Guardians of the Transcendent

by Vallely, Anne

• ISBN13: 9780802035455
• ISBN10: 0802035450
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

Itinerant white-robed ascetics represent the highest ethical ideal among the Jains of rural Rajasthan. They renounce family, belongings, and desires in order to lead lives of complete non-violence. In their communities, Jain ascetics play key roles as teachers and exemplars of the truth; they are embodiments of the lokottar- the realm of the transcendent. Based on thirteen months of fieldwork in the town of Ladnun, Rajasthan, India, among a community of Terapanthi Svetambar Jains, this book explores the many facets of what constitutes a moral life within the Terapanthi ascetic community, and examines the central role ascetics play in upholding the Jain moral order. Focussing on the Terapanthi moral universe from the perspective of female renouncers, Vallely considers how Terapanthi Jain women create their own ascetic subjectivities, and how they construct and understand themselves as symbols of renunciation. The first in-depth ethnographic study of this important and influential Jain tradition, this work makes a significant contribution to Jain studies, comparative religion, Indian studies, and the anthropology of South Asian religion.

Author Biography

ANNE VALLELY is a part-time lecturer in the Departments of Anthropology and Religion at Concordia University, and in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Part One: The Ethics of Renunciation	1	(40)
Introduction	3	(24)
Ethics and the Ascetic Ideal	27	(14)
Part Two: The Rituals of Separation	41	(100)
Creation through Negation: The Rite of Bhiksha	43	(34)
The Making of an Ascetic: The Construction of Difference	77	(38)
Death, Demons, and Desire	115	(26)
Part Three: Being of the World	141	(118)
The Worldly Life of Renunciants	143	(28)
Devotion and Divinity	171	(51)
Conclusion: Ascetic Women -- The Link in the Laukik and Lokottar	222	(37)
APPENDICES
1 The Fourteen Gunasthanas (Stages of Spiritual Development)	241	(1)
2 Rules and Regulations in the Ascetic Life	242	(4)
3 Examples of Sarala's Poems (Abridged)	246	(2)
4 The Ascetic Ideal	248	(3)
5 Examples of the Nivrtti-Marg. Jainism's Public Face	251	(4)
6 The Daily Routine of the Sadhvis	255	(4)
Glossary	259	(4)
Notes	263	(20)
References	283	(10)
Index	293