Author: Luitgard Soni
Year: 2014
International Journal of Jaina Studies (Online) Vol. 10, No. 2 (2014) 1-14
Abstract
The article focuses on two modes of dying described in the Mūlārādhanā and illustrated by respective stories in the Bṛhat-Kathākośa: the death by renouncing food and drink and the death by killing oneself. Special reference is given to the telling of the stories in the process of 'assisted death' where the supportive and persuasive function of story telling is explicit. The stories about condoned self-killing, on the other hand, are of special interest since this act connotes violence and is usually not associated with Jaina principles. As exemplary stories these precedents point, however, to particular circumstances where killing oneself in an abrupt way is seen as the right action.
Author: Shubha Majumder
Year: 2014
International Journal of Jaina Studies (Online) Vol. 10, No. 1 (2014) 1-32
Rāḍha, an important geo-cultural unit of ancient Bengal, was closely associated with the development of different religious traditions. Jainism, which is one of the ancient religions of India, has strong associations with the settlement parameters of this geo-cultural unit from a very early time. The present article focuses on some newly discovered Jaina antiquities from the villages of Rakṣatpura and Śaṅkā, situated along the Dāmodar river valley in the Puruliā district of West Bengal. Along this river valley there are several archaeological sites yielding old habitational remains as well as sculptural and architectural fragments. Most of these sites are associated with historical Jaina relics. Several scholars have already studied these archaeological remains from different perspectives. However, our recent discoveries have made us rethink our understanding of the nature of Jaina heritage in this region and also the iconographic development of its Jaina art.
Author: Ruth Satinsky
Year: 2015
International Journal of Jaina Studies (Online) Vol. 11, No. 1 (2015) 1-24
Abstract
Willibald Kirfel (1920/1990), in his major study of Indian cosmology, Die Kosmographie der Inder nach den Quellen dargestellt, compares the Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jaina cosmological systems, and concludes that the early Brahmanical cosmology forms the basis of the later cosmology found in the epics and Purāṇas, and that of the Buddhist and Jaina systems, as well. Contrary to Kirfel, this paper will present some provisional ideas which suggest that the concept of Mount Meru entered Brahmanical literature under the influence of the culture out of which Jainism and Buddhism arose, the culture of Greater Magadha. This hypothesis is based on three observations: 1) the concept of Mount Meru ("the golden mountain at the center of the earth and the universe, around which the heavenly bodies revolve") is prominent in the Jaina and Buddhist canons, but strikingly absent from Brahmanical literature prior to the Mahābhārata; 2) its late introduction into Brahmanical literature marks the shift from Vedic to epic and Purāṇic cosmology at a time when Brahmanical contacts with Buddhism, Jainism, and their region of origin, Greater Magadha, were possible and presumably established; and 3) a special group of numbers, "the number eighty-four and its multiples," is also prominent in the Jaina and Buddhist canons, and in Ājīvikism, but likewise absent from Brahmanical literature prior to the Mahābhārata. The lifespans of Ṛṣabha, Bharata, Śreyāṃsa, and Ara, and the height of Mount Meru are linked to this special group of numbers, and will serve, amongst others, as examples.
Author: Dipak Jadhav
Year: 2015
International Journal of Jaina Studies (Online) Vol. 11, No. 2 (2015) 1-21
Abstact
This paper brings the formula d = S ÷ n²k into light and discusses its various aspects including its context in Jaina philosophy. It was set forth and utilized by Nemicandra (c. 981) in the Gommaṭasāra (Karmakāṇḍa) in order to demonstrate the lower-thought-activity (adhaḥ pravṛtta karaṇa). The lower-thought-activity is conceived as a special process of thought-concentration which causes destruction (kṣapaṇa) or suppression (upaśamana) of the sub-classes of conduct-deluding karma. The paper also offers a rationale for this specific formula. The relevance of the formula lies in the fact that it can be used for generating various arithmetic progressions by finding the common differences, d , in accordance with various values of an arbitrary number, k , while their sums, S , and the numbers of their terms, n , remain fixed. This way he used it. It can also be used for generating various arithmetic progressions by finding in accordance with various values of k while n and d remain fixed and by finding n in accordance with various appropriate values of k while S and d remain fixed.