Jainism and The Western World
By Peter Flügel
Summary
The article analyses the complex history of Jainism’s interactions with the Western world, focusing on early contacts between Jain monks and European scholars. It begins by noting the paradox that the Calcutta High Court once ruled Jainism was not an independent religion, yet decades later Western scholars classified it as a world religion because of its universal emphasis on non‑violence and world renunciation. The essay traces how Jain libraries were historically kept hidden as acts of religious veneration; many manuscripts were buried in bhandars to protect them from destruction. Only in the nineteenth century were these collections opened through efforts of reform‑minded lay Jains and European orientalists. Figures such as Jinmuktisūri, Georg Bühler and Hermann Jacobi play central roles. Jinmuktisūri campaigned to catalogue and preserve manuscripts; Bühler and Jacobi, Sanskritists from Germany and Austria, visited Jaisalmer in the 1870s and helped catalogue Jain manuscripts. Their efforts convinced European academia that Jainism possessed an independent scriptural tradition and a continuous textual history. The article reviews debates among Indologists on whether to classify Jainism as a branch of Hinduism or a separate world religion. It highlights how these debates were influenced by colonial politics, the reform movement within the Jain community and the agendas of Western scholars. The essay also discusses the role of libraries like the Bhandaras and institutions such as the L.D. Institute in promoting Jain studies and emphasises the contributions of Western scholars like Bühler, Jacobi and Glasenapp who translated Jain texts and made them accessible. At the same time, it warns against interpreting the opening of Jain libraries solely as an imperialist plunder; many Jains themselves sought scholarly recognition and willingly collaborated with Westerners. The article concludes by suggesting that the transformation of Jainism into a global religion is still underway; because Jainism remains largely confined to India with a small following, further organisational and doctrinal adjustments and greater engagement with non‑Indian audiences are necessary to realise its universal potential.
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Conclusion
The article argues that the Western ‘discovery’ of Jainism emerged through cooperation between reformist Jains and European scholars. By cataloguing and publishing ancient manuscripts, figures like Jinmuktisūri, Bühler and Jacobi demonstrated the distinctiveness of Jain philosophy and scripture, helping Jainism gain recognition as a world religion. The author concludes that globalising Jainism requires continued critical scholarship, institutional support and adaptation to a broader audience while remaining faithful to its core values of non‑violence and renunciation.