Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture

What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach, of any form of worship whatsoever? What the implications of such a relationship with sacred beings for the religious life of a community? Using these questions as his point of departure, Babb explores the ritual culture of image-worshiping Svetambar Jains. Jainism is, aside from Buddhism, the only surviving example of India’s ancient non-Vedic religious traditions. It is known and celebrated for its systematic practice of non-violence and for the rigor of the asceticism it promotes. Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture sheds light on a little-known religious tradition and demonstrates that divine "absence" can be as rich as divine "presence" in its possibilities for informing a religious response to the cosmos.