Interview with Christine Chojnacki, Professor of Jain Studies

Christine Chojnacki is Professor and Chair of Jain Studies in the Historical Studies Department. She is the first to hold the Gyan and Kanchan Jain Chair in Jain Studies at U of T Mississauga. 

1. What inspired you to specialize in the history of religion? How did you develop your focus on Jain studies?

In fact, I was first attracted by ancient languages, like Latin, Greek and Sanskrit, and therefore it was rather the other way round: I became fascinated by the specific kind of language (Prakrit) which distinguishes Jaina texts, and this naturally brought me in close contact with the religious contents and widened my interest. 

2. How would you describe the history of Jainism, its beliefs, and its connections with other religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism?

From the beginning, Jainism shares several characteristics with Buddhism (e.g., non-violence, nonexistence of gods, withdrawal from the world and monastic organisation) and is sometimes considered even a sister religion. Its connections with Hinduism have evolved throughout centuries. It has gradually assimilated practices of Hinduism, such as the homage in a temple and the importance of pilgrimage. But it has all along remarkably succeeded in maintaining its own unmistakable identity to this day, such as an uncompromising rejection of violence in all its forms.

3. Why do you think Jain studies is an important field within the broader study of religion, and what unique insights does it offer?

Jainism represents one of the major religions not only in India, but nowadays worldwide. It has not only a highly developed philosophy and an impressive doctrine of liberation from the cycle of rebirths, but also an extensive body of literature, which by no means only deals with religious topics, but also contains unique material on Indian cultural history. The Jainas are known to have been very careful with texts and to have thus contributed to the preservation of an important part of the Indian cultural heritage. Many of these texts are an exciting resource to study. They are still unknown, untranslated and equally unavailable for research in Jainism as in other fields. Moreover, they are often precisely dated. Consequently, they help to reconstruct not only historical facts but also the formation of intellectual knowledge in India. 

4. What are the main themes of your current research, and how do they contribute to our understanding of Jainism and its history?

My research focuses on unexplored medieval Jaina sources in Sanskrit and Prakrit (8th–14th century), which I analyse from various angles, mainly philological, literary, and historical. I realized that Kuvalayamālā, composed in 779 CE, initiated a refined literary movement that spanned over four centuries and included ten works that had remained unknown to modern scholarship. Beside their aesthetic interest, those works renewed knowledge about the evolution of the forms of medieval Jainism (among which the Caityavāsin were known so far only through their opponents) and the relations of monks to political power. I developed my ideas in a book that has just been published, Voices and Echoes of the Romance-Poem in Prakrit: Towards a History of Monastic Jain Traditions of Medieval India (8th–12th centuries). I am now planning to deepen some questions I left out in this synthetic study and to analyse other Prakrit texts of the 12th century which also are still unknown. They will, among other things, contribute to a better understanding of the rise of a Jain kingdom based on non-violence under the reign of King Kumārapāla. 

5. Could you describe Jain literature from the eight to fourteenth centuries? If a student is going to search for examples, what kinds of texts would you expect them to discover?

There is a very rich and diverse body of works including dogmatic commentaries on the sacred canonical literature, short stories, semi-historical texts and forgotten treasures of Indian literature full of histories of mundane heroines and heroes or of great saints of Jainism. In those often precisely dated works, there are wonderful things to discover, for instance inserted plays or other forms of spectacle such as ballads, which are attested independently only later. Even the religious discourses are very lively and informative. Indeed, they are addressed to a character as they would be to an audience of Jain devotees and they reveal evolutive features inside Jainism, which do not appear in the non-dated commentaries of the canonical literature. 

6. Where can students go to learn more about Jainism? Are there websites, places to visit, or events to attend that you think would give students a good introduction to the religion?

There are several places in India where students can go to and have contact with living Jainism and meet Jain monks and nuns. They can also study the architectural beauties of Abu and Ranakpur, the unique paintings of Sittanvasal and Jina Kancipuram, or the impressive holy places of Mahavirji and Shravanabelgola. There are also regularly short-term stays for international students who wish to have an introduction to Jain texts and culture. In Toronto, the chair of Jainism will serve various purposes: an historical approach to Jainism, a study of textual sources, contacts with the Jain community, and visits to the temples in Ontario. Some useful websites are Jaina.org, Jainpedia.org, and jainology.org (international school of Jain studies). In the future, specific events will be organised in order to offer students guided approaches to this religion. 

7. What courses are you excited to teach, and how do you plan to introduce students to Jain studies in engaging ways?

In the way I approach Jain studies, I plan to provide students with the linguistic tools that are necessary for exploring the treasures of Jain literature known and unknown and gain more and more insights in the religious history of Jainism. Moreover, it is my intention to offer courses which treat Jainism not only as an object of academic research, but also as a lived religion which provides people with meaning, support and ethical guiding.

8. You won a prize for your translation of Kuvalayamālā. What is this text? Why is it important? What are some of the challenges involved with translating an eighth-century Jain novel from Prakrit language?

The Kuvalayamālā, that is “Garland of Blue Waterlilies” is a refined romance dated from 779. It relates the adventures of Prince Kuvalayacandra up to his meeting with Princess Kuvalayamālā (therefore the name of the novel). Against this backdrop, it deals with a completely different matter, namely the spiritual evolution of five heroes through various existences until deliverance. There are several other original features: the author mixes prose and verse for the first time in Jain literature. In his very innovative introduction, he explains his literary and religious objectives. Very unusually, the work contains features of the two main currents of Jainism, the Śvetāmbaras and the Digambaras. Finally, the author includes unique excerpts from treatises dealing with mundane knowledge, such as alchemy, favourable and unfavourable marks, places for hiding treasures, or pastimes such as riddles, that are major clues for the reconstruction of the history of several sciences from India.

The greatest challenge is doubtlessly that of a literary translation of a text composed in difficult Prakrit, that is to find the right term and the right nuance to pay as much justice to the original as possible.

9. What are some examples of older Jain works that you think should be better known and included in world literature?

A Jain version of the Rāmāyaṇa by Vimala in the middle of the first millennium, then a universal Jain history by Śīlāṅka in 868, a narrative poem, The Beauty of the Universe by Vijayasimha in the beginning of the 11th century, or The History of Mahāvīra by Guṇacandra in 1082, to name but a few.

10. As the first professor to hold this chair, what are your goals for the position? How do you envision shaping the program?

This chair offers unique opportunities for developing Jain studies: it is attached to the Department of Historical Studies, so that one can study the evolution of Jainism from a historical perspective; there are many colleagues involved in South-Asian studies one can interact with, there are many students with a South-Asian context, and I would like to develop a program that is filling the gaps in Jain studies and create a speciality in analysing primary sources not only in Sanskrit, but also in Jain Prakrit that is rare in the world. To this end, I am planning to offer courses in three fields: history, religion and languages. And for research, I wish to work in two directions in coordination with the university and the Jain community: to develop projects for the preservation and analysis of an exceptional but highly endangered Jain cultural heritage, to organise interdisciplinary workshops and courses with other colleagues from the various fields of South-Asian studies and more broadly from humanities. This will enable to better place Jainism in its wider cultural context. One more rather new and interesting field is to study and analyze the specific answers that a very traditional religion like Jainism develops for coping with the tremendous challenges of our modern world.

11. What might local partnerships and global partnerships with Jain communities look like?

There are various objectives which are in the interest of both academics and religious followers, e.g. the overdue preservation of unique cultural heritage in India and other parts of the world, the digitalisation of resources, and, in the present age, not least the creation of a searchable database for the analysis of this extremely rich material. Here partnerships could include the training of young people and their involvement in the dynamics of research projects through doctoral or postdoctoral scholarships, the coordination of scholars and the Jain community for the work to be done on the preservation of manuscripts in India and the survey of existing bhandars (repositories), and the organisation of events in Toronto and in India in order to document these heritage activities and, if possible, establish Toronto as a centre of such endeavours. 

12. What role does Jainism play in contemporary religious and ethical discussions, especially in areas like environmentalism and nonviolence?

In stark contrast to Buddhism, Jainism is strongly underrepresented in these debates. This is highly regrettable, because the Jain contribution to such debates is no less important, and there are several highly interesting aspects to which only Jainism can contribute. Therefore, one of my goals is to counter this imbalance and let Jainism have its own voice.

13. What are some misconceptions about Jainism that you frequently encounter in academic or public discussions?

There is, for example, the idea that Jainism is a very austere religion; then there is the often encountered misunderstanding that Prakrit is confined to the canonical literature and that it is a simple language for the common people as opposed to Sanskrit for the educated elite. 

14. What emerging trends or debates in Jain studies do you find particularly exciting or important for future research?

There is a renewed interest in studying the Jain monastic community throughout history and to define the role of laymen in contact with monks or within the socio-political context. Recently, the role of prakrit as a political medium as well as a literary language has attracted increasing attention. In a similar vain, the sources of South India have moved into focus which allows a renewed insight into the exchanges and differention between the two main groups of Jainism in history (Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras).