Jain Religion and Society (Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow)

Summary

Dr. V.P. Jain’s address surveys Jain religion and society across three time‑frames. In the **yesterday** section he celebrates Jainism as one of the oldest living religions and credits Jain ācāryas with major contributions to Indian art, architecture, epigraphy, manuscript preservation, music, education and literature. Dynasties across India—from the Nandas and Mauryas to the Ganga and Hoysalas—patronised Jainism; many rulers were Jains or appointed Jains as ministers, generals and treasurers because of their honesty, bravery and managerial skillhttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/22#:~:text=Now%20come%20back%20to%20the,king%20and%20the%20country%3B%20and. Jains are praised for pioneering vegetarianism and for never practising proselytism; instead they established institutions of four‑fold charity (food, piety, justice and knowledge/medicine) that served the poorhttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/23#:~:text=to%20be%20given%20the%20credit,heritage%2C%20which%20we%20belong%20to. In the **today** section he notes that although Jains are a small minority, they played a significant role in India’s independence struggle and continue to be influential in business, industry, banking, education, law, medicine, engineering, civil and defence services, politics and academiahttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/23#:~:text=The%20Jains%20in%20the%20post,have%20not%20made%20their%20mark. Jain emigrants have settled in the USA, Britain, Africa, Germany, Japan, France, Australia and elsewhere, where they build temples and centres; the community is widely respected as peaceful, law‑abiding, vegetarian and toleranthttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/24#:~:text=belong%20to%20the%20upper%20middle,of%20their%20life%20and%20career. Looking toward **tomorrow**, Dr. Jain warns that rapid materialistic culture and new professions threaten traditional virtues of honesty, non‑violence and vegetarianism among younger Jainshttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/24#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20very%20fast,away%20right%20through%20our%20fingers. He laments the absence of a central organisation to address communal problems and calls for a central academy to collect and translate Jain literature and for simple, authentic books for children and non‑Jainshttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/25#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20central%20organisation,our%20disposal%20is%20too%20short. Divisions into sects persist, and he appeals to the global Jain community to act quickly to preserve its heritage and valueshttps://jainqq.org/pagetext/Jain_Journal_2004_10/520156/25#:~:text=I%20am%20here%20to%20appeal,or%20wait%2C%20or%20go%20slow.