General knowledge · Religion & belief

Jainism

Mahavira traditionally 599–527 BCE

An Indian religion built on non-violence, asceticism and many-sidedness

An ancient Indian religion whose central principle is ahimsa, non-violence towards every living thing, pursued further than in any other tradition. It recognises a succession of twenty-four tirthankaras or "ford-makers", teachers who show the way across the river of rebirth; the last was Mahavira, a contemporary of the Buddha. There is no creator god: liberation comes from one's own effort to shed the karma that binds the soul. Adherents number around four to five million, mostly in India, but their influence on Indian thought — and on Gandhi — is far larger than that figure suggests.

How to spot them

▸Twenty-four tirthankaras, 'ford-makers'; the last is Mahavira
▸Ahimsa carried to its limit — masks, brooms and a diet without root vegetables
▸Digambara and Shvetambara: 'sky-clad' and 'white-clad'
▸Anekantavada, many-sidedness, illustrated by the blind men and the elephant

Key facts

Twenty-four 'ford-makers', the last of them a contemporary of the Buddha in the same part of India

The tirthankaras; Mahavira, born Vardhamana, traditionally 599–527 BCE. The 23rd was Parshvanatha

Sky-clad and white-clad — two sects divided over whether a monk should wear anything at all

Digambara and Shvetambara, split by about the 1st century CE

A soft broom to sweep the path ahead, and for some a cloth worn over the mouth

The rajoharana and the muhpatti, to avoid killing insects by treading or breathing

The blind men and the elephant, used to argue that every view of the truth is partial

Anekantavada, the doctrine of many-sidedness, and its logic of syadvada, 'in some respect'

A 57-foot naked monolith at Shravanabelagola, anointed with milk once every twelve years

The statue of Bahubali or Gommateshwara, carved c. 981; the ceremony is the Mahamastakabhisheka

Root vegetables are avoided, because pulling them up destroys the whole plant and the life in the soil

Onions, garlic and potatoes are excluded from a strict diet

Sallekhana — the voluntary fast to death, undertaken when life's purpose is finished

Distinguished in its own teaching from suicide, since it is done without passion or haste

The name comes from jina, 'conqueror' — one who has overcome the passions

Hence Jina, and the followers of the Jinas

Key ideas

Karma here is not a metaphor but a fine physical substance that sticks to the soul through action and passion. Liberation means shedding it and letting nothing new adhere — which is why the ascetic ideal is inaction rather than good works.
Non-violence is graded by the number of senses a creature has, so harm to a five-sensed animal is far graver than to a one-sensed plant. That is what makes a strict diet possible at all.

Quick-fire facts

•It recognises 24 tirthankaras; the first is Rishabhanatha (Adinatha), the 23rd Parshvanatha and the 24th Mahavira
•Mahavira, born Vardhamana, was a contemporary of the Buddha and is traditionally dated 599–527 BCE
•The two main sects are the Digambara ('sky-clad', whose monks go naked) and the Shvetambara ('white-clad')
•The five great vows are ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (chastity) and aparigraha (non-attachment)
•Anekantavada, the doctrine that reality has many aspects, is illustrated by the parable of the blind men and the elephant
•There is no creator god; liberation is achieved by individual effort
•Monks carry a soft broom to sweep the ground before them, and some Shvetambara sects wear a mouth-cloth
•Strict Jains are vegetarian and avoid root vegetables, since harvesting them kills the plant
•Sallekhana is the ritual fast to death, permitted at the end of life; Indian courts have repeatedly been asked to rule on it
•The 17-metre monolithic statue of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka is anointed every twelve years at the Mahamastakabhisheka
•Gandhi's ideas of ahimsa were shaped partly by the Jain teacher Shrimad Rajchandra, whom he called a guide

Drill it — 8 cards

1 / 8new card

Sources

BBC Religion & Ethics — Jainism
World History Encyclopedia — Jainism