Literacy and Jainism

Dr. UDAY DOKRAS,

B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), LL.B., Nagpur Uni. India
Certificat' en Droit, Queens University, Canada,
MBA(CALSTATE,USA)
PhD Stockholm University, SWEDEN
Consultant –HR and Admin. The Gorewada Zoo,Nagpur,India

जल चंदन अक्षत फल चरु, अरु दीप धूप अतत फल लावै; पूजा को ठानत जो तुम जानत, सो नर द्यानत सुख पावै.
O तीर्थंकर की ध्वतन, गण धर ने सुतन, अंग रचे चुतन ज्ञान मई; सो जजनवर वानी, शिव सुख दानी, त्रिभुवन-मानी पूज्य मई.
’
Goddess Sarasvati, with my prayer, I offer water, sandalwood, rice, flowers, sweets, oil lamp, incense and fruits
together, so my inner self is cleansed.
O’ Goddess Sarasvati, meditation on your divine voice grants heavenly knowledge of salvation and wisdom. O’
Goddess, I pray in your name and bow before you.

One of the oldest sculpture of Jain Saraswati at Ladnun,Rajasthan (dated in between-11th to 12th century AD)
Many Jains particularly Shwetambara venerate Saraswati- the Goddess of knowledge.

1
The Jain community in India and elsewhere in the world is the most educated of all groups of people
belonging to a religion. Almost 100% of the community is educated. To understand why, let us look at
some snippets of knowledge that throw light upon why the Jains want to educate themselves.

THE JAINA THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE Consciousness is the inseparable essence of every soul,
according to the Jainas. Omniscience is a Potentiality inherent in every soul. As it is, however, we find
that ordinary souls are more or less ignorant, their knowledge is limited. The Jainas hold that this
limitation is due to the obstacle created by different Karmas which obstruct in different degrees the
natural consciousness of the soul and thus deprive it of its omniscience. The body, the senses and the
mind are all constituted by Karmas and the souls power is limited by them. The Jainas admit the twofold
classification of knowledge – immediate and mediate.. There are three kinds of really immediate
knowledge –
1) Avadhijana – When a person has partially destroyed and allayed the influences of Karmas, he acquires
the power of knowing objects which have forms but are too distant or minute or obscure to be observed
by the senses or manas. Such immediate knowledge by the unaided soul is, however, limited as its objects
are limited and therefore, it is called avadhijana.
2) Manah-parayaya – When a person has overcome harted, jealousy, etc., he can have direct access to the
present and past thoughts of others. This knowledge is called manah-Parayaya (entering a mind).
3) Kevalajana – When all Karmas that obstructed knowledge are completely removed from the soul,
there arises in it absolute knowledge or omnia science. This is called Kevalajana. Only the liberated souls
have such knowledge. There are two kinds of ordinary knowledge. These are called Mati and Sruta. Mati
includes ordinary immediate knowledge (internal and external perception), memory recognition and
inference. Sruta is knowledge obtained from authority. 1

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF JAINISM 1) The Jainas contends that a cognition can apprehend
an object, only when it apprehends itself. Knowledge, like a lamp, illuminates itself as well as an external
object. 2) Valid knowledge is of two kinds, immediate knowledge or perception and mediate or indirect
knowledge. Education must lay stress on each of these two with due proportion. 3) The result of valid
knowledge is cessation of ignorance, avoidance of evil, selection of good, and indifference. It is partly
distinct and partly non-distinct from valid knowledge. The person who has valid knowledge removes his
ignorance, avoids evil, selects good, and becomes indifferent on account of knowledge of truth.
Attainment of valid knowledge is the aim of education. 4) Inference is the another source of valid
knowledge. There are two kinds of inference – inference for ourself and inference for others. In inference
for ourself a person perceives the reason, remembers the inseparable connection between the reason and

2
the inferable object determined by induction. It should be one of the processes of learning about self and
others. 5) Testimony is the knowledge of objects, derived from the words of reliable persons. It is the
verbal knowledge through which valid knowledge can be realized. Teachers’ expertise is recognized and
teachers are expected to be professionally up-dated. 6) Absolute judgments are possible in Ekanta or one-
sided systems. But these are not possible in the Anekanta philosophy of the Jaina. All objects are
multiform (Anikatana) according to it. From their many-sided nature, it follows that all judgments are
relative. They are true under certain conditions. They are conditional or hypothetical. No judgments are
absolutely true. This is Syadvada or the doctrine of relativity of Judgment. The Jainas develop their
educational system through this cause-effect relationship. The relativistic approach in understanding an
object / concept in learning, speaks for radical pedagogy of modern era; it is driven by free thinking and
an object is viewed from multiple perspectives. 7) The soul is actually united with Karma and entangled
in bondage. All knowledge, feeling and volition are produced from within by removing the veil of Karma.
It speaks for efforts and action in learning. 8) According to Jaina Philosophy matter is knowable,
enjoyable and corporeal. This is friendly to the discipline-oriented curriculum and advocates for
empiricism, etc.1

Jain Philosophy of Education and its Aims:

Jisne sikhaya jagat ko, pratyek kan swaadhin hain,

Karta naa dharta koi hain, Anu Anu swayam mein leen hain.
(No one can help you, no one can harm you, you alone can help yourself, you alone can harm yourself)
Mahavir Jin Vandana -

Samyak Juana (Right Knowledge):

Jain philosophy claims that a man is in the slavery kind of life as he is ignorant and unable to differentiate
between pudgal i.e.,matter and atman i.e soul. Jain philosophy strongly claimed that an organism acquires
the layers of pudgal according to his own action. These layers act as a hindrance in recognizing the
difference between Jiva and Atm an. Pudgal does not refer to only the physical body but to the totality of
all karmas and bad dispositions lying on the atman.

Vices may take form of Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha and Ahamkar. These are the causes of bondage. It
is through the knowledge of reality that we can get rid of these vices and can become pure and then we
differentiate between the spiritual and material. So, the ultimate aim of education is to develop this
Samayak Jnana.

3
Samyak Charitra (Right Character):
Samyak Jnana helps to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, what is spiritual and what
material is. But to implement this Samyak Jnana in practice we need to polish our personality in such a
way that is able to the right no matter how painful it may seem. We need to develop a state of equanimity
which is not disturbed by the distraction of this mundane world. This stable state of ego is called Samyak
Charitra or right character.

Samyak Darshan (Right Faith):

For the attainment of right knowledge and right conduct, we need to first develop right faith. Right faith
implies having right kind of faith in the knowledge and the teacher who helps in attainment of right
knowledge and right conduct. It is also used to refer to development of good dispositions after gradually
destroying the bad dispositions. When we develop right faith then we become receptive to right
knowledge and performing right actions.

For the development of right faith, an individual needs to attain a state of absolute disinterestedness or
detachment from all kashyas (Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha and Ahamkar). These kashyas act as
hindrance in development of right faith. Such an disinterested state from all kashyas is known as Nirjara.

Jain’s suggested Panchmuhavratas to aid the gaining aright knowledge, right conduct and right faith.
These aA himsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing, Aparigraha (non hoarding) and
Brahmacharya (abstinence).

Then one who wants to attain right knowledge and right faith and right conduct an individual should also
follow following ten dhammas or gunas: Ksarna (forgiveness), Mardava (simplicity/ spontaneity), arjava
(self-content), souch (purity), tapa (austerity), amamatva (detachment), tyaga (renunciation) and
brahmacharya (celibacy).

According to Jainism, the source of knowledge is not some goddess or demi-god but is blessed by the
sarvagya-teachings spread in form of written and oral literature (by Nimitt point of view). A soul itself is
true source of knowledge (by Upadan point of view).

4
Now this knowledge is called by many names likes Jinwani, Saraswati, Bharti, shrut gyan-devi etc. But
these all names mean exactly same teachings by sarvagya that is available in form of oral or written
literature and also is a subject to feel yourself.

In 1891, the Census of India recorded a literacy rate of only 1.4% amongst Jain women and of 53.4%
amongst Jain men.1 In 2001, the female literacy rate has risen to 90.6% and for the Jains altogether to
94.1%. Statistically, the Jains are now the best educated community in India, apart from the Parsis.2
Amongst young Jains of the global Jain diaspora University degrees are already the rule and perceived to
be a key ingredient of the life-course of a successful Jain. However, the combined impact of the
increasing educational sophistication and of the growing materialism amongst the Jains on traditional Jain
culture is widely felt and often lamented. In particular the Jain mendicants, whose daily sermons
dominated traditional Jain religious education for centuries, and the few remaining Jain Pandits, face an
uphill struggle to adapt to the rapidly changing social and cultural environment, and sometimes choose to
combine monastic and academic training to keep up with the rising expectations of their followers. 2

Educating the Jains: Better local school systems and more scholarships may be the answer to
understanding why Jains fare well in higher education while other communities lag?

2001 census figures.

5
 Current Literacy rates of Jains are higher than of USA(Below)

In the next picture the 2019 figures of jain community shows literacy amongst the sexes.
Statewise split. Delhi and Rajasthan has the highest literacy rates- Graduates and above. 2019 figures are

double of 2001.3

3
2019 figures

According to the 2011 census, only 4.5% Indians have completed their education in the ‘Graduate and
Above’ category, up from 2.12 per cent in the 2001 census. Some communities had fared better than
others. About 41.3% Jains and 11.5% Hindus made it to college or beyond. In 2019, 96% of males and

6
females were literate, with 60% holding a Graduation.Of the youth, 66% malesand 70% females had a
graduation.88% thought that religious education should be made mandatory as a way to illuminate the
youth of their heritage.

Educational achievement among the religious communities varies because of how different communities
look upon education. For some, it’s a means to realise an aspiration while others do not get opportunity to
pursue higher studies or to bring their education to the logical end of facilitating livelihood. Unlike other
larger religious groups, Jains, are smaller in number, allowing them to be better organized when it comes
to providing for their own smaller eco-system and monitoring of institutions. In addition, they are
culturally inclined towards education – philanthropy among these communities tends to focus on
constructing schools and colleges and granting scholarship. Being mostly urban communities they are not
bound by traditional village stigmas and more awareabout the importance of higher education. Urban
populations also tend to made education decisions as an individual or family rather than as a community
leading to less impediments by village elders as in other cases.

Since the past 70 odd years the road to higher education has been paved with philanthropy. Students
support is common loans, scholarships and incentives. Higher education helps build better businesses is
an underlying thought in these endeavours. Better family businesses such as doctors,dentists, engineers in
line with Jain philosophy of Ahimsa is possible to be achieved through higher education. This is the belief
in changing with times. Jains, who form 0.4 % of India's population, and dominate the worlds of business
and media, were granted their long-standing demand for minority status by the United Progressive
Alliance in January 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections. Many Charitable Trusts and Organizations
offer Rs. 200 to Rs. 20,000 as loan Scholarships to Jain Students. Most of the scholarships are Interest
free Loan Scholarships and the student has to return the amount when he / she starts to earn.Students are
requested to contact the the trust directly. 4
There is an exceptionally large proportion of Jain students in Institutions such as the IIT or Medical or
IIMs that is exceptional, given the fact that Jains make up just 0.4% of India's population.
Reasons are many -
1) Parents regardless of whether Jain or non-Jain want their children to study. In almost all Jain families,
there is a general inclination towards education.
2) Traditionally, Jains are businessmen - large and successful ones. This means they are brainy people,
kind of people who can succeed in cracking entrance examinations.
3) Jains are rich. In all probability, they are the richest religious group in India. They are able to afford
high fees of coaching institutes.

7
4) Jain families are quiet conservative and and not the partying-drinking type leaving children more
exposed to scholarly pursuits..
5) Jains have the highest literacy rate in India.This naturally means that the atmosphere in Jain homes is
congenial towards studies. As is the universal fact, an educated mother puts her children on the same
path.
“Jainism believes that every man is equally the noblest work of God. There should, therefore, be made no
exception in the education of children. Education should be universal, without distinction of wealth or
status, creed, caste or colour. It should be for the favourite few. This is the Jain Charter of universal
education.”

REFERENCES

1. For a comprehensive study of the Jain system of education see

https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.62703/2015.62703.Jain-System-Of-Education_djvu.txt
https://kudbhattacharyya.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Module-3_Educational-Philosophy.pdf .
See also EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF JAINISM AND ITS COMPONENTS,Shodhganga,
file:///C:/Users/blah/Downloads/08_chapter%204%20(1).pdf

2. International Journal of Jain Studies Vol. 1, No. 1 (2005) 1-14 THE INVENTION OF JAINISM A
SHORT HISTORY OF JAINA STUDIES Peter Flugel

3. National Report-a Sociological Study of Jain community- International School for Jain Studies. 2017-
2019. http://online.pubhtml5.com/hkhn/cwik/#p=47

4. http://www.jainminority.com/pages?text=aWQ9Njk
https://jainsite.com/jain-minority/educational-schemes/merit-cum-means-scholarship-scheme/

5. The Impact of Philosophy of Jainism on Various Aspects of Education, Purshotam, Research Scholar,
Dakshin Bharat Hindi Parchar Sabha, Madras,Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies,
VOL. II/XII, MAY-JUNE, 2014