Both the Shvetambaras and Digambaras allow the initiation of nuns, and among the Shvetambaras nuns outnumber monks by a ratio of approximately 3 to 1. Nevertheless, the status of Jain nuns is less prestigious than that of monks, to whom they are obliged by convention and textual stipulation to defer, despite the fact that these nuns are often women of great learning and spiritual attainment. In Digambara Jainism, nuns, who wear robes, accept the necessity of being reborn as men before they can advance significantly on the ascetic path. Religious activity of the laity
While Jain literature from earliest times emphasizes the place of the monk and his concerns, it is clear that almost from the religion’s outset the majority of Jains have been laypersons who support the community of renunciants. The medieval period was a time of particularly intense reflection by both Shvetambara and Digambara monks on the role of the laity. Many treatises discussing the layman’s religious behaviour and vows were produced between the 5th and 17th century. According to these writings, lay behaviour should mirror the ascetic “great vows.” Jain doctrine, however, holds that while the ascetic path can lead to the destruction (nirjara) of karma, the lay path allows only for the warding off (samvara) of new karma and thus does not radically alter an individual’s karmic status.
The layman (Jainism’s focus is invariably upon the male) is enjoined to observe eight basic rules of behaviour, which vary but usually include the avoidance of night eating, as well as a diet that excludes meat, wine, honey, and types of fruits and roots deemed to harbour life-forms. There are also 12 vows to be taken: five anuvratas (“little vows”), three gunavratas, and four shikshavratas. The anuvratas are vows to abstain from violence, falsehood, and stealing; to be content with one’s own wife; and to limit one’s possessions. The other vows are supplementary and meant to strengthen and protect the anuvratas. They involve avoidance of unnecessary travel, of harmful activities, and of the pursuit of pleasure; fasting and control of diet; offering gifts and service to monks, the poor, and fellow believers; and voluntary death if the observance of the major vows proves impossible.
Lay people are further enjoined to perform the six “obligatory actions” at regular intervals, especially the samayika, a meditative and renunciatory ritual of limited duration. This ritual is intended to strengthen the resolve to pursue the spiritual discipline of Jain dharma (moral virtue) and is thought to bring the lay votary close to the demands required of an ascetic. It may be performed at home, in a temple, in a fasting hall, or before a monk.
Dating from early in the history of Jainism are 11 stages of a layman’s spiritual progress, or pratima (“statue”). Medieval writers conceived pratima as a ladder leading to higher stages of spiritual development. The last two stages lead logically to renunciation of the world and assumption of the ascetic life.
It was natural for monastic legislators to portray the careers of idealized lay people as a preparatory stage to the rigours of ascetic life, but for Jain lay life to have meaning it need not necessarily culminate in initiation as a monk. With its careful rules about food, its regular ceremonies and cultural traditions, Jainism provides the laity a rounded social world. Typically, Jain lay life is characterized by strict vegetarianism, disciplined business or professional activity, and responsible conduct of family affairs with a view to establishing a sound social reputation. Lay Jains believe that pious activity—including fasting and almsgiving, and especially the practice of nonviolence—enables an individual not only to advance a little further along the path to final liberation but to improve his current material situation. As a result, there is a stark contrast between the great prosperity of the Jain lay community and the austere self-denial of the monks and nuns it supports.
Until very recently Jainism had not developed any distinctive life-cycle rituals for events such as birth and marriage, although in the 9th century the Digambara monk Jinasena attempted to legislate in this area. In general, practice has tended to conform to prevailing local custom, provided this does not infringe on basic Jain principles. Image veneration
Temple worship is mentioned in early texts that describe gods paying homage to images and relics of Tirthankaras in heavenly eternal shrines. While Mahavira himself appears to have made no statement regarding image veneration, it quickly became a vital part of the Jain tradition. Numerous images of Tirthankaras in the sitting and standing postures dating from the early Common Era have been uncovered in excavations of a Jain stupa, or funerary monument, at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. The earliest images of Tirthankaras are all nude and distinguished by carved inscriptions of their names on the pedestals. By the 5th century, symbols specific to each Tirthankara (e.g., a lion for Mahavira) began to appear. The practice of associating one of the 24 shasanadevatas (“doctrine goddesses”) with images of individual Tirthankaras began in the 9th century. Some of these goddesses, such as Ambika (“Little Mother”), who is associated with the Tirthankara Arishtanemi, continue to have great importance for the Jain devotee. The images are generally located near the entrance to Jain temples and can be propitiated for aid in worldly matters.
Closely associated with the obligatory rites of the laity, worship (puja) can be made to all liberated souls, to monks, and to the scriptures. The focus for most image-veneratng Jains (murtipujaka) is the icon of the Tirthankara located in the central shrine room of the temple or, alternatively, in a domestic shrine. Temples also house subsidiary Tirthankara images. Although Tirthankaras remain unaffected by offerings and worship and cannot, as individuals who are liberated from rebirth, respond in any way, such devotional actions serve as a form of meditative discipline. Daily worship includes hymns of praise and prayers, the recitation of sacred formulas and the names of the Tirthankaras, and idol veneration—bathing the image and making offerings to it of flowers, fruit, and rice. Shvetambaras also decorate images with clothing and ornaments. A long-standing debate within both Jain communities concerns the relative value of external acts of worship and internalized acts of mental discipline and meditation. Monks and nuns of all sects are prohibited from displays of physical worship. Festivals
Important days in the Jain calendar are called parvan, and on these days religious observances, such as structured periods of fasting and festivals, take place. The principal Jain festivals can generally be connected with the five major events in the life of each Tirthankara: descent into his mother’s womb, birth, renunciation, attainment of omniscience, and final emancipation.
The Jain calendar includes many festivals. Among them is the Shvetambara fasting ceremony, oli, which is celebrated for nine days twice a year (in March–April and September–October) and which corresponds to the mythical celestial worship of the images of the Tirthankaras. The most significant time of the Jain ritual year, however, is the four-month period, generally running from late July to early November, when monks and nuns abandon the wandering life and live in the midst of lay communities. For Shvetambaras, the single most important festival, Paryushana, occurs in the month of Bhadrapada (August–September). Paryushana (“Abiding”) designates, on the one hand, pacification by forgiving and service with wholehearted effort and devotion and, on the other, staying at one place for the monsoon season. The festival is characterized by fasting, preaching, and scriptural recitation. On its last day, Samvatsari (“Annual”), alms are distributed to the poor, and a Jina image is ceremonially paraded through the streets. A communal confession is performed by the laity, and letters are sent asking for forgiveness and the removal of all ill feelings about conscious or unconscious misdeeds during the past year. The equivalent Digambara festival is called Dashalakshanaparvan (“Observance Day of the 10 Religious Qualities”) and centres on the public display of an important text, the Tattvartha-sutra.