Dharmvir Mahavir Ane Karmvir Krushna - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Dharmvir Mahavir ane Karmvir Krushna" by Sukhlal Sanghavi, focusing on the progressive shift from deity worship to human worship:

The text "Dharmvir Mahavir ane Karmvir Krushna" by Sukhlal Sanghavi, within the broader context of "Darshan ane Chintan, Part 2," explores a significant evolution in religious and cultural practices: the gradual transition from the worship of deities to the worship of exemplary human beings.

From Deity Worship to Human Worship:

Ancient Roots: The author posits that even in ancient times, alongside rituals and superstitions, there was an underlying spiritual sentiment within Indian society, including the Arya people. While Vedic and Brahmanic eras were characterized by elaborate rituals, spiritual contemplation, ascetic practices, and compassion for living beings also existed, albeit to a lesser extent.
Rise of Virtues and Decline of Rituals: Over time, the importance of virtues (sadhguno) grew, leading to a decline in the prominence of mere rituals and superstitions. As virtues gained a foothold in people's minds, rituals and superstitions lost their significance.
The Role of Invisible Power: The author highlights that rituals and superstitions are intrinsically linked to the belief in unseen, powerful entities (be they gods, demons, ghosts, etc.). The existence of these unseen powers is what sustains rituals and superstitions.
Shift to Visible Human Forms: In contrast, the worship of virtues is associated not with invisible divine powers but with visible, tangible human beings. Individuals who practice or promote virtue often find their inspiration in specific human role models whose lives they strive to emulate. Therefore, as the importance of virtues increased, the worship of invisible deities gradually gave way to the worship of visible human exemplars.

Mahavir and Buddha: Catalysts for Human Worship:

Revolutionary Era: The times of Lord Mahavir and Buddha marked a pivotal point in this development, leading to a significant impact on the stronghold of rituals, superstitions, and the deities associated with them. The era of Mahavir and Buddha is described as the "Age of Human Worship."
Dedication to Virtues: During this period, hundreds and thousands of men and women dedicated their lives to cultivating virtues like forgiveness, contentment, austerity, and meditation. They then worshipped these human beings, who had reached the pinnacle of these virtues (like Mahavir and Buddha), through meditation or by venerating their idols. This shift led to human forms increasingly replacing divine images in worship.
Impact on Brahmanic Culture: The emphasis on virtue worship by ascetics, renunciates, and enlightened individuals like Mahavir and Buddha had a clear impact on the ritual-centric Brahmanic culture. Even the Brahmanic tradition, which was primarily absorbed in the worship of gods, demons, and demigods, began to incorporate human worship.
The Rise of Rama and Krishna: The populace became eager to worship, revere, and emulate great human beings as their ideals rather than invisible deities. To cater to this sentiment, the Brahmanic tradition presented the human ideals of Rama and Krishna and their worship as human beings. The author notes a lack of clear evidence in scriptures about the specific worship or veneration of Rama and Krishna as ideal human beings before the Mahavir-Buddha era. Instead, the evidence for their worship as human exemplars becomes prominent during or after the Mahavir-Buddha period. This leads to the conclusion that the foundation for widespread human worship was laid during the Mahavir-Buddha era, and various forms of human worship and sects began to emerge even within the deity-worshipping communities.

The Blend of Divine and Human in Worship:

Persistence of Ancient Beliefs: The ingrained beliefs and sentiments of people, developed over hundreds and thousands of years, cannot be easily changed. Therefore, the impressions of divine glory, miracles, and deity worship did not entirely disappear from the collective consciousness.
Brahmanic Adaptation: Consequently, the Brahmanic tradition, while presenting figures like Rama and Krishna as human ideals, also integrated divine elements and divine missions into their lives. This was done to satisfy the popular desire for the divine. The Brahmanic tradition, believing in an unbroken, absolute self (Atmatattva), depicted Rama and Krishna in divine human forms to align with its philosophical tenets and to cater to the widespread desire for deity worship. They described Rama and Krishna as avatars of the supreme being, Vishnu.
Shramanic Perspective: The Shramanic tradition, which believes in the distinctness of the soul and emphasizes karma, described its ideal objects of worship in a way that suited its philosophy. To fulfill the people's yearning for divine worship, Mahavir, Buddha, and others were sometimes depicted in relation to deities as their attendants or devotees.
Two Paths: In one cultural stream, the divine essence itself takes human form, making that human merely a representative of an extraordinary divine power. In the other cultural stream, humans themselves become divine through their efforts towards virtues, and the unseen deities fashioned by people become mere followers and devotees of these ideal humans.

Comparison of Four Great Personalities:

Historical vs. Ideal: The historicity of Mahavir and Buddha is undisputed. However, for Rama and Krishna, there is a lack of clear historical evidence, leading to conflicting interpretations and imaginations. Despite this, their personalities are so deeply ingrained in the people's minds that they are considered true historical figures by the masses.
Four Central Figures: The author identifies four such great men who are worshipped as humans in India: Rama, Krishna, Mahavir, and Buddha. These are the revered human figures across the three branches of Aryan religion: Vedic, Jain, and Buddhist.
Brief Comparison:
- Caste and Origin: All four are Kshatriyas by birth. Their birthplaces are in North India, though Rama's sphere of activity extended to South India.
- Ideals: Rama and Krishna share one type of ideal, while Mahavir and Buddha share another.
  - Rama and Krishna: Their ideal, as described in Vedic Sutras and Smritis, involves ruling according to Varna-ashrama dharma, protecting cows and Brahmins, establishing justice, and ruling justly. Their lives encompass pleasure, war, and worldly activities, which serve as lessons for the common people.
  - Mahavir and Buddha: Their life narratives are entirely different. They are not driven by the pursuit of pleasure or preparation for war. Their primary focus is self-discovery, and only after achieving this do they focus on benefiting humanity.
- Dominant Qualities: While Rama and Krishna's lives show a blend of sattva (purity) and rajas (passion), rajas predominates. In contrast, Mahavir and Buddha's lives, though having traces of rajas, are primarily dominated by sattva.
- Extroversion vs. Introversion: The first ideal (Rama and Krishna) appears extroverted, while the second (Mahavir and Buddha) appears introverted.
- Karma vs. Dharma: One ideal is based on the cycle of karma, and the other is based on the cycle of dharma.
- Sects, Literature, and Followers: The sects, literature, and follower bases of these four great men are shaped according to these distinct ideals.
- Reach: Except for Buddha, the worship, sects, and followers of the other three are primarily confined to India, while Buddha's influence is pan-Asian.
- Propagators: The propagators of Rama and Krishna's ideals are mainly householders (purohits), while the propagators of Mahavir and Buddha's ideals are renunciates.
- Organization: While there are many renunciates among Rama and Krishna's devotees, their order is not as structured or systematic as the Bhikshu Sangha of Mahavir and Buddha. Female gurus exist in the Bhikshu Sangha but not in the renunciate order of Rama and Krishna's devotees.
- Scriptural Basis: There is no direct scripture attributed to Rama and Krishna's teachings, whereas many teachings from Mahavir and Buddha are undeniably extant.
- Language: Scriptures attributed to Rama and Krishna are in Sanskrit, while the teachings of Mahavir and Buddha were delivered in contemporary vernacular languages.

Limitations of Comparison and Perspectives:

Interconnectedness: When considering the life, sect, philosophy, and sphere of influence of any one of these four public figures, it is essential to consider the others as well. This is because in India, in the same caste and family, the worship and beliefs of all four, or more than one, were and still are prevalent.
Mutual Influence: Despite their fundamentally different ideals, there has been a significant exchange and mutual influence between their traditions over time.
Specific Focus: The author intends to compare the life of Dharmvir Mahavir specifically with Karmvir Krishna, and only a particular aspect of their lives. A comprehensive comparison of their entire lives and all four figures requires more time and health.
Three Perspectives for Comparison:
1. Cultural Differences: To discern the cultural differences in the events of their lives.
2. Influence and Development: To examine whether there was any reciprocal influence on the narration of these events and the extent of changes or developments that occurred.
3. Tools for Sustaining Faith and Sects: To analyze and consider the methods primarily used in their biographies to keep religious sentiments alive and strengthen the foundations of their sects.

Observations from Inter-Sect Scriptures:

Intriguing Findings: The author notes an intriguing observation that warrants scholarly attention: Buddhist Pitakas frequently and clearly mention Lord Mahavir as "Jñātrapuṭra," but there is no mention of Rama or Krishna. Later Buddhist Jatakas (e.g., Dasaratha Jataka) contain the story of Rama and Sita, but with significant differences, such as Sita being described as Rama's sister. Krishna's narrative is not found in any later Buddhist text.
Jain Scriptures: Jain scriptures, however, significantly feature the life stories of both Rama and Krishna. While Anga literature, considered ancient, doesn't contain Rama's story, Krishna's narrative is explicitly and extensively present in Anga texts like Jñāta and Antagada. Rama's story, though not in Angas, holds a special place in later Shvetambara and Digambara Prakrit-Sanskrit narrative literature, forming a "Jain Ramayana."
Brahmanic Origin of Narratives: The author asserts that although the Jain narratives of Rama and Krishna differ from the Brahmanic ones, their style suggests they originated from Brahmanic literature and were later adopted into the Jain tradition with a Jain perspective.
Reciprocal Influence: It is astonishing that Rama and Krishna, figures primarily accepted by Brahmanic culture (which is somewhat different from Jain culture), have garnered a thousandth part of the attention in Jain texts compared to the influence of Tathagata Buddha, a contemporary of Mahavir and closer to his culture. Buddha's name is vaguely mentioned in a few places in Anga texts, although suggestions of his philosophy are more prevalent.
Brahmanic Inclusion of Buddha: The author then discusses the mention of Mahavir and Buddha in Brahmanic scriptures. Pre-Purana Brahmanic texts and even ancient Puranas and the Mahabharata do not prominently feature Buddha. However, in the popular Bhagavat Purana, Buddha is recognized as an avatar of Vishnu. Similarly, in Jain texts, Krishna is recognized as a future Tirthankara.
Absence of Mahavir in Brahmanic Texts: While Buddha was later incorporated as an avatar into Brahmanic literature, Lord Mahavir, a contemporary of Buddha and a brilliant rival of Brahmanic culture, founder of a distinct sect, is completely absent from any ancient or modern Brahmanic text.
Inclusion of Rishabhadeva: Interestingly, while Mahavir is absent from Brahmanic literature, the life story of Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara in Jainism, who is considered very ancient and revered, is briefly but pointedly and respectfully included in popular texts like the Bhagavat Purana.

In essence, the book argues that there was a profound shift in religious focus from worshipping unseen deities to venerating exceptional human beings, with Mahavir and Buddha being central figures in this transformation. This human-centric worship, while manifesting differently in Brahmanic and Shramanic traditions, fundamentally reshaped religious landscapes and practices in ancient India.