Jainism by Paul Dundas
Jainism by Paul Dundas
Jainism by Paul Dundas
'shiftingna
Hinnells and Ninian Smart) which producesscholarlyintroductionsto the Dundasanalyses the contexhrally
religionsof the world. Yet, as in the caseof Glasenapp,Schubringand Jaini, and religiouspracticesandin thenew edit
c
Dundas' book is not really a text lbr the beginner(as sevenyearsof under- associatidwith Louis Dumont'swork on
in'South I
graduateteachingof Jainismtaughtthe presentwriter).It is rathera commented .*"t"tluity ofreligious identity
sununaryof the stateof the art in Jain Studies.drawing on both textual and .,rtar,."' ti, Of l. Vet, this hypothesis.cl
'lt would b
ethnographicsources.which becameincreasinglyavailablesince 1985,while temporaryparticipants'view:
'In commonwith manycor
contextualising the relevanceof recentfindingswithin the wider academicdis- writes Dundas.
courseon SouthAsian religion,cultureand society.The styleof the well wrir to seeJainism[sic!| as representing thevan
ten book is discursiveratherthanencyclopaedic or matterof fact.Specialists and Sanskritwordsamskrti,"cuiture","civilisa
studentsalike are invitedto deliberatewith the authoroverthe numerouspoints *tri.tt it independent,coherentand self-
of detail of Jain historyand culturewhich remainobscure,and many,now up- intersectwith ihe conceptualworld which
dated,sectionscontainnuggetsof original researchor reflectthe author'sex- ofthe recentanalyticaldistinctionbetwee
tensivepublicationsin this field. of JohnE. Cort)areby no meanscertaln
t
An importantaspectof the book which hasnot beensufficientlyappreciated analysis,andremainto be exploredsince
of the book signalsthe opening up of a n
by reviewersof the first edition such as K.R. Norman (ModernAsian Studies
29, 2 (1995): 439441), perhapsbecauseit is too obvious,is the shift from tend to be the last word'
Jainisn to Jains in the title of the book. which signalsa consciousmove away Thereare mlnor polntsin both editio
from the over-reliance on textsand doctrinestowardsthe studyofthe agentsof provokecriticism,at leastfrom within th
religioushistory.Dundasdoesnot attempt'to give an ethnographic :The major sect'numericallyat anyrate'
accountof
r
.lainism'(p. I I). But his style of writing historyadoptsthe outlookand results are somiwhat speculativein the absence
of the new t-reldstudiesand integratesthem with the classicalIndologicalap- lack of detailed studies on the Digamba
'recentdevelopments' coversthe
proachbefitting a prof-essional Sanskritist.Ratherthantextualideals,questions section
of practiceand identityof individuals,r.nonks semblesfor the first time material on the
andnuns.la),rnenand laywomen.
who would down throughthe centuriesdescribethemselvesand their rnodeof lowedby approximately 30% of all Jains'
life as Jain' (p. 3) move into the foreground.Who are the Jains?Dundasstarts other textbooks. It also describesthe 2(
with the modernSanskritdictionariesand dcfinestheJains (SanskritJaina) as Raiacandraand KanjTSvamT,without ho
the followersof the Jinas, thc spiritualconquerors,suchas Mahavna,the last The chapterheadingdemonstrates the cc
prophetof the Jains: 'The Jainsare at the most basic level thosewho credit of the classicalperiod in the currentaca
v
thesespiritualconquerolswith total authorityand act accordingto their teach- searchcanbe expectedin theseareasas
ing of the ThreeJewels,namely,right knowledge,right faith and right conduct' Dundas'book emphaticallysuccee
(p. 3). This definition alludesto the first aphorismof the Tatnanhasutra which more two thousandyearsof religiousan
lists the threeprincipalmeansof salvation.The problemis that most lay Jains, into unexploredterritoryand settingnev
the irAvakasor listenerswhosehistoricalrole Dundas'book strivesto reassess, vast amountofnew research sincethe l!
areunableto live up to this high ideal andwould not qualif' as categorymembers. edition was done, one wonders wheth
Properknowledgeand properpracticeare difficult to attainat the bestof times pectedor rathera completelynew acc
even fbr faithful ascetics.Dundaspoints out that it is 'not clearwhen the term ettrnographyof the contemporarysub-s
"Jain" was first employedto designatean adherentof a specificreligiouspath', interpretationand idiosyncratlcrltual a
but speculates that'it was probablyin useby the earlycenturiesof the common build uponthe four classicaltextbooks o
e r a ' , ' i t w a s n o d o u b t t h e g r a d u a l e m e r g e n caesoefl f - a w a r e l a i t y s u p p o r t i n g t h e
bondlessasceticwhich led to "Jain" eventuallybecomingcurrent for both the
teachingsof the religion and those who followed thern' (p. 3t-.).This may,
howerer,,nolhavc'happened beforerhe l7'r'century.becomingwidespread oniy
in the 19"'and20"'centuries. Thereis no clearevidencefor earlierusesofthe
word Jaina in the senseof 'followers of the Jinas' to date.On the other hand.
Reyle,rr.,r Revietvs 399