What
is the place of bhakti or devotion in Jainism, which is predominantly a path of
knowledge? Can there be bhakti in an atheistic religion which denies the
existence of God? And if there is something like bhakti in Jainism, how does it
compare with bhakti in other religions? These are some pertinent questions for
a sadhaka, a spiritual aspirant, and for a student of comparative religions. In
this essay, we shall try to seek answers to these questions.
Faith and
Devotion
There
is no mention of bhakti in the earliest Jain scriptures. In Rsibhasita and Uttaradhyayana, sraddha,
or faith, is mentioned, but there it refers to faith in the precepts rather
than in a person.1 One of the three pillars
(triratna) of Jainism is samyak darsana, or right faith. The word
darsana connotes seeing or direct
perception of truth, but since it is not possible to realize the truth directly
in the beginning of one’s religious life, faith in the teachings of those who
have realized is advocated. This principle of faith later evolved into faith in
the prophets, the preceptor and the precept (deva, guru, dharma).
Although
bhakti and sraddha, or devotion and faith, are often considered synonyms, there
is a difference. There can be faith without devotion, but devotion cannot exist
without faith. Faith is the basis of devotion, while devotion is the more
dynamic development of faith. Faith is a passive mental attitude whereas
devotion is its active external expression. The etymological meaning of the
word bhakti, derived from the root bhaj,
in the sense of sevayam, to serve,
also points to its dynamic aspect, and this meaning is accepted in Jainism.
Service and
Devotion
According
to Nisitha-churni, to rise from one’s
seat in honour of the acarya, to serve him by holding his staff, wiping his
feet, offering him seat, etc. are all bhakti.2
In Jainism service is called vaiyavrtya,
and it is stressed that bhakti must be associated with, and find expression in,
vaiyavrtya. According to Sivaryakoti,3
bhakti towards the five adored ones of Jainism, viz. arihanta, siddha, acarya, upadhyaya and sadhu, and in dharma, can
be performed by service alone. He who serves the adherents of the triratna,
viz. the right faith, conduct and knowledge, performs bhakti towards the whole Jain
religion. Acarya Kundakunda4 also
exhorts the monks to undertake the tenfold service with devotion.
According
to another definition, service is equated with humility, or vinaya, (sevayam
bhaktirvinayah seva)5 To honour the monks, to
stand from one’s seat on seeing them, to salute them with folded hands, to
follow them, to offer them seat, to massage their feet, etc. – all come under
both vinaya and vaiyavrtya.
Devotion and
Love
These
are, however, external expressions of bhakti. Essentially bhakti is love: love
for the ideal and towards him who practises it. According to Acarya Pujyapada,6 pure love towards the arihanta
(prophet), the acarya (preceptor), the tenets and the scriptures is bhakti. An
eminent Jain poet-saint sang:
As cows roam about in
the forest to graze,
But their minds remain
Attached to their
valves;
So may my mind ever
remain
Attached to the
Feet of the Jina
(perfected teacher)7
even while I am engaged
in worldly duties
As desire always
occupies
the mind of the lustful,
may my mind too remain
occupied
with the Lord’s name.8
All
attachment and love, be it for an ordinary imperfect mortal or for a liberated
perfected Jina, is, according to Jainism, a potential cause of bondage. How
then can there be love for the Jina? This question has been answered by Jain
acaryas variously. Acarya Samantabhadra9
is of the opinion that just as a tiny drop of poison cannot poison the vast
expanse of water in an ocean, similarly the great benefits derived from loving
the Jina cannot be tarnished by a tiny speck of sin incurred due to love. A
more plausible explanation is that the Jina, being established in his eternally
pure and free nature, is identical with the Supreme Self (param-atman). Hence
to love him is to love our own natural free
state
According
to Lord Mahavira himself love is a hindrance in the path of liberation. An
emotional person may take recourse to love towards a Jina to overcome his
passionate human love, but ultimately he will have to get over even this purer,
sublime love. The story of Gautama illustrates this fact beautifully. In spite
of being the foremost disciple of Lord Mahavira, Gautama did not get the
highest knowledge and moksa, or liberation, owing to his intense personal
attachment to the Teacher, whereas other disciples, much junior to him, got
liberated by listening to the teachings of Mahavira. To destroy this
attachment, Lord Mahavira sent Gautama away from him just before his passing
away. Not being able to remain at the side of the Lord at the time of death
gave a rude shock to Gautama and broke his attachment. He was forthwith
liberated.
Knowledge and
Devotion
According
to Jainism, devotion and knowledge are not contradictory, but go together.
Without knowledge bhakti is blind. Contrarily, right faith (samyak-darsana) is
the foundation of the whole spiritual path which culminates in the awakening of
right knowledge (samyak-jnana). According to Acarya Kundakunda10, knowledge is already present in the
Atman, but he alone gets it who is devoted to the guru. In short, the knowledge
which bestows liberation is obtained by devotion towards those who possess that
knowledge, and that devotion too must be with knowledge.
To
summarize, bhakti in Jainism is based on faith, is closely related to
knowledge, manifests in service, and is an important means of liberation.
Devotional
Practices in Jainism
These
include worship (puja), recitation of hymns and prayers (stotra, stava,
mangala), salutations and practice of humility (vandana and vinaya), and
celebrations and festivals.
Acarya
Somadeva11 says: ‘ May I, O Lord, worship thy
lotus feet in the morning, serve the saints and monks at noon, and chant thy
glories in the evening. ‘ Thus he summarizes the chief devotional attitude of a
Jain devotee.
The
practice of image worship had been prevalent in Jainism from the very ancient
times. Historical evidence shows that images of the Tirthankaras, originally
twenty-four Teachers, were made as early as the third century BC, while
worships with flowers was definitely in vogue by the first century AD.
Devotional practices in Jainism were distinctly influenced by those practices
in Hinduism, and by the changes taking place in this sister religion. This was
allowed by the acaryas because it was realized that, for ordinary householders,
it was not possible to concentrate their mind on abstract ideas, and that they
needed methods like puja, hymns, etc. Thus at present we find a number of
similarities between the devotional practices of the two religions. At least
six of the nine forms of the devotions described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam12 are found in Jainism, viz. listening to
and singing the glories of the Lord, meditation on Him, caressing the feet,
worship, and bowing down. Dasya, sakhya and atmanivedanam or servitude,
friendship and self-surrender are not found in Jainism, because they do not fit
in with the philosophical concept of the adored Jina or Tirthankaras in
Jainism.
Jain
lay devotees perform worship of the image or the footprints of the
Tirthankaras, the procedure for which is elaborately described in Jain texts.
The image is first brushed clean with a special brush made of khus straw. It is
then bathed with scented water and dried with a clean fine cloth. Next sandal
paste is applied and it is decorated with flowers, garlands and ornaments. Rice
grains and fruits, fresh or dried, are then offered on an offering-table placed
in front of the image. The rice grains are generally arranged in special
designs that have specific symbolic meanings. Finally incense and lighted lamp
are waved in front of the image with accompanying hymns, and the worship ends
by salutations. Like the worship in Hinduism with five, ten, or sixteen items (panca, dasa or sodasopacara puja), in
Jainism too there is the eightfold or seventeenfold worship (astaprakari, satrahprakari). It is quite
evident that this type of worship has entered into Jainism due to Hindu
influence.
Singing
of hymns is enjoined as one of the six essential duties of a Jain lay or
monastic devotee. The Jain hymnal literature is voluminous. It is both in
Sanskrt and Prakrta, and in recent times hymns and songs in the vernaculars
also have been added. Some of these have become more popular and are sung by
millions of Jains every day.
The
Tirthankara, the object of worship of a Jain votary- unlike the Hindu God, who
is all the all-powerful bestower of grace, fulfiller of desires, and destroyer
of evil-, is an illumined liberated soul, who is beyond praise and blame, who
neither curses nor blesses, and who neither showers grace nor rewards or
punishes his supplicants. What then is the idea behind singing hymns and
glories of such an impartial witness? It is to purify oneself by the
remembrance of the virtues and glories of the Lord that such hymns are sung. He
represents the Ideal, the Goal, which the hymns flash afresh in the mind of the
devotee. It intensifies his faith, purifies his heart and infuses strength to
struggle for the goal. These hymns are in a sense praises of the pure, eternal,
free nature of one’s own Atman. Their singing is like self-instruction.
It
is evident from the philosophy behind the worship of the Tirthankara that in
Jainism there is no scope for selfish devotion or love prompted by desire.
However, in the course of centuries, hymns prompted by desires and with
promises of material gains and protection from dangers (phalasrutis) have crept
in. And strangely enough, such desires of the singer are often fulfilled !
Akin
to Vedic invocatory or peace chants, there are a number of formulas and verses,
called mangalas, in Jainism too,
which are chanted before the commencement of any work, specially literary works
and studies.
Vandana, or the practice of humility by
making salutation, by bowing down or by uttering suitable salutation is one of
the important devotional exercises of a Jain. In the famous Navakara-mantra,
salutation is offered to the five adored ones, viz. the arihanta (prophet), the siddha
(liberated one), the acarya
(teacher), the upadhyaya (expounder
of the scriptures), and the sadhu (monk).
The characteristics of each one of these are elaborately described in Jain scriptures.
Thus the purpose of the salutations is to remind the devotee of the virtues
represented by them. Salutation to one’s superior in virtue or senior in
station attenuates egotism and cultivates humility, which is the foundation of
all other virtues. However, to discourage impostors and hypocrites the Jains
are very circumspect about offering their homage. Merely donning the robe or
ascending to an office does not make one worthy of honour, if one is without
the desired virtues. Hence the question of who should be honoured is discussed
in details in Jainism. There are also detailed instructions as to how to salute
and what constitutes a faulty salutation.
The
birthdays of the Tirthankaras are celebrated with all pomp and gaiety by the
Jains. Apart from special worships, dramas, dances, musical performances, `car’
festivals, etc. are held on such occasions to commemorate the mythological
‘Indra’s worship’ at a celestial holy place called Nandisvara, an eight-day
long festival is held every year and is called Nandisvara Festival.
Divisions of
Bhakti
Jain
acaryas have divided bhakti into twelve types, depending upon the objects of
bhakti. These include such beings as the siddhas, the Tirthankaras, the acaryas
and the five adored ones. Bhakti, to them, consists in faith, service, worship
and chanting of hymns, wherever applicable. The objects are the scriptures,
temples, shrines, sacred trees, Nandisvara, and so on. Finally, states like
death in a state of samadhi, yoga, character, peace and nirvana are also the
objects of bhakti. To aspire for, pray for, and attempt to attain these states
constitutes these types of bhakti.
Devotional
Attitude
As
already mentioned, there is very little scope for the loving worshipper-
worshipped relationship, because here the object of devotion is a being fee
from all feelings of love and attachment. And yet, Jain devotees have been
found to adopt the attitude of a servant or even that of a wife towards the
arihanta for the sake of the practice of devotion. Hymns and poems of a few
Jain sadhakas testify to this fact. The worship of the infant Jina
(snatra-pura) is also done by devotees. The ultimate aim, however, is the
absolute union with the Supreme Self- in other words, the realization of the
eternally free and pure nature of one’s own Atman.
Conclusion
A
critical survey of Jainism reveals that, although there are large number of
devotional practices prevalent among the Jain devotees, bhakti has never been
so developed as in the devotional schools of Hinduism by which it has been
heavily influenced. Prema, or para-bhakti, ecstatic love, is virtually absent
in Jainism, which has as its ultimate aim the rising above all bonds of love to
realize the pure nature of the soul.
References:
1 Dr. Sagarmal Jain, ‘Jain Dharma Me Bhakti Ki
Avadharana’ (Hindi), in Sraman, April-June, 1993, p.22
2 Jinadasgani,
Nishitha-Churni, edited by Vijay Prem Surishwara, quoted by Dr Premsagar Jain
in Jain Bhakti Kavya Ki Pristhabhumi, Kashi, Bharatiya Jnana Pitha, 1963, p.2
3 Sri Sivaryakoti,
Bhagavati Aradhana, Muni Shri Anantakirti Digambara Jain Granthamala, 8,
Hirabag, Bombay, Vikram Samvat 1989, p. 152, quoted by Premsagar Jain, (ibid.)
p.4.
4 Quoted by Premsagar
Jain, (ibid.)p.3.
5
Abhidhana-rajendra-kosha, Part V, p.1365.
6 **************
7 Perfected teacher,
Tirthankara; jina, lit., ‘ the conqueror’.
8 Anandaghana,
Anandaghanapada- samgraha, Adhyatma Jnana Prasaraka Mandala, Bombay
9 Quoted by Premsagar
Jain, p. 10.
10 Quoted by Premsagar
Jain, p.17.
11 ******* Quoted by
Premsagar Jain, p.28.
12 ****************-
the Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.5.23.
