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? How would such a relationship with sacred beings affect the religious life of a community? Using these questions as his point of departure, Lawrence A. Babb explores the ritual culture of image—worshipping Svetambar Jains of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Jainism traces its lineages back to the ninth century B.C.E. and is,...