Jay Jinendra! As some Asian Voice readers will know very well, this is the distinctive greeting of the Jain community. It means ‘Victory to the lord of the Jinas’ (liberated souls). Of all world religions, Jainism is the most unflinching in its commitment to non-violence (ahimsa), its central principle.
Jains are a comparatively small group (less than 0.5% of India’s overall population, plus even smaller communities outside India), but they have always punched above their weight in terms of their contributions to India’s cultural heritage. Jains have written profound philosophical texts and gripping stories, built temples of staggering beauty and created exquisite paintings. Despite this wealth of material, Jainism has been relatively neglected in modern academia in comparison to the closely related Hinduism and Buddhism. However, change is underway, thanks to visionary donations by Jain academic philanthropists. Jain donors have funded an impressive number of academic positions across the world (in addition to supporting scholarship in other ways), and the number continues to grow. Academics outside India are teaching courses on Jainism and doing research on Jainological topics as never before.
I became aware of these impressive philanthropic commitments half a decade ago, while working on my PhD dissertation, written at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which included coverage of Jain texts. Since I moved to LA to start my PhD in 2016, I’ve chronicled my academic journey in an occasional series of articles published in Asian Voice’s special Diwali issues. Some readers might have seen the 2022 installment, in which I shared the happy news that I had successfully applied for a donor-funded lectureship in Jainism and South Asian religions at UCLA, which made it possible for me to stay at that wonderful institution for two years after completing my PhD. This was the start of a fascinating new chapter for me, and I would soon make a wealth of new contacts in the vibrant world of international Jain studies.
I recently started a new job at the International School for Jain Studies (ISJS) in Maharashtra. ISJS has a unique position in the Jainological world. Created in 2005 by Dr Shugan C Jain (Delhi) and Dr Sulekh C Jain (USA), it aims to introduce the academic study of Jainism in universities worldwide. It offers a number of academic programmes, such as its summer schools, which plant the seeds of knowledge of Jainism in students and scholars from across the globe. In 2019, a nine-month course in Prakrit was added to ISJS’s offerings. Prakrit is a group of literary languages, related to Sanskrit, that hold a crucial place in the history of Jainism and continuing significance for Jains today. More than 1,000 participants have taken courses at ISJS since its creation; a number of these alumni now teach Jain studies in universities. ISJS also conducts translation and research projects and engages in other activities.
In 2020, ISJS merged with Amar Prerana Trust (APT), a charitable trust headed by Shri Abhay Firodia (chairman of Force Motors Limited). Our office is now located at Abhay Prabhavana, a magnificent new museum of Jainism (India’s largest private museum), in the scenic countryside outside Pune, which is one of APT’s two other verticals. The museum has four sections devoted respectively to philosophy, values and spirituality, cultural and historical evolution, the practice of Jain values and their influence on other Indian traditions. Moreover, there are even more exciting developments in the pipeline, including eight additional museums! This is truly a unique environment to work in.
The highlight of my first three months as an ISJS staff member was serving on the teaching team for this year’s summer school programming. A group of ten participants (including professional academics as well as undergraduate and graduate students) from India, Japan, Poland and the USA converged on Naval Veerayatan, an exquisite retreat centre outside Pune that is the third APT vertical alongside ISJS and Abhay Prabhavana. Each participant had a unique background and set of interests, and there was plenty for me to learn from them as well as the other way round. I gave two lectures on the rich body of story literature created by premodern Jain authors. One, on animals in Jain stories, explored how these texts promote ahimsa toward other living beings in readers, while the other covered distinctively Jain interpretations of the story of Rama. It was a privilege and a pleasure to share these tales with the participants, and I look forward to more Jainological teaching at ISJS in future.
