The Rise of Jainism through the Ages

 

Jainism is considered to be one of the oldest religions, it originated in India. The word Jain is derived from Jina which means the conqueror. 

Jainism is said to be founded by Rishabhnath, he is described as an incarnation of Narayana in Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana. The exact date of the foundation of Jainism is not known, but it is believed to have its roots back to mid-century BC.

There are twenty-four Tirthankaras, the first one was Rishabhnath. Tirthankaras are not God but they help others achieve liberation. Tirthankaras are omniscient who achieve the position by intense practice of meditation and penance. 

Mentions of two Tirthankaras can be found in Rig Veda namely, Rishabh Dev and Arishtanemi. The twenty-fourth Tirthankara was Vardhamana Mahavira. It is believed that the Jainism we see today is because of him.

Vardhamana Mahavira:

Vardhamana Mahavira was born to the head of the Jnatrika clan Siddhartha and Trisha in 540 BC at Kundalgram near Vaishali in Bihar. 

He was married to Yashoda and had a daughter Priyadarshana. At the age of thirty, he renounced his kingdom and left all his worldly possessions behind, and started living as an ascetic.

He wandered for six years with Gosala ( the founder of Ajivika sect). Mahavira practiced intense meditation and self-mortification for twelve and a half years. He attained Kaivalya (perfect knowledge) at the age of forty-two, under a sal tree at Jimbhika grama in Eastern India on the banks of the river Rijupalika.

Mahavira rejected the authority of Vedas and did not believe in the existence of God. 

He believed attainment of salvation can be only through intense meditation and practicing ahimsa (non-violence) against nature and all other living beings. He was against possession of material things. He believed in karma.

Mahavira gave his first sermon at Pava to his eleven disciples known as Gandaras. He was also the founder of a Jain Sangha at Pava. he died at the age of seventy-two in 468 BC at Pavapuri near Rijupalika.

Jaina Philosophy:

Jainism is based on the beliefs that a person can be reincarnated, so he must break from the continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and liberate their soul. 

When a soul dies it can be reincarnated in any form either as animal, or a human or sometimes neither. The next life of a person depends on the karma of the person at that time.

The liberation of the soul from this continuous cycle can only be through one's karma.  A soul can only be liberated if it gets rid of all the karma attached to it.

So to avoid bad karma one must practice ahimsa that is causing little to no harm to nature and other beings. That is why Jainism is a strict vegetarianism. The souls that are liberated from the continuous cycle of birth and death are called siddhas. 

These souls do not reborn on earth. These souls do not possess a physical body and have immense knowledge, power, and vision. The liberated souls are like Gods in Jain beliefs.

Five Vows:

• Non-injury (Ahimsa)
• Non-lying (Satya)
• Non-stealing (Asteya)
• Non-possession (Aparigraha)
• Observing celibacy (Brahmacharya).

Three ratnas (way to nirvana):

• Right faith(Samyak Vishwas)
• Right knowledge (Samyak Gyan)
• Right conduct (Samyak Karma)

Anekantavada- it emphasizes that the reality is complex and has many facets to it, that is the doctrine of mayness of reality.

Sects of Jainism:

Jains are divided into two sects namely the Svetambaras and the Digambaras. This divide mainly happened due to a famine that caused a great exodus of Jains from the Ganges to deccan India.

Svetambaras: 

They are also known as the white clad. This sect decided to stay at the Ganges during the great famine. Their leader allowed the followers to wear white garments. They believe in only four vows out of the five and leave celibacy. They believe that women can achieve liberation.

Digambaras: 

They are also known as the sky clad. This sect was the one that migrated to deccan India under the leadership of Bhadrabahu. They do not wear any clothing except women who wear white unstitched sarees.they believe women cannot achieve liberation.

Jain Literature:

Jain literature/texts can be divided into two major categories:

Agam literature (Agam Sutra)- it is considered to be the sacred books of Jainism. It is written in Ardha Prakrit, an ancient language of India.

Non-Agam Literature- It consists of commentary and explanation of Agam Sutra, and independent works.

Spread of Jainism:

Initially Jainism was contained only to the north India where it originated. Later when the Mahavira allowed the entrance of men and women. This helped in the expansion of Jainism. Due to the great famine in Magadha Jainism went to south India.

However, Jainism did not mark itself out from Hinduism, therefore it spread to the areas where Hinduism was weaker. Jainism did not spread much in the nation as there were no efforts made by leaders.

Written by: Priyanshu Bhardwaj 

Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury