Jainism, the Reordering of Dirt, and Rules About Ingestion

 N/A, Arjun. 2010. Jain Pilgrims. Retrieved April 3, 2024 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/arjunstc/5192656148/). 

            In this photo, several people, members of a religion known as Jainism, walk barefoot along a stone path. They wear all white - white, loose-fitting robes, white masks that cover their mouths, white bags, and some of them carry white brooms. The plants around them, growing out of a large stone wall, seem to creep in from the side, beginning to cover up the city view behind them because of the perspective of the photo. Two figures seem more prominent than the rest, and perhaps more lively, as they appear to smile beneath their masks. The rest of the group seem to lag behind them, and a figure in the back of the group waves, perhaps trying to be seen by the camera. Because of the shrinking cityscape, and the path that falls behind the group, this march forward appears triumphant.

One of Douglas’s arguments in “Purity and Danger” is that the organization of dirt is a way of positively interacting with our environment, rather than a neurotic way of attempting to avoid contamination. More broadly, in society, as well as in our daily lives, making sense of dirt is a way to make sense of our surroundings. Another one of her arguments deals with what is allowed or not allowed to enter or exit the body in different cultures. Each culture, she says, has its own rules for how certain things may enter or exit the body at its most vulnerable points. She discusses how these rules across groups reflect their borders, and reveal something larger about the historical context of a society. By examining how a given group deals with excrement and with ingestion, we can learn more about it.

This photo is a picture of members of a religious group known as Jainism. People who practice Jainism often wear masks to avoid accidentally inhaling insects, and they sometimes carry brushes to sweep the ground in front of them as they walk, to avoid stepping on them. Jain people are also vegetarians, and they do not eat root vegetables, out of the belief that uprooting a plant would kill it. According to Douglas, rules about ingestion stem from a belief in the way that vulnerable parts of the body should be managed. In this case, Jain masks are meant to protect any insects from being inhaled, and the restrictions against eating meat and root vegetables are also meant to preserve life. These restrictions, according to Douglas, define the borders of this group, and can teach us about their philosophy of life and rebirth. Additionally, sweeping, something typically thought of as the riddance of dirt, is, in this case, used to protect smaller forms of life that may cross the path of Jain people. As Douglas argues, the reordering of dirt and one’s surroundings, in this case, is a positive practice, intended to save the lives of creatures that Jain people may come across, no matter how small.