The Ideal Jain Layperson in the 1950s: Muni Ratnacandra’s Interpretation of the Thirty-five Guṇas of the Mārgānusārī

A modern vernacular text on lay conduct (śrāvakācāra) in Gujarati called the Nīti Mārgānusārīnā 35 Bola Athavā Māṇasāi Eṭale Śuṃ? (Instructions on the 35 [Qualities] of the Follower of the Ethical Path or What is Humanity?)” (Hereon referred to as the “Ethics”) (“Ethics”), authored by a Sthānakavāsī monk named Ratnacandra and published in January 1951 on the month of the first anniversary of enforcing the Constitution of India. This text is based on the thirty-five qualities of an ideal layperson (śrāvaka) given in verses 47-56 of the Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra (YŚ), written in the twelfth century CE, which gained immense popularity in the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaka (temple worshipping) tradition of Jainism and has been considered as the standard text to understand lay conduct in this tradition (ibid.,) It was popular through various bālāvabodha (simplified for the less proficient) commentaries over time, composed in Sanskrit and vernacular languages to educate the community. The composition of the “Ethics” text is peculiar since the number of Sthānakavāsī commentaries on the Yogaśāstra is little to none. The “Ethics” is a commentary that illustrates the thirty-five virtues of an ideal śrāvaka and explains how to live harmoniously in society with its emphasis on practising humanity (in the sense of benevolence). 

The “Ethics” was envisioned by Ratnacandra in 1942, with improvements brought in by studying texts such as Yogaśāstra and the Dharmabindū; the text was ready and published in 1951 (Ethics, iv). The “Ethics” as Ratnacandra mentions, derives from the Yogaśāstra of Hemacandra, which is a śrāvakācāra text in Sanskrit. The ten verses that form a kulaka enumerating the thirty-five qualities have been adapted from the forty-four qualities given in Haribhadra Yākinīputra’s Dharmabindu. (Williams 1963, 256) The selected verses of the Yogaśāstra follow the ethical rhetoric of what is beneficial to an individual being valuable to society overall. Over the years, these various aspects of Hemacandra’s ideals have been adapted to other forms of teaching conduct in the Jain community. Although we find much literature, such as translations and expositions on the Yogaśāstra by many Jain authors, there is very little to be found explicitly explaining the thirty-five qualities of the mārgānusārin specifically. 

Even when they are mentioned, they have only a tangential interest. R. Williams, in his book Jain Yoga (1963, 256-274) and John E. Cort, in his article titled Two Ideals of The Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Layman (1991, 191), are probably the only scholars to have written about the thirty-five qualities of the mārgānusārin in the West. Also, we see the same with little reflection in India. (Bhuvanabhānusūri 2006, 100-108; Kushalchand 2015, 99; Jain 2011, 1-4; Bhadraguptasūri 1986, 403; Lakṣmaṇasūri 1963, 517-518; Jain 1999, 100-101; Patel 1977, 220; Jain 2011a, 36; Kapadia 1997, 132). Translations of the Yogaśāstra in English, such as that by Olle Qvarnström, merely mention and translate these qualities, but hardly any discussion is found on them. Published Gujarati and Hindi commentaries on the Yogaśāstra are uncommon, let alone on the mārgānusārī qualities. 

Also, available commentaries in Gujarati and Hindi have been written and published by the Mūrtipūjakas, and the ones available only tangentially mention these qualities without exposition. One can find separate treatments of the 35 qualities in publications by Vijayadharmasūri (1932, 495-550), but their commentary only circles the text or the explanations containing tales or analogies from other texts. This is the reason why Ratnacandra’s commentary is unique. Ratnacandra describes these qualities and provides a contemporary context in the exposition. Another factor that makes this text unique is the emphasis on humanity in the sense of benevolence in this context, with the understanding that this is the way to be eligible to walk on liberation path (mokṣa-mārga). Later developments in the discussion of these qualities in the Sthānakavāsīs, but in Hindi, through encyclopedic works like the Jaina Siddhānta Bola Saṃgraha (1998, 93-104), which is again only part of a compilation with translation without analysis. 

This paper analyzes and contextualizes the perspectives of the commentator Ratnacandra on how he shapes his prescriptions to fit his discourse through this commentary as a Jain interlocutor in contemporary ethical discourse. This study is the first to explore the Sthānakavāsī interpretations of these qualities. I propose in this paper that Ratnacandra is echoing the nationalistic and anti-colonial sentiments prevalent in the newly developing democracy and has attempted to formulate the portrayal of an ideal nationalistic and patriotic layperson. Moreover, the conceptualization of the text in 1942 brings in another aspect of Jain discourse for the laity as it was a time period of colonial India where applications of qualities enumerated by Hemacandra such as the prohibition of criticism especially the king and adaptation towards the prevalent culture illustrated through decolonial and nationalist sentiments have great potential insights into the simultaneous negotiation of colonial powers as well as the significance and inculcation of a Jain Indian identity.