Mr. Virchand R. Gandhi, a Hindu and Jain disciple from Bombay, India, a delegate to the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893, remained for some time in Washington, D. C., proselyting among the Christians. He is a cultivated gentleman, devoted to the spread of his religion. I asked his advice and assistance, which he kindly gave, supervising my manuscript for the Swastika in the extreme Orient, and furnishing me the following additional information relative to the Swastika in India, and especially among the Jains:
Fig. 33.
EXPLANATION OF
THE JAIN SWASTIKA,
ACCORDING TO GANDHI.
(1) Archaic or protoplasmic
life; (2) Plant and animal
life; (3) Human life;
(4) Celestial life.
The Swastika is misinterpreted by so-called Western expounders of our ancient Jain philosophy. The original idea was very high, but later on some persons thought the cross represented only the combination of the male and the female principles. While we are on the physical plane and our propensities on the material line, we think it necessary to unite these (sexual) principles for our spiritual growth. On the higher plane the soul is sexless, and those who wish to rise higher than the physical plane must eliminate the idea of sex.
I explain the Jain Swastika by the following illustration [[fig. 33]]: The horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other at right angles form the Greek cross. They represent spirit and matter. We add four other lines by bending to the right each arm of the cross, then three circles and the crescent, and a circle within the crescent. The idea thus symbolized is that there are four grades of existence of souls in the material universe. The first is the lowest state—Archaic or protoplasmic life. The soul evolves from that state to the next—the earth with its plant and animal life. Then follows the third stage—the human; then the fourth stage—the celestial. The word “celestial” is here held to mean life in other worlds than our own. All these graduations are combinations of matter and soul on different scales. The spiritual plane is that in which the soul is entirely freed from the bonds of matter. In order to reach that plane, one must strive to possess the three jewels (represented by the three circles), right belief, right knowledge, right conduct. When a person has those, he will certainly go higher until he reaches the state of liberation, which is represented by the crescent. The crescent has the form of the rising moon and is always growing larger. The circle in the crescent represents the omniscient state of the soul when it has attained full consciousness, is liberated, and lives apart from matter.
The interpretation, according to the Jain view of the cross, has nothing to do with the combination of the male and female principle. Worship of the male and female principles, ideas based upon sex, lowest even of the emotional plane, can never rise higher than the male and female.
| Fig. 34a. THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA—FIRST STAGE. Handful of rice or meal, in circular form, thinner in center. | Fig. 34b. THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA—SECOND STAGE. Rice or meal, as shown in preceding figure, with finger marks, indicated at 1, 2, 3, 4. |
The Jains make the Swastika sign when we enter our temple of worship. This sign reminds us of the great principles represented by the three jewels and by which we are to reach the ultimate good. Those symbols intensify our thoughts and make them more permanent.