Hotta Kazuyoshi
Centre of Jaina Studies Newsletter: SOAS - University of London
In 2013, three academic conferences and seminars on Jainism were held in Japan. Below, I would like to provide a brief report on these meetings.
The 64th Annual Conference of the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Matsue
The 64th Annual Conference of the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies (JAIBS) was held at Shimane Civic Center, Matsue, on 31 August and 1 September 2013. This large-scale annual conference comprises about ten sessions each year. For the first time in the history of this conference, an entire session was dedicated to papers on Jaina studies. (Unfortunately, a further paper on Jainism had been included in a different session by mistake.) Altogether nine papers on Jainism were read as part of this conference.
In 'On Carelessness in a Jaina Definition of Violence (hiṃsā)', Tomoyuki Uno (Chikushi Jogakuen University) focused on the usage of the word 'carelessness' (pramāda) in the definition of violence found in the Tattvārthādhigamasūtra. Uno identified the sources of this definition and pointed out that Jainism regards mental violence as a more serious offense than physical violence.
Juan Wu (The University of Tokyo) read a paper entitled 'Stories of Śreṇika and Kūṇika Ajātaśatru in the Cīvaravastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya and Some Śvetāmbara Jaina Texts'. Wu examined three stories found in the Cīvaravastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, i.e. the stories of the marriage of Bimbisāra and Celā, the previous life of Ajātaśatru, and his rebirth in the womb of Celā. Wu explored parallels to similar stories found in Śvetāmbara Jaina texts.
Yutaka Kawasaki (Otani University) spoke on the 'Interpretations of adattādāna in Jainism'. If the term 'adattādāna' (lit. 'taking anything which has not been given') is interpreted as theft, many problems arise in actual religious life. Kawasaki analyzed how Agastyasimha, Umāsvāti, and Siddhasena re-interpreted and changed the meanings of this term to avoid these problems.
In 'Arcaṭa's Views Introduced in Jaina Treatises', Kiyokuni Shiga (Kyoto Sangyo University) reported on a number of passages quoted in Jaina treatises that usually appear alongside the name 'Arcaṭa' and compared these with passages from Arcaṭa's Hetubinduṭīkā. Shiga concluded that in general, literal quotations are quite common in Jaina treatises, but that Anantavīrya's Siddhiviniścayaṭīkā differs in that it also employs summaries and paraphrases.
Hisayasu Kobayashi (Chikushi Jogakuen University) presented a paper entitled 'Some Notes on Brahmacarya in Jainism'. According to Kobayashi, in the Tattvārthādhigamasūtra's commentaries the five restraints are associated with carelessness. However, the Śvetāmbara sect, standing in the tradition of Vinaya literature, treats celibacy separately from this approach. This is because the transgression of celibacy automatically presupposes that a person has desires and aversions.
In 'Devī Worship in Jainism: The Padmāvatī Devī Pūjā of the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjakas', Akiko Shimizu (The Nakamura Hajime Eastern Institute) reported on her fieldwork at Rūpnagar temple in Delhi. Shimizu provided a detailed discussion of the relation between the worshippers at Rūpnagar temple and Padmāvatī devī as well as the contents of the Padmāvatī devī pūjā. Shimizu pointed out that devī pūjā plays an important role in connecting the laity with Tīrthaṅkara.
The present author, Kazuyoshi Hotta (The University of Tokyo), spoke on the 'Examination of Newly-Arrived Monks in Jain Vinaya Texts'. Based on Malayagiri's commentary of the Vyavahārabhāṣya, he analyzed the methods found in Chapter 1 of the Vyavahārabhāṣya that were employed to integrate newly-arrived monks into the new monastic community and test their purity.
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In 'The Readings of the Cūrṇi on the Āgamas: Āyāraṅga-sutta and Suttanipāta', Kenji Watanabe (Taisho University) discussed the two variant readings 'diṭṭhapahe' (the one who saw the path) and 'diṭṭha-bhae' (the one who saw fear) in the Āyāraṅga-sutta 1.2.6.2. By comparing them with the content of Suttanipāta 809 and Dhammapada 32, he concluded as follows. In Buddhism, these two expressions are transmitted separately, while in Jainism, one of them appears in the main text of the Āyāraṅga-sutta, while the other expression was given as a variant reading of the former in the Cūrṇi commentary.
In 'Bhāva-pāhuḍa', Kiyoaki (Seio) Okuda (Chief Abbot of Shitennōji Temple) analyzed the contents of Kundakunda's Bhāvapāhuḍa based on his Japanese translation. He emphasized in particular the importance of the Twelve Reflections (anuprekṣā) in this text. Since Okuda had already translated seven works belonging to the Aṣṭapāhuḍa, the present text completed his translation of the entire treatise.
Nalini Balbir's Special Seminar on Jaina Canonical Texts, Kyoto
Between 30 September and 4 October, Nalini Balbir (University of Paris 3) held a special seminar on Jaina canonical texts at Otani University, Kyoto. This seminar was made possible by Shin Fujinaga, who invited Nalini Balbir, and the collaboration of Yutaka Kawasaki. In the morning of the first day, Nalini Balbir lectured on Jaina narrative literature. This was followed by a guided reading of Chapter 6 of the Nāyādhammakahāo. Chapter 3 was read on the second day, and Chapter 7 and some paragraphs of the Viyāhapannatti on the third day. On the last day, we read a part of the Kalpasūtra and Chapter 22 of the Uttarajjhāyā. At each session there were five to six participants, and the seminar lasted from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.. This was the first time that such a thorough seminar on Jaina canonical texts was held in Japan. As such, it was a precious opportunity for young Japanese researchers. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Nalini Balbir.
28th Conference of the Society for Jaina Studies, Kyoto
On 5 October the 28th Conference of the Society for Jaina Studies was held at Otani University, Kyoto. At this conference, the following three papers were read. In 'Jains in the Pāli Canon', Masatoshi Hata (Osaka University) analyzed several descriptions of Jains in the Pāli Canon. He demonstrated that most of these descriptions are connected to the conversion of Jain laypersons to Buddhism. He further showed that Jains converted to Buddhism due to disputes held with the Buddha and his disciples, but also pointed out that despite this fact, much of the content of these disputes for example, the problem of karman, omniscience, etc. related to monks rather than to laypersons. In 'Is it Possible to Establish the Co-Inherence?
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Bhāvasena's Critique of Samavāya', the present author analyzed the arguments concerning samavāya theory seen in Bhāvasena's Viśvatattvaprakāśa. He suggested the possibility that Bhāvasena's view on samavāya was not only greatly influenced by the preceding Jain philosophers, but also by Kumārila.
Juan Wu (The University of Tokyo) read a paper entitled 'Future Rebirths of Śreṇika Bimbisāra and Kūṇika Ajātaśatru in Buddhist and Jaina Literature: A Preliminary Survey'. Buddhists and Jains have similar views concerning the story of Śreṇika and Kūṇika, but differ considerably when it comes to the issue of determining their future existence. Wu discussed the differences in Buddhist and Jain versions of these stories about their future rebirths and what can be learned from these differences.
Compared with Buddhism, there are only a few scholars in Japan working on Jainism. However, the papers summarized above show the great thematic variety that exists in current Japanese Jaina Studies, from dealing with the Śvetāmbara canon, Digambara literature, philosophical texts, and narrative texts to fieldwork. We hope to have many more such conferences in the future.
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