Rudhicchedak Mahavir - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Rudhicchedak Mahavir," by Bechardas Doshi, focusing on Lord Mahavir's role as a breaker of societal norms and rituals:

Rudhicchedak Mahavir: Lord Mahavir as a Breaker of Traditions

This text, excerpted from "Sangeeti," discusses how Lord Mahavir, following the life purification and cosmology detailed in the Vyakhyaprajnapati, actively challenged and broke the prevailing social customs and rituals of his time through his discourses. The author highlights specific instances where Mahavir advocated for true spiritual understanding over blind adherence to tradition.

Challenging Casteism (Jativad):

Lord Mahavir explicitly stated that one's worthiness for worship is not determined by birth into a particular caste but by one's qualities and conduct.
He clarified that being born into a Brahmin family or merely chanting "Om" does not make someone a Brahmin. True Brahminhood is attained through celibacy and spiritual discipline.
Similarly, merely living in a monastic order or shaving one's head does not make someone a monk. True monkhood lies in possessing equanimity.
Living in the forest does not make one a muni (ascetic); true munihood comes from introspection and self-contemplation.
Wearing bark does not make one a tapasvi (ascetic); true asceticism involves seeking the soul and practicing austerities.
The text points out that Lord Buddha in the Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata also described the Brahmin in a similar manner, indicating a shared opposition to rigid casteism by both great souls. This inclusivity allowed Shudras, Kshatriyas, and women equal and respected places in their respective spiritual orders.

Reforming Ritualistic Practices:

Mahavir also confronted several deeply ingrained and rigid practices of his era, including:

Yajna (Sacrifice): The text states that sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas, often involving animal violence, do not absolve the performer of sin. True yajna, according to Mahavir, is an internal offering: "In the sacrificial fire of life, with the ghee of good deeds of mind, speech, and body, and igniting the firewood of the body and the logs of misdeeds, the sages perform the commendable ritual of peace daily. This is the true offering." He openly condemned violent yajnas and advocated for this internal, non-violent form.
Ritualistic Bathing (Snana): The belief that merely bathing in holy rivers like the Ganga or Triveni, or at Prayag, grants spiritual merit is criticized. Mahavir asserts that such baths only temporarily remove physical impurities and do not purify the soul at all. True purification comes from bathing in the "reservoir of dharma" at the "sacred ghat of Brahma," which leads to true coolness, purity, and the shedding of inner impurities. This spiritual bath is what wise individuals describe as a great act and is prescribed for sages. The text clarifies that Mahavir wasn't forbidding external bathing but was critiquing those who considered it the sole path to spiritual purity, offering them the true meaning of spiritual bathing.
Empty Chanting of Vedas: In Mahavir's time, memorizing the Vedas without understanding their meaning was considered a meritorious act. The tradition of understanding Vedic texts had broken down, as evidenced by scholars like Yaska struggling to interpret Vedic words. Merely memorizing and correctly pronouncing the Vedas was seen as virtuous, leading to a cycle of ritualistic actions like feeding Brahmins and producing offspring before becoming an ascetic. Mahavir countered this by stating that the study of Vedas without understanding doesn't protect the soul. He also noted that feeding Brahmins can lead to their laziness and the feeder to hell, and the Vedic idea of having sons for salvation is also flawed, as sons cannot protect their own or their father's souls. Jain teachings emphasize knowledge and conduct equally, opposing the dry study of Vedas.
Language Worship: There was an undue emphasis on Sanskrit (Vedic and secular), with the belief that speaking it was meritorious and speaking other languages was sinful. This is echoed in the beginning of the Mahabhashya, which labels other languages as corrupted. Mahavir challenged this by delivering all his discourses in the common, spoken languages of the people, thus breaking the erroneous prestige attached to language itself. He demonstrated that only virtuous conduct purifies the soul, and mere language is insufficient. Both Mahavir and Buddha attempted to curb the worship of language.
Eclipse Rituals: Similar to contemporary beliefs, people in Mahavir's time attributed spiritual significance to solar and lunar eclipses, often personifying them with the demon Rahu. They likely engaged in rituals like bathing during eclipses. Mahavir clarified that Rahu does not swallow the sun or moon, nor is there any enmity between them. Eclipses are natural phenomena where celestial bodies temporarily obscure each other due to their movements. He explained that eclipses are not religious festivals, and the associated rituals are therefore not religious. He further corrected the mythological interpretations of "Shashi" (moon) as a rabbit-faced entity and "Aditya" (sun) as the son of Aditi, proposing more etymologically sound meanings: "Shashi" as endowed with splendor and radiance, and "Aditya" as that by which time calculation begins.
War and Heaven: The Bhagavad Gita's statement about going to heaven after being slain by an enemy had fostered a belief that warriors attain heaven. This led to widespread warfare and destruction. Mahavir refuted this, stating that warriors do not necessarily go to heaven; rather, they are reborn in various forms of existence according to their deeds. He debunked the notion that war leads to heaven and advised people to stay away from the violent path of war.
Direction Worship (Disha Pujan): Mahavir also addressed the practice of worshipping directions. The text explains that the Bhagavati Sutra discusses directions, listing ten named directions and common directional terms. These directions are described as the basis for living and non-living beings and are therefore metaphorically called living and non-living. The worship of directions was prevalent in Vedic traditions, with some communities practicing specific rituals related to directions. Mahavir, by describing directions as the basis of both living and non-living entities, aimed to dissuade people from their blind worship, asserting that it offered no spiritual or life purification.
Lord Buddha's Similar Approach to Direction Worship: The text draws a parallel with Lord Buddha, who also addressed the superstitious worship of directions. In the Sigalovada Sutta, Buddha encountered a young man performing rituals to six directions. Buddha then reinterpreted the directions in a more meaningful way: parents as the East, teachers as the South, wife and children as the West, relatives as the North, servants as the lower direction, and ascetics and Brahmins as the upper direction. He also outlined ethical conduct for those who wish to honor these "directions."

Conclusion:

The text concludes by emphasizing that Lord Mahavir, like Lord Buddha, actively worked to dispel societal misbeliefs and introduce righteous paths. Both are recognized as significant reformers who sought to remove the "debris" that had accumulated in the path of non-violence and truth shown by the Aryans. They addressed Vedic beliefs that promoted violence, untruth, and rigidity, offering a path of righteousness to a suffering populace. Without their intervention, the text suggests, humanity's condition would be dire.