Jainism, Dharma, and Environmental Ethics Page: 2
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two models are based on a long-standing dichotomy between the householders and ascetics4.
Householders perform devotional and ritualistic activities whereas ascetics perform austere
practices. My fieldwork with the rural communities of Rajasthan and Gujarat suggests that their
practices tend to be devotional rather than ascetic. To be sure, the devotional Indians do not
reject ascetics. They continue to attend discourses by ascetics and pay their respect to them but
their own practices largely consist of daily rituals, puja, at home and at temples5. Fasting is
another common practice performed by Indians. While lay Hindus would eat fruits and
vegetables in their fasts, lay Jains avoid water and all kinds of food6. This example indicates an
interesting dimension of environmentalism inspired by Indic traditions. The two models of
devotional and ascetic actually lead us into a dichotomy of the Hindu traditions and the Jain
traditions. As we saw, the majority of Hindu practitioners follow devotion in their daily rituals,
and extending our discussion to Jain laity, we find that Jain lay practitioners come much closer to
the austere practices of ascetics. Jain role models are their Tirthankaras who had renounced all
their belongings including their clothing to perform the toughest austerities possible. Even the
temple-going Jains know that the Jain ideal is to renounce householder life and to follow the path
of their role models such as Mahavira, other Tirthankaras and the contemporary monks and
4 Jain, Pankaj. Chapter, "Householders and Renouncers, The Holistic Combination in Indian Thought" in
Studies in Vedanta: Essays in Honor of S. S. Rama Rao Pappu, edited by P. George Victor and V.V.S. Saibaba,
New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, 2006, pp 165-180.
5 Madan, T. N. Non-Renunciation: Themes and Interpretations of Hindu Culture. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996.
6 Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979, pp.
157-185.
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Jain, Pankaj. Jainism, Dharma, and Environmental Ethics, article, 2010; [New York, New York]. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30424/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Public Affairs and Community Service.