisāgar’s `revival´ established the
fully naked Digambara monk as a public figure and, more importantly, a religious
authority. As “charismatic leader” (Carrithers 1989: 232) the naked monk replaced
the bhaṭṭāraka, who was linked to a respective locality and caste, as a more
universal Digambara religious authority. With his religious authority mainly based
on his severe ascetic practices, the Digambara ascetic developed into a `living
representation´ of a Tīrthaṅkara and into a `living symbol´ of the Jaina values of
asceticism and ahiṃsā. Besides the symbolic level, the distinct outward appearance
of the male Digambara renunciant, especially his complete nudity, makes him stand
out among Digambara Jainas. In this regard, he also acts as a very concrete symbol
for Digambara Jainism. While the stress on asceticsm and ahiṃsā can already be
found in apologetic writings of medieval Jaina scholars, the `integration´ of these
`core values´ into the modern 20th century Jaina discourse is strongly connected
with the `revival´ of the Digambara ascetic tradition since the early 20th century.
In chapter four it has also been demonstrated that not only the Western-educated
intellectual elite, but also non-educated members of the Jaina masses made use of
the colonial public sphere and reacted to the growing public awareness of religion
as an important identity marker. In this respect, the public re-emergence of the
naked monk substantially contributed to the establishment of a broader supra-
locally and supra-caste-based notion of collective religious identity among
Digambara Jainas.
An analysis into the developments among the Digambara ascetic tradition after
Śāntisāgar, as provided in chapter five, has shown that Digambara monks fulfil
different roles in their interaction with the laity. Although the majority of
contemporary Digambara ascetics consist of men and women from a rural and low
educational background, developments during the last decades indicate that an
ascetic’s religious authority does not have to stay confined to the ascetic ideal

229
practised by him or her. A growing number of younger men and women with a
professional background have been initiated into the Digambara ascetic order. In
this respect, several contemporary ascetics owe their popularity among the laity not
only to their ascetic practice, but also to their religious learning. The increasing
number of ascetics, who have taken initiation at an early stage in life, furthermore
suggests that an ascetic’s career, when considered as more than a spiritual option
for retirement, can include what within this thesis has been called `social
commitment´. In this respect, a Digambara ascetic can act as a leader figure in
communal affairs, for the protection of `Jaina values´ such as vegetarianism, or use
his religious authority to appeal to the laity to donate for social, religious or
educational purposes. The popular Ācārya Vidyānanda is not only highly respected
as a Jaina scholar, but also acted as a leader of the Digambara cause during the
communal Bahubali Affair in Maharashtra during the 1980s. Surpassing the
boundaries of Digambara Jainas, Muni Tarunsāgar leads a nationwide campaign
against slaughter-houses and meat export, and his public speeches also attract non-
Jainas in great numbers. While, as among members of other religious communities,
also among Jainas multiple identities exist, and the `hierarchy´ between these
identities varies depending on individual circumstances, the impact of the discussed
Digambara ascetics on the formation of community among Digambaras also takes
different forms. This, for instance, is illustrated in the case of Ācārya Vidyānanda
who in his nationwide travels and popular speeches propagated a broader notion of
the Jainas as a nationwide community; at the same time, he acted as the religious
leader of local Digambaras in a regional communal conflict. By combining both
`roles´, Vidyānanda transformed a regional affair into a nationwide event.
Notwithstanding especially popular individual ascetics the daily `routine´
interaction between ascetics and laity also largely contributes to the establishment
of broader forms of community among Digambara Jainas. The visit of an ascetic at
a special locality, especially during the three months of cāturmāsa, has a very
concrete impact on the strengthening of group affiliations among local Digambaras
who will work together to organise the feeding and sheltering of the ascetic, as well

230
as special functions. To a lesser extent, the constant travels of ascetics also
contribute to the strengthening of the concept of a supra-locally, supra-caste-based
Digambara community, with lay followers from different locations coming together
while travelling with special monks and their disciples, inviting ascetics to their
places and joining functions.
One of these occasions, as discussed in chapter five, is the extraordinary event of
an ascetic’s public performance of sallekhanā, the ritual of fasting to death. As a
distinct Jaina - and even more so Digambara - ritual, sallekhanā not only
symbolises the Jaina value of asceticism at its highest possible extent, but also
expresses the performing ascetic’s absolute independence and individuality, thereby
establishing the Jaina ascetic’s suggested spiritual and moral superiority. Another
extraordinary event among Digambaras, the spectacular mahāmastakābhiṣeka
ceremony performed to the colossal statue of the mythic ascetic Bāhubali, also
provides a forum for Digambaras from different regional, economic and caste
backgrounds to interact in preparing, running and celebrating the event.
Additionally, the grand ceremony also catches the attention of non-Jainas and, in its
colourful aspects, counteracts the popular stereotype of Jainism as a dry and
colourless religion. Although in practice the supra-locally, supra-caste-based
`community of worshippers´ established at the extraordinary event of the
mahāmastakābhiṣeka is of a temporary nature, its `image´ substantially contributes
to the presentation of the concept of a universal Digambara community to non-
Digambara and non-Jaina outsiders.
As the discussion of the mahāmastakābhiṣeka has furthermore shown, the ascetic
element is a fundamental part of the ceremony, which is held in veneration of the
ascetic figure of Bāhubali, whose asceticism, according to the Digambara legend,
made the ruler of the whole world bow to him. As an ascetic’s sallekhanā followed
by the abhiṣeka of the ascetic’s corpse with precious substances testifies to the
alleged moral superiority of a Digambara ascetic and, in a broader sense, of the
(Digambara) Jaina tradition as such, the mahāmastakābhiṣeka similarily symbolises
the Digambara Jainas’ utmost stress on asceticism, which, according to popular

231
Digambara identity discourse, makes Jainism stand out among other religious
traditions.
As discussed in chapter five, the issue of Jainism’s alleged moral superiority is
also found in the discourse among contemporary Jaina lay organisations. A
discussion of the rhetoric used by (contemporary) leading members of the DBJS
illustrates that the concept of the Digambaras as a community is mainly used in a
rather secular sense. Digambaras, accordingly, are all those who have been born
into a Digambara caste and are therefore eligible to attend one of the educational
institutions run by the DBJS. `Community´, according to the DBJS’s rhetorical
approach, is not established through partaking in the same rituals and festivals, but
rather through the adherence to the `universal´ Jaina values of ahiṃsā, tolerance
and truthfulness. According to this discourse, the Jainas’ uncompromising practice
of these `universal values´ establishes the Jaina tradition’s suggested moral
superiority.
In a global context, a similar argumentation is brought forth by the contemporary
Jaina organisation Young Jains of India, founded in 2005. While the DBJS
represents members of the regional Digambara castes of the South Maharashtrian
and North Karnataka area, the YJI target Jainas irrespective of caste, regional or
sectarian background. In their establishment deeply influenced by diaspora Jaina
organisations, the YJI reflect young professional Jainas’ efforts to locate their
tradition in a world of religious pluralism and globalisation. By re-interpreting the
ancient Jaina concepts of ahiṃsā, aparigraha and anekāntavāda, Jainism is defined
as the most suitable religion for the modern world, securing peace, tolerance, and a
responsible approach to environmental issues. In their discourse, the YJI take up
the argumentation already used by the first Jaina apologetic writers, and develop it
further by taking in the contemporary context of religious diaspora and
transnational networks between India and the West.
It has to be stressed that the discourse on the Jaina tradition as morally superior to
other traditions did not have its origin in the modern Jaina discourse of the 20th
century, but has a very long history. Jaina scholars during the medieval period
produced apologetic writings arguing for the moral and spiritual superiority of their

232
tradition. These writings targeted highly-educated religious scholars of rival
religious traditions. However, neither were these writings addressed to a larger,
non-highly educated audience, nor were they focusing on the presentation of the
Jaina tradition as a means to provide solutions for non-religious matters.
In their discourse, the YJI’s rhetorical usage of a `Jain way of life´, first
proposed by Jaina professionals in the United States, shows important similarities
to the modern presentation of other (Indian) religious traditions, focusing on
allegedly timeless moral values such as non-violence and tolerance. Internal
divisions, mainly in form of castes and sectarian sub-groups, do not feature in the
YJI’s universalistic conceptualisation of Jainism and the Jainas. Considering actual
socio-religious practices, in which sectarian differences and caste divisions exist,
broader concepts of a supra-caste, supra-sectarian and supra-locally-based universal
Jaina community - such as that developed by the YJI - may appear to be not much
more than an `imagination´ or theoretical construct. This `imagination´, however,
has developed into an important intellectual force. This development finds a
practical expression in campaigns for the official recognition of the distinctiveness
of the Jaina tradition and the inclusion of the Jainas among the nationwide (non-
Hindu) religious communities. These campaigns are based on the notion of a supra-
locally, supra-caste-based universal Jaina community propagated by individual
reformers and lay organisations from the end of the 19th century onwards. However,
as expressed in the universalistic conceptualisation of the YJI’s Jain Way of Life or
the `protestant approach´ of the DBJS leaders’ rhetoric, this modern discourse
remains on an abstract level regarding the notion of the Jainas as a distinct
community. The vagueness of this discourse, as has been argued within this thesis,
finds its expression in undefined, unclear boundaries between Jainas and Hindus.
These blurred boundaries in the sphere of intellectual discourse, as finally argued
in chapter six, have had a substantial impact on the undecided legal status of the
Jainas regarding their inclusion among the nationwide religious minority
communities. While under British rule petitions for political representation of the
Jainas as an `important minority´ were mainly unsuccessful, after Independence the
Jainas have not been included among the nationwide religious minorities. Among

233
Jaina organisations, the DBJS especially has been an ardent proponent for the
inclusion of the Jainas, and since the 1990s several petitions have been filed. The
argumentation used in these petitions reflects the late 19th century orientalist
discourse on Jainism as an ancient, independent religious system, and considers the
non-granting of the minority status to the Jainas a violation of the Indian
Constitution. According to the DBJS’s main petitioner Bal Patil, the exclusion of
the Jainas from the nationwide minority communities is directly motivated by a
Hindutva influence on Indian politics.
Without further discussing Bal Patil’s argumentation, the concept of Hindutva, as
first formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, includes Sikhs, Buddhists and
Jainas among the umbrella term `Hindu´. In this regard, the last section of chapter
six has aimed at suggesting possible explanations for the different legal status of
Sikhs, Buddhists and Jainas regarding their community’s inclusion among the
nationwide Indian religious minorities. A comparison of the dominant identity
discourse among Sikhs and Buddhists with that of the Jainas illustrates various
factors responsible for different developments. It has been argued that the Jainas as
a numerically very small religious group with a wide distribution across the whole
of India did not establish any influential political organisation. Unlike in the case of
the Sikhs and, to a certain degree, the Dalit neo-Buddhists, the conceptualisation of
the Jainas as a community has not been connected to what has been called the
`politicisation´ of a collective religious identity. While the element of politicisation
is especially pronounced within the dominant Sikh identity discourse, in contrast to
the Jainas both radical Sikhs and neo-Buddhists have been a far more audible
community regarding their leaders’ public claims stating: `We are not Hindus.´
This open “construction of religious boundaries” (Oberoi 1994), as argued within
this thesis, has not been an element of the dominant Jaina identity discourse. It has
to be stressed that in the field of socio-religious practice and tradition, boundaries
between religious communities in India are much more fluid and `blurred´ than
radical reformers would like them to be. In this respect, this thesis does not suggest
that in practice boundaries between Hindus and Sikhs, or Hindus and neo-
Buddhists are fixed and clearly defined. Regarding the `Jaina case´ discussed

234
within this research, it is not in the area of popular religious and cultural practices,
where we find developments which are substantially different from the case of
other religious groups, mainly the Sikhs and neo-Buddhists. While in actual
practice `blurred boundaries´ between their own community and the Hindu majority
can be found among Jainas, Sikhs and neo-Buddhists alike (and, to a certain extent,
also among Muslims, Christians and others), it is in the field of the modern identity
discourse where the missing rhetorical usage of “the construction of religious
boundaries” differentiates the `Jaina case´ from that of Sikhs and neo-Buddhists.
Regarding differences between the `Jaina case´ and that of Sikhs and neo-
Buddhists, the discussion of developments among Sikhs and neo-Buddhists has also
shown that in both cases the process of “minoritization” (Gupta 1999: 38), in which
a respective minority group becomes the focus of persecution by members of the
majority community, most likely has had an impact on the strengthening of the
Sikhs’ and neo-Buddhists’ own minority consciousness. The Jainas, on the other
hand, have not been the victims of “minoritization” (Gupta 1999: 38) in recent
times.
While these factors have had a substantial impact on the `Jaina case´, the opinions
of Jainas concerning their inclusion among the nationwide minority communities
also differ. While, as the present research indicates, Digambaras of South
Maharashtra and North Karnataka are more likely to regard the Jainas’ inclusion as
a desirable official recognition of the Jaina tradition’s distinctiveness, Śvetāmbaras,
especially in Gujarat, tend to oppose the granting of the minority status to Jainas. In
this respect, internal differences further contribute to the `Jaina case´ and the Jaina
community’s legally unclear position within India’s religious landscape, commonly
regarded as consisting of a Hindu majority and several religious minority
communities. This is not to argue that in the case of other communities internal
differences do not exist. However, especially in the case of the Sikhs their radical
intellectual leaders’ construct of a unified and distinct Sikh community has
successfully been presented as the dominant one - in particular to non-Sikhs.
The case of the Jainas and their legally unclear position regarding their inclusion
among the nationwide religious minorities discussed in this thesis gives some

235
important indications that the popular model of the Indian religious landscape, in
which all religious groups are given their fixed position, does not hold true in all
cases. Therefore, this thesis’ focus on the `Jaina case´ contributes to the discourse
on the formation of communal identities in India by including a hitherto neglected
religious minority group, whose position within the broader framework of the
Indian religious landscape defies any clear definition.
The developments among Jainas, discussed within this thesis, illustrate the
substantial impact of intellectual discourse and `imagination´ on popular concepts
of collective identity formation and the establishment of universal religious
communities. In this respect, we have to differentiate between two `aspects´ of
identity formation and the establishment of community. One is what within this
thesis has been called `actual practice´ or the field of socio-religious practices and
traditions; the other consists of the more abstract sphere of intellectual discourse or
`imagination´. While, as has been argued in this thesis, in actual practice more
narrowly defined forms of community building and collective identities along
regional, sectarian and caste-based lines exist, it is the latter aspect of intellectual
discourse which has contributed to the establishment of broader concepts of
universal religious collective identities. In this respect, the notion of `blurred
boundaries´ is significant. While in socio-religious practices `blurred´ or fluid
boundaries are not only found between Jainas and Hindus, but also between Hindus
and members of other religious communities, it is the `fluidity´ of boundaries in the
intellectual Jaina leaders’ discourse, which differentiates the `Jaina case´ from
developments among Sikhs and neo-Buddhists. These different developments, as
has been argued in this thesis, were mainly caused by distinctive geographical,
social and political circumstances. These respective contexts, then, had substantial
impact on the identity discourse of the intellectual elite. In this respect, the present
thesis does not suggest that the `Jaina case´ is an `extraordinary´ or `unique case´
per se; rather, the aim is to demonstrate, in what way specific circumstances have
an impact on the `imagination´ or `construction´ of collective religious identity and
the formation of community. In the context of the formation of community along
religious lines in India, the discussion of the `Jaina case´ presented in this thesis

236
suggests a revision of popular models of the Indian modern religious landscape in
which each religious community has a fixed and defined position.
During the research for this thesis, several interesting points, mainly regarding
the complex issue of religious minority status, have occurred, which I regard as
important for further research. One of these points concerns the comparison of the
dominant modern Jaina identity discourse along geographical and sectarian lines.
Although the written source material used for this thesis about early Jaina reformers
and apologetic writers included Digambara and Śvetāmbara, South, North and West
Indian Jainas, most of the anthropological material collected during field research
mainly focused on Digambaras of South Maharashtra and Karnataka. However, as
indicated above, regarding the contemporary legal status of Jainas as a religious
minority community, the official acknowledgement of the Jainas as being not part
of the Hindu community seems to be less important for Śvetāmbaras. Among
Śvetāmbaras of Gujarat, there seems to be the tendency to resist the official
recognition of the Jainas as being not part of the Hindu community. This tendency,
though beyond the scale of this thesis, gives rise to several interesting questions: if
the concept of a distinct Jaina identity is less developed among Jainas in North and
Western India, especially of the Śvetāmbara sect, what are likely reasons for this?
Does the popularity of Hindu nationalism in Gujarat contribute to this tendency? Is,
as could be argued, the inclusion of Jainas and Hindus among some trading castes,
and the practice of intermarriage between the two groups a substantial factor?
Recent studies on diaspora Jainas in Africa and Britain, for instance, have shown
that in many cases caste affiliations prove to be stronger than the lines between
Jainas and Hindus (Dundas 1992: 332-334). Regarding the issue of a lesser degree
of a distinct Jaina identity among Śvetāmbaras in North and West India, an
interesting remark was made during field research by a young Sthānakvāsī woman,
who had migrated with her family from Rajasthan to Bangalore, Karnataka. In
Rajasthan, according to her, she had never been aware of her `Jaina identity´. Only
after she had come to Bangalore, she was told that she was not Hindu, but Jaina.

237
 Another interesting aspect noticed during field research were the sometimes
aggressive efforts, with which some especially younger Jainas, mainly through the
medium of the internet, aim at publicising acts of the alleged taking over of Jaina
monuments by Hindus, thereby `claiming back´ converted former Jaina sites to
protect the Jaina tradition against an alleged hostile Hindu nationalism. Is this
rather aggressive communal awareness a reaction to growing Hindu nationalist
tendencies? In a broader sense: does an increase in communal tensions through
radical Hindu nationalism provoke a greater communal awareness among Jainas?
Among recent developments, the strong protests against the amended Gujarat
Freedom of Religion Bill of 2006, which included Jainas among Hindus, seems to
indicate a trend like this, as Gujarati Śvetāmbaras, usually not prominent Jaina
activists, also filed petitions against the bill.
These questions, raised during field research and the writing of this thesis, could
be the topic of further research, contributing to the important study of religious
pluralism and collective religious identities in the modern Indian nation state.
While these issues have to remain open for further research, the present thesis has,
for the first time, included developments among the Jainas into the discourse on the
dynamics of religious community formation in late colonial and post-Independence
India. Additionally, the discussion provided in this thesis has demonstrated the
complexity of collective religious identifications and the Indian religious landscape,
which, as the `Jaina case´ suggests, defies any fixed model.

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 GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS

abhiṣeka ritual of ablution/anointment with purified water and other

substances

ācārya male leader of a group of ascetics

āhāra dāna the ritual of giving food to a Digambara ascetic

ahiṃsā non-violence; non-hurting

ailaka a grade of initiation within the Digambara ascetic tradition

anekāntavāda philosophical doctrine of non-onesidedness

aparigraha non-possession; non-possessiveness

āratī rite of worship by offering lamps to an image

āryikā designation for a Digambara nun

bhaṭṭāraka literally `learned one´; title for the head of a Digambara

monastery

brahmacārī/ a person practicing celibacy

brahmacāriṇī

cāturmāsa four-month period of the rainy season, during which

mendicants stay at one place and do not travel

dīkṣā initiation into the ascetic order

jina literally `victor´; a human being who has attained

omniscience and preaches the way to spiritual liberation to
others

jīva the self

kamaṇḍalu a pot carried by Digambara ascetics containing boiled water

for the purpose of washing hands and feet and cleaning
oneself after excretion

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khālsā Sikh order established by Guru Gobind Singh

keśa loñca ascetic practice of pulling out the own head and facial hair
by hand

kṣatriya member of a Hindu caste with the traditional occupations

of rulers and warriors

kṣullaka/kṣullīkā first level of initiation into the Digambara ascetic order

mahāmastakābhiṣeka literally `great head anointing ceremony´; Digambara

ceremony of ablutions performed to the colossal statues of
the mythical figure Bāhubali, usually held around every
twelve years

maṭha monastery; seat of a bhaṭṭāraka

muhpattī piece of cloth covering the mouth in order to avoid any

kind of harm to small living beings; worn by ascetics of the
Śvetāmbara sectarian traditions

muni fully initiated Jaina male ascetic; within the Digambara

tradition designation for a naked monk

mūrtipūjaka sectarian branch among Śvetāmbaras which worships

sacred images

pañcakalyānaka Jaina festival in which the five auspicious moments in the

life of a tīrthaṅkara are ritually re-enacted

paryuṣaṇa Jaina festival of austerities performed during the rainy

season

piñchī a broom made out of peacock feathers used by Digambara

ascetics to wipe the floor before sitting or lying down in
order to prevent causing harm to small living beings

pūjā ritualised act of worship

sallekhanā Jaina ritual of fasting to death

saṅgha general term for the (whole) religious community of Jainas;

within this thesis it refers to a group of Digambara ascetics

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 śrāddha Hindu ceremony honouring deceased family members

śrāvaka/śrāvikā literally `listener´; a Jaina lay-follower

sthānak(a)vāsī non-image worshipping sectarian branch of the

Śvetāmbaras

śūdra member of the lowest Hindu caste

terāpanthī sectarian division within the Digambara tradition; a non-

image worshipping sectarian branch of the Śvetāmbaras
(within this thesis the term used refers to the latter)

tīrthaṅkara literally `ford maker´; a human being who has attained

omniscience and preaches the way to spiritual liberation to
others

yakṣī female deity, traditionally attributed to a tīrthaṅkara as a

guardian deity

Note on Spelling

Within this thesis, diacritics are used in the spelling of the above listed Indian terms, as
well as in the names and ascetic titles of Jaina monks and nuns. In the bibliography,
diacritics are only used in titles where the author uses diacritics.

241
 Appendix One

(Photo: Scholz)

Lay followers offering food to Muni Tarunsāgar during his cāturmāsa stay at Bangalore in 2006.

242
 (Photo: Scholz)
Lay followers surrounding Muni Tarunsāgar after a religious function at Bangalore.

243
 (Photo: Scholz)
Lay followers performing the ritual of āratī to Muni Tarunsāgar during his cāturmāsa
stay at Bangalore in 2006.

244
 Appendix Two

(Photo: Scholz)
The Bāhubali statue at Shravana Belgola is prepared for the mahāmastakābhiṣeka
ceremony during February 2006.

245
 (Photo: Scholz)
Last ablution with water during the mahāmastakābhiṣeka ceremony at Shravana Belgola
in February 2006.

246
 (Photo: Scholz)
Digambara monk worshipping the feet of the giant Bāhubali statue at Shravana Belgola.

247
 (Photo: Scholz)
Jainas at Shravana Belgola during the mahāmastakābhiṣeka ceremony in February 2006.

248
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dictionaries/Reference books

Abercrombie, Nicholas; Hill Stephen; Turner, Bryan S., 1988, The Penguin
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Johnson, Allan G., 2000, “Community.” In: Johnson, Allan G., 2000, The
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Scott, John and Marshall, Gordon, 2009, “Community.” In: Scott, John and
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