Section in Jain Order : Digambar (Part 1/4)

Jainism order is divided into two major sects.

• The Digamabar Sect
• The Shwetambars Sect

The Digambar sect, in recent centuries, has been divided into the following major sub-sects:

1. Beespanth / Bispanthi
2. Terapanth
3. Taranpanth or Samaiyapanth

• Beespanth : The followers of Bisapantha support the Dharma-gurus, that is, religious authorities known as Bhattarakas who are also the heads of Jain Mathas, that is. religious monasteries. The Bisapanthas, in their temples, worship the idols of Tirthankaras and also the idols of Kshetrapal, Padmavati and other deities. They worship these idols with saffron, flowers, fruits, sweets, scented 'agara-battis', i.e., incense sticks, etc. While performing these worships. the Bisapanthis sit on the ground and do not stand. They perform Arati, i.e., waving of lights over the idol, in the temple even at night and distribute prasad, i.e., sweet things offered to the idols. The Bisapantha, according to some, is the original form of the Digambara sect and today practically all Digambar Jains from Maharashtra, Karnataka and South India and a large number of Digambara Jains from Rajasthan and Gujarat are the followers of Bisapanth.

• Terapanth : Terapanth arose in North India in the year 1683 of the Vikram Era as a revolt against the domination and conduct of the Bhattarakas. i.e. religious authorities, of the Digambar Jains. As a result in this sub-sect, the institution of Bhattarakas lost respect in North India, however in South India the Bhattarakas continue to play an importent role. In their temples, the Terapanthis install the idols of Tirthankars and not of Kshetrapal, Padmavati and other deities. 
• Further. they worship the idols not with flowers, fruits and other green vegetables (known as sachitta things), but with sacred rice called 'Aksata', cloves, sandal, almonds, dry coconuts, dates, etc. As a rule they do not perform Arathi or distribute Prasad in their temples. Again, while worshipping they stand and do not sit.
• From these differences with the Bisapanthis it is clear that the Terapanthis appear to be reformers. They are opposed to various religious practices. As according to them these are not real Jain practices. The Terapanth had performed a valuable task of rescuing the Digambars from the clutches of wayward Bhattarakas and hence the Terapanthis occupy a peculiar position in the Digambar Jain community. The Terapanthis are more numerous in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
• It is pertinent to note that even though the name Terapanth sub-sect appears both among the Digambar and the Svetambar sects. Still the two Terapanthis are entirely different from each other. While the Digambara Terapanthis believe in nudity and idol-worship, the Svetambar Terapanthis are quite opposed to both.

• Taranpanth : The sub-sect Taranapanth is known after its founder Taran-Swami(1448-1515 A.D.). This sub-sect is also called Samaiyapanth because its followers worship Sarnaya, i.e., sacred books and not the idols. Taran-Swami died at Malharagarh, in former Gwalior State in Madhya Pradesh, and this is the central place of pilgrimage of Taranapanthis. 
• The Taranapanthis strongly refute idolatry but they have their own temples in which they keep their sacred books for worship. They do not offer articles like fruits and flowers at the time of worship. Besides the sacred books of the Digambars, they also worship the fourteen sacred books written by their founder Taran-Swami. Further, Taranapanthis give more importance to spiritual values and the study of sacred literature. That is why we find a complete absence of outward religious practices among them. Moreover, Taran-Swami; was firmly against the caste-distinctions and in fact threw open the doors of his sub-sect even to Muslims and low-caste people. 
• There are three main traits of the Taranapanthis:
• The aversion to idol worship
• The absence of outward religious practices
• The ban on caste distinctions
• They were evolved as a revolt against the religious beliefs and practices prevailing in the Digambar Jain sect, and it appears that Taran-Swami might have formulated these principles under the direct influence of Islamic doctrines and the teachings of Lonkashaha, the founder of the non-idolatrous Sthanakvasi sub-sect of the Swetambara sect. 
• The Taranapanthis are few in number and they are mostly confined to Bundelkhand, Malwa area of Madhya Pradesh and Khandesh area of Maharashtra.

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Source:: Internet

Taran-swami and his Taran-panth

The 15-16th century was an age of transition in India. During this time several reform movements arose in Jainism. Lonkashah of Gujarat founded his Dhundhia order in Samvat 1508 (1451 AD), The Terapanth (Atyadhma movement) among the Digambaras arose in Samvat 1683 in Agra. The main founders of this movement were Banarasi Das of Agra and Amarchand of Sanganer. Taran-swami in Bundelkhand founded his Taranpanth sect of the Digambaras in Samvat 1563 (1506).

The Digambar Terapanth movement was against the domination of the Bhattarakas. They opposed worship of various minor gods and goddesses. Some Terapanthi practices, like not using flowers in worship, gradually spread throughout North India among the Digambars. The Taran-panthis on the other hand, traditionally do not have idols in their shrines at all. 

Taranswami was a remarkable philosopher and author. He was born in Pushpavati (now Bilahari near Katni). His father was a government official there. His mama(uncle) lived in Sironj, where a Bhattaraka institution was present. When he was 8 years old, while accompanying his father to Sironj, he came across Bhattarak Shruta-kirti. The Bhattarak persuaded the boy to start attending the lectures where "Samayasar"was discussed. Later Taran-swami organized his group , meditated and preached at Semalkheri, Sukha and Rakh. His samadhi is at Nisaiji in Dist Guna.

He wrote 14 books. His language is very unique, being a blend of Prakrit, Sanskrit and Apabhransha. Note that at this time Jains have not been using Prakit for several centuries. His language was perhaps influenced by his reading of the books of Acharya kundakunda. Copies of his books are very hard to obtain. Mostly Kanjiswami has some lectures based on Taranswami's books.

The number of Taranpanthis is very small. Their shrinesare called Chaityalya (or some times Nisai/Nasia). At the altar (vimana) they have a book instead of an idol. The Taranpanthis were originally from 6 communities. These days they are gradually merging with other Jain in the area. In recent past, some of them have been followers of Kanjiswami of Songarh.

One interesting note. Rajneesh/Osho was born in a Taranpanthi family.

Notes

[1] Bundelkhand region is Lalitpur (UP), Guna, Sagar, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Damoh districts and nearby region. The Taranpanthis are mainly found here. 

[2] This Shrutakirti may be the same one who wrote Dharma-Pariksha, arivansha-purana and Parameshthisarin Apabhramsha. His teacher's teacher was Devendrakirti who originated from Gujarat and had placed his students at the Bhattarak seats of Surat as well as Chanderi in Bundelkhand region. 

[3] The term Nasia for a temple may have been derived from the practice of saying "Jay jay jay,nisahi, nisahi, nisahi" when one enters a temple.

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Source: Internet