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BHABRA.

deceased persons, neither after cremation, nor at the stated periods common to all Hindoos. They acknowledge the existence of a God in a certain sense of abstract divinity; but not as an active creator, or beneficent author of blessings. The earth, they believe, was formed by nature; that is, it exists, and is reproduced in all its forms, by the active properties of matter. As the trees in an uninhabited forest spring up without a cultivator, so the universe is self-existent; and as the banks of a river fall of themselves, so there is no supreme destroyer. The world, in short, is produced as the spider produces his web - out of his own bowels. Spirit is found in two conditions, emancipated and enclosed by matter; but there us but one spirit individuated among the whole universe of animated existence. It is this belief in the individuality of spirit which forms the foundation for the curious pains with which the Jains contrive, as far as possible, to avoid taking life, even that of insects. All life is spirit: the life of man, beast, bird, fish, reptile, or insect, is a portion of spirit; therefore to be held equally sacred, and secure from destruction, until it is resolved spontaneously into matter or nature, to be reproduced at its will.  Religion naturally, and of itself, purifies, exalts, and immortalizes its possessor; while irreligion defiles, degrades, and ruins men. The future births of men are regulated by present actions. The wicked are punished in different degraded bodies, or in some hell. Those who practise works of merit may, if these merits are sufficiently great, ascend to one of the twelve heavens. Thus Jainism, though not exactly atheism, does not follow the Hindoo belief in an active Deity: it is, on the contrary, a belief in a passive divine nature, to which assimilation, as far as possible, is to be the great aim of human conduct.  No special adoration is paid to it; but, instead, to mortals, deified saints, who have attained the highest perfection of which human nature is capable, and in some respects are not indifferent to the prayers of their votaries.  The Bhabras are votaries of Parusnath, and of those saints who are most generally followed by all Jains; and there are others whose worship is more particularly affected by other sects.

In the former article (No. 153) the extravagance of the Jain belief in the structure of the world was noticed, and the following particulars may be detailed.  There are twelve great heavens above the earth, and beyond this all is darkness and void.  The heaven to which those who obtain eternal happiness ascend, is thirty-six millions of miles in length.  Below this are five other heavens, inhabited by souls in different degrees of purity; and there are twelve other heavens below these, each of different quality, and receptacles for spirit in other forms and degrees of beatitude. It would appear, then, that heavens are provided for the soul or spirit, that is, life of animals and even insects; but the Jains hardly admit this, though they do not exactly deny it. Under the heavens is the earth, "balanced in air;" and, in this respect, the Jain theory is more consistent with truth than that of the Hindoo Poorans, which describes the earth to be upheld by a