SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The article offers a brief review of the entries on 'Luṅkā' and 'Ḍhuṇḍhaka', etc., which indicate relevant sources on the still obscure origins of the 'aniconic' or 'protestant' Jaina traditions, in the monumental Jaina Onomasticon, which in 1892 Johannes Klatt left unpublished in manuscript form. The article points out the difficulties faced by the present editors of this monumental text, and analyzes the implications of the sources available to Klatt at the hand of the chosen examples. It demonstrates that a lot could have been (and still can be) learned about the aniconic and other Jaina traditions already more than a century ago had Johannes Klatt’s magnum opus been utilized. Since this was not done, hardly any of the standard textbooks on Jainism today provide even basic information on the aniconic Jaina traditions, with the exception of the well-known works of H.v. Glasenapp and P. Dundas. The state of knowledge on the aniconic traditions reflected in the pages of the Jaina-Onomasticon is however still embryonic, and in itself unreliable. Klatt’s information stemmed largely from the works of opponents of the protestant traditions. This was unavoidable at the time, since few other sources were available to him. However, the Onomasticon still points to yet untapped sources the critical study of which will lead to more detailed and reliable reconstructions of the complex history of the aniconic Jaina tradition which today comprises of about one third of all Jainas.