Lawrence A. Babb

Alchemies of violence : myths of identity and the life of trade in western India

Introduction Introduction Violence and the Ways of Trade Sages and Warriors Melted Warriors Warriors Exiled Going Public Traders Victorious Bibliography Index

Rejecting violence: Sacrifice and the social identity of trading communities

In recent decades Agravāl leaders have been promoting a centre for caste pilgrimage at Agroha, the supposed place of Agravāl origin, and an associated Agravāl origin myth. Analysis reveals that this origin myth belongs to a class of similar origin myths found among North Indian trading castes. The central element in these myths is the ancient rite of sacrifice. The origin myths of the Khandelvāl Vaiśyas. Māheśvarıs, and Khandelvāl Jains all attempt to show how the caste in question acquired its current identity and social persona because of an alienation from the sacrifice, followed by a restoration to the rite on a new basis (or in the case of the Jains, a shift to an alternative ritual order). Variants of the Agravāl origin myth being publicised currently are often presented in a context suggesting social and scientific modernity, but underlying contemporary retellings we find the same sacrificial symbolism seen in the myths of other trading castes.

Giving and Giving up: The Eightfold Worship among Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jains

The Jinas, who are the principal objects of Jain worship, are believed to be entirely noninteractive with their worshippers. This fact has implications for the way ritual transactions between Jinas and their worshippers are conducted and conceived. An examination of the eightfold worship, a major daily rite among Jains, shows that ritual offerings are given by worshippers but not taken by any divine receiver. The act of giving does not establish a bond between worshipper and worshipped (as in the Hindu tradition) but enacts the givers desire to emulate the Jina by shedding attachments. The gift itself enters a dangerous liminal state; it has separated from the giver but remains unassimilated by a receiver. It must therefore be disposed of by being passed to non-Jains. These patterns are significantly different from Hindu practice but have obvious parallels in the Buddhist tradition.