Rāmacandrasūri (1897-1992), SOAS, University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2014-04-08

This lecture titled "Rāmacandrasūri (1897-1992): A Life Between Consistent Asceticism and Political Controversies" was given by Andrea Luithle-Hardenberg (University of Tübingen, Germany) at the Centre of Jaina Studies, SOAS, University of London as part of the 16th Jaina Studies Workshop: Jaina Hagiography and Biography on 21st March 2014.

You can find out more about the Centre of Jaina Studies at http://www.soas.ac.uk/jainastudies/

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This lecture was sponsored by SOAS, University of London; the V&A; Universiteit Gent; GSF and the Jiv Daya Foundation.

Abstract:
As the founder of one of the largest Tapā Gaccha samudayas Rāmacandrasūri belongs to the most influential Jaina Ācāryas of the 20th century. In 2012 the 100th anniversary of his initiation as a Jain sādhu was commemorated in splendid festivals in Gujarat and Mumbai. The paper presents findings of a recent ethno-historical research, including interviews with Rāmacandrasūri's contemporaries and published and unpublished grey literature sources of the Tapā Gaccha. 

Accordingly, Rāmacandrasūri's earlier years were determined by strict asceticism. In contrast to that the later parts of his biographies are linked to almost all crucial controversial issues which were and are still publicly raised within the Jaina community and vis-à-vis external parties during the last 80 years. 

The controversies partly refer to widely acclaimed ritual issues which are mainly significant within the Jain community, such as the astrological determination of festivals within the ritual calendar (pancāṅga), the ritual veneration of senior ascetics (gurupūjā) and the suspension of pilgrimage to Śatruñjaya during the rainy season (cāturmāsa). 

However, the issues which were discussed by Rāmacandrasūri and his contemporaries also intermingle with rather rarely mentioned political and interreligious conflicts such as his critique of Mohandās Gāndhi's interpretation and utilization of non-violence (ahiṃsā) for the svarāj movement, the abolition of the goat sacrifice in Ahmedabad's Bhadrakālī temple during Navrātrī and protests against the legal ban of initiating children into Jaina orders (bāl dīkṣā). In all issues Rāmacandrasūri was supported by influential lay organizations such as the Āṇandajī Kalyāṇajī Peḍhī. 

The public discussion of these issues contributed considerably to shaping Śvetāmbara community after independence and was/is continued until today by his successors in the office of the gacchādhipati, Mahodāyasūri, Hembūṣansūri and Puṇyapalsūri. At the same time the grey literature and oral biographies of Rāmacandrasūri are important sources for comprehensively discussing Tapā Gaccha history during the 20th to 21st century, including the political strategies of Jaina Ācāryas in general.