Relevance: mains: G.S paper I: Religious movements
- According to the Jainas, the origin of Jainism goes back to very ancient times.
- They believe in twenty-four tirthankaras or great teachers or leaders of their religion.
- The first tirthankara is believed to be Rishabhadev who was bom in Ayodhya.
- Vardhamana Mahavira was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha.
- According to the Jaina tradition, most of the early tirthankaras were bom in the middle Ganga basin and attained nirvana in Bihar.
- The twenty-third tirthankara was Parshvanath who was bom in Varanasi.
- Mahavir is said to be the twenty-fourth.
- Vardhamana Mahavira was bom in 540 B.C. in a village called Kundagrama near Vaishali, which is identical with Basarh in the district of Vaishali, in north Bihar.
- His father Siddhartha was the head of a famous kshatriya clan called Jnatrika.
- Mahavira “s mother was named Trishala, sister of the Lichchhavi chief Chetaka, whose daughter was wedded to Bimbisara.
- In the search for truth Vardhamana abandoned the world at the age of 30 and became an ascetic. During next twelve years he meditated, practised austerities of various kinds and endured many hardships.
- In the thirteenth year, when he had reached the age of 42, he attained kaivalya (Juan). Through kaivalya he conquered misery and happiness.
- Because of this conquest he is known as Mahavira or the great hero or jina, i.e. the conqueror, and his followers are known as Jainas.
- He passed away at the age of 72 in 468 B.C. at Pavapuri near modem Rajgir.
Doctrines of Jainism
- Jainism taught five doctrines: do not commit violence, do not speak a lie, do not steal, do not acquire property, and observe continence (brahmacharya).
- It is said that only the fifth doctrine was added by Mahavira: the other four were taken over by him from previous teachers.
- Jainism attached the utmost importance to ahimsa or non-injury to living being.
- Jainism was divided into two sects: shvetambaras or those who put on white drees, and digambaras or those who keep themselves naked.
- Jainism recognized the existence of the gods but placed them lower than the jina
- Jainism mainly aims at the attainment of freedom from worldly bonds.
- No ritual is required for acquiring such liberation. It can be obtained through right knowledge, right faith and right action
- These three are considered to be the Three Jewels or triratna of Jainism.
Spread of Jainism
- In order to spread the teachings of Jainism, Mahavira organized order of his follower which admitted both men and women.
- The spread of Jainism in Kamataka is attributed to Chandragupta Maurya.
- Chandragupta Maurya became a Jaina, gave up his throne and spent the last year of his life in Kamataka as a Jaina ascetic.
- The second cause of the spread of Jainism in south India is said to be the grea) famine that took place in Magadha 200 years after the death of Mahavira.
- The famine lasted for twelve years, and in order to protect themselves many a Jains went to the south under the leadership of Bhadrabahu, but the rest of them stayed back in Magadha under the leadership of
- In order to sort out differences and to compile the main teachings of Jainism council was convened in Pataliputra, modem Patna, but the southern Jainas boycotted the council and refused to accept its decisions.
- From now onwards, the southerns began to be called digambaras, and the Magadham Jainism spread to Kalinga in Orissa in the fourth century B.C., and in the first century B.C., it enjoyed the patronage of the Kalinga king Kharavelaj.
Contribution of Jainism
- Jainism made the first serious attempt to mitigate the evils of the varna order and the ritualistic Vedic religion,
- They adopted Prakrit language of the common people to preach their doctrines.
- Their religious literature was written in Ardhamagadhi, and the texts were final compiled in the sixth century A.D. at Valabhi (in Gujarat), a great centre of education
- Many regional languages developed out of Prakrit languages, particularly Shaurasen out of which grew the Marathi language.
- The Jainas composed the earliest important works in Apabhramsha and prepared its first grammar.
- Initially, like the Buddhists, the Jainas were not image worshippers. Later they bega to worship Mahavira and also the twenty-three tirthankaras.
- Beautiful and sometimes massive images in stone were sculpted for this purpose especially in Kamataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
- Jaina art in ancient times is not as rich as Buddhist art, but Jainism contribute substantially to art and architecture in medieval times.
- Uttaradhyayana Sutta is a Prakrit text of Jainas.