Page 88 - Courage Redifined

society norms in routine life. Hence, belonging to a noble
family was one of the virtue of an ideal Shravaka (a Jain
householder). It is also one of the requirements to be fulfilled
in order to accept Diksha. Why so ?

i) Because those who hail from noble a family will never
walk on the wrong or prohibited path. They will never
perform bad activities which would lead to criticism of
religion. Otherwise, if a sadhu or shravaka engaged in
wrong activities, it would lead to criticism of the entire
religion that, “Look, what kind of religion these people
follow ? Does religion give them the permission to perform
such activities ?” This is the reason that a person from a
low family is not considered suitable for giving Diksha. A
person hailing from a noble family will definitely glorify
religion in future.
A question that is bound to rise here is,

Q. : Why can’t people from low, backward families be given
Diksha ?

If a person from a low and backward caste has developed
a feeling of non-attachment towards the material world
and desires to renounce the world, can’t he be considered
appropriate for giving Diksha ? After having such a
realization will he still perform any wrong activities ?

A. : The prohibition to give Diksha to such people is basically
to avoid the criticism of Jain religion. Because if such a
person is accepted as a Jain saint, people would comment
that, “This Jain religion seems low and valueless to
accept such low caste people. If the religion is of a
high quality, then can it be given to low people ?” To
avoid such criticism, such low caste people should not be
made a Jain saint. Jain saints should not obtain Gochari

78 Courage Redefined