The Founding |
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| Time is divided into great cycles called kalpas. Each kalpa consists of two phases, one of deterioration followed by one of renewed prosperity. Each phase is further divided into six eras. The first liberated soul (jina) is born in the third era. We are at present in the fifth era of a descending phase whose first Jina was Rsabha and whose next twenty-three thirthankaras (ford-crossers) lived in the fourth era. That era ended seventy-five years and eight and one-half months after the death of Mahavira, the twenty-fourth tirthankara. |
Mahavira's parents were followers of Parshva, the twenty-third Tirthankara, who lived about 250 years earlier in Varanasi. Parshva is mentioned with respect by Hindu scriptures. He was the originator of Jainism. Mahavira was born in 599 B.C.E. to a royal family. At the age of thirty-four he renounced the world and set out to find the path to liberation. After twelve years, he totally exterminated attachment completely and attained omniscience. He became a perfected soul and prophet. The message he preached for thirty years established him as the rejuvenator, propagator and exponent of the Jain religion. Eleven men became his chief disciples and he founded an order of nuns. |
The Goal |
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| To win victory over passions of attachment, aversion, that defile the soul and trap the soul in the samsaric cycle. Through the teachings and model of the tirthankaras, individuals can cross the ocean of misery to the shore of liberation. | |
The Means |
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By exercising self-control, souls begin the process of becoming free from karmic matter. Souls expell existing karmic matter through meditation and austere restrictions. Once freed from karmic matter, the soul moves upward to the summit of the universe to rest forever. Liberation can come only through the human body. To become liberated, one must achieve pure spiritual truth, pure spiritual knowledge, and pure spiritual conduct. |
In order to achieve liberation, humans should practice five abstinences and seven vows. The abstinences are: injury to life; speaking falsehoods; stealing; sexual activities; and possessions and attachments. The seven vows are: limiting activities; limiting quantity of things used; keeping pure from harmful activities; experiencing complete equanimity for a fixed period of time; to set aside time away from normal activities; fasting and living like a monk; and sharing with worthy guests. |
The Schools |
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Two main schools exist in Jainism. The Svetambaras or "white clad" and the Digambaras or "sky clad." The difference surrounds the degree of austerity practiced by the monks. Svetambaras allow a cloth to be worn while Digambaras wear no protection from the elements.These groups are then further subdivided into "companies," "branches," and "families." Several reformist Svetambara sects developed around the time of the Moghul rule, some of which have survived. have survived: the Sthanakvasins (founded 1653) and Terapanthins (founded 1761), who are known for their strong opposition to idols and temple worship, and the present Anuvrata movement, which was founded in 1949 by the Terapanthin monk Acarya Sri Tulsi.
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The Scriptures |
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The Svetambaras and Digambaras differ on the definition of the sacred canon. Svetambaras count forty-five treatises grouped into six sections: : the Angas ('limbs"), Upangas ("sub-angas"), Prakir-nakas ("miscellanea"), Chedasutras ("treatises on cutting [partially] religious authority; these mostly concern disciplinary technicalities), Culakasutras ("appendixes"; two propaedeutic texts), and Mulasutras ("basic" texts). |
The Digambaras rely on prakaranas. These include Mulacara (Basic Conduct); Samayasara, (Essence of the Doctrine) and Pravacansara (Essence of the Teaching); and Aradbhana (Accomplishment). Both schools accept the Tattvarthadhigama Sutra (Sutra for Attaining the Meaning of the Principles). To these have been added procanonical writings often termed anuyoga, or "exposition."1 |
Key Terms |
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Mahavira Parshva Tirthankara Digambara Svetambara Angas ahimsa |
jiva ajiva karma samsara kevela Arhat Siddhas |
Key Symbol |
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The symbol features the teaching hand of the tirthankaras, the wheel of samsara, the three jewels of right perception, right knowledge, and right actions, and the crescent suggesting fording the stream to liberation. |
Sacred Places |
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Jain temples such as those in Khajuraho several temples, particularly theParsvanath temple are important places of pilgrimage. Three other sites contain temple complexes that pilgrims favor: Mount Abu, where one of the earliest was erected in 1032, and several are built of delicately polished white marble; the Aravalli hills, at Ranakapur; and in the Kathiawar Peninsula where elaborate temple-cities exist. |
Caves are important places of meditation for Jain monks. Some, such as in Sittanavasal, are relatively plain, while others, like those in the cliffs of Vatapi and in Aihole, are quite elaborate. A fifty-seven foot statue of the teacher Bahubali on the Indragiri hill in Sravana Belgola is a place of pilgrimage for the Digambaras. |
