Religious Quest of India

SR No.: 011031
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J N Farquhar, Griswold
Publisher: J N Farquhar Griswold
Total Pages: 365
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 259

THE JAINA ASCETIC
233
that might involve the destruction of life. All the Jaina who know the Logassa, or praise of the twenty-four Tirthankara, would repeat it four times, sitting in the Kausagga position, either in their own houses or in the Apăsarā, and all the Jaina schools would be closed.
A pathetic case recently occurred in Kāṭhiāwāḍ, when a wealthy old Jaina lady and her husband became ascetics. Their initiation was celebrated with great pomp; but of course the lady suffered most severely by being suddenly deprived of all luxury and comfort; and even when she was ill with fever, it was not possible for her husband to see her, as the two might never meet.
Goraji.
Amongst the sadhus we have not included the Goraji or Yati, because the orthodox Jaina do not hold them to be sādhus at all. They are considered to be a fallen class of monks, for they take money, go about in palanquins, and keep watchmen and guards. They exact a tax from their followers of five rupees and upwards, which they annually go out to collect, returning again to their own monastery. Their spiritual heads are called Śrīpūjya, and are to be found in Bombay, Baroda, Mandvi, Mangrol, Jaisalmer, and many other towns. The Goraji, in fact, much resemble the Sankarācārya or Vaisnava Acarya; and orthodox Jaina say they prove the wisdom of Mahāvīra's insistence on constant change of abode, for they have not a high reputation for morality, and strict Jaina will not give them any money or go to their Apăsarā, though ignorant Jaina sometimes contribute through fear of their power to harm, since the Goraji claim to know many mantra.