Jainism

Jainism, like Hinduism and Buddhism, is one of India's ancient, indigenous religions. The word "Jain" derives from the Sanskrit word ji meaning to conquer. The founder of Jainism was Vardhamana (c. 599–527 BCE), later known as Mahavira, who lived in Magadha (in present-day Bihar state). Mahavira, anunorthodox teacher, firmly opposed the prevailing religion of the day, the sacrificial Vedic religion, and the already dominant authority of the Brahman caste.

The Palitana Jain Temple in Gujarat, India, in 1987. (TIZIANA AND GIANNI BALDIZZONE/CORBIS)

Mahavira was a contemporary of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (c. 566–486 BCE), and like the Buddha he was the son of the king of a politically powerful clan, was educated as a prince, married, and fathered a child. Despite his royal upbringing, at the age of thirty he left his home to pursue a life of asceticism in search of spiritual salvation. First he joined the Nirgranthas ("Free from Bonds") ascetic sect founded by the teacher Parshavanatha, who lived during the ninth century BCE. The Nirgranthas were later absorbed into the order Mahavira founded. Parshavanatha is remembered as the twenty-third tirthankara ("ford maker"), or enlightened teacher, and Mahavira is the twenty-fourth in this long line of realized masters who attained enlightenment (kevalajnana). No doubt Jain beliefs and practices originated in remote antiquity, and the Jain connection to the Nirgranthas establishes the religion as far older than Buddhism. Jain mythology has it that the first tirthankara was Rshabhanatha, whose mother Marudevi attained kevalajnana upon seeing her son. According to Jain beliefs, she was the first human of this world to attain liberation.

During his long search for enlightenment Mahavira realized the necessity of renouncing all attachments and possessions, including even the one garment he wore. As a religious reformer he was critical of the Vedas and the Brahmans, seeing no relevance in the priestly class and their rites of sacrifice, particularly in the matter of freedom from the endless cycles of reincarnation and the attainment of transcendent knowledge. His teachings denied both a powerful god creator and a superhuman origin of the universe. He asserted that there was no creation per se; instead there was an unceasing evolution involving endless transmigration of souls. Upon achieving enlightenment, Mahavira spent his remaining life wandering unclothed and begging for food. According to tradition, he taught for thirty years with the patronization of kings and finally died of self-imposed starvation at the age of seventy-two.

In his teachings Mahavira stressed the need to fight passions and bodily senses to purify the soul and gain omniscience, the highest Jain goal. Many of his followers also became renouncers and abandoned worldly pleasures, renunciation being the way to conquer all passions. The body of believers was divided into two groups, the renouncers, composed of both monks and nuns, and the lay practitioners, whose position was subordinate to the renouncers. All Jains observed the three moral excellences or jewels (triratna), right knowledge, right intuition, and right conduct, including the practice of ahimsa (noninjury to any life-form). Lay followers were not expected to embrace the harsher requirements of the monks and nuns but were encouraged to develop twenty-one meritorious qualities, among them mercy, kindness, truthfulness, humility, modesty, and limiting possessions. Those who renounced, however, embraced five principles or greater vows (vratas): (1) noninjury (ahimsa), (2) kindness and speaking the truth, (3) honorable conduct, (4) chastity in word and action, and (5) renunciation of worldly interests.

Central to Jainism is the belief in reincarnation and karma (merit and demerit). The aim of the code of conduct is to avoid accruing new negative karma while destroying old negative karma. Jainism maintains that the self is polluted by karmic particles, bits of materials generated by a person's actions that attach to the soul and consequently bind the soul to material bodies through many births. When karmic particles are wiped from the self, enlightenment is attained and the soul no longer faces material rebirth. Mortification of the flesh protects against the acquisition of new negative karma and rids the body of old negative karma. Purification requires fasting, confession, penance, reverence for superiors, service to others, meditation, study, indifference to the needs of the body, and observation of vows.

The first principle, noninjury, or ahimsa, is viewed as especially necessary to free the soul of karma. The primary ethical virtue, ahimsa is the measure by which all actions are judged. A policy of ahimsa is assiduously followed, demanding great precautions to avoid harming or killing any life-form, including insects and microbes. In Jainism a person's negative karma is increased by interference with the spiritual progress of another. Thus many Jains cover their mouths, wearing a mask or cloth (mul-patti), to prevent breathing in or swallowing insects. Many Jains do not eat or drink after dark to avoid inadvertent ingestion of insects. Eating meat, of course, is a violation of ahimsa, along with eating any foods that engender colonies of microbes. Not only are such foods considered unhealthful for the consumer, but also the microbes themselves are damaged by consumption. Similarly, wandering renouncers remain in one place during the monsoons, because while walking on muddy roads they might crush worms, snails, or waterborne creatures. Other renouncers refuse to travel by rail because of the possibility that the train's wheels might kill organisms on the tracks.

Disputes among Mahavira's followers led to the formation of two sects. The division, which began around the second century BCE and was finalized in the first century CE, formed the Digambaras ("sky clad"), or naked ascetics, and the Svetambaras ("white clad"), who wear a simple white garment. The Digambaras believe nakedness is proof of the conquest of sin, asserting that sin cannot exist in the absence of shame. The Svetambaras protest that wearing a simple garment implies no shame or sin. The two sects are divided on the subject of women's enlightenment. Svetambaras assert that women can become enlightened, while Digambaras declare that only males can achieve enlightenment. Consequently women do not become naked ascetics, although according to Mahavira's teachings women are allowed to renounce the world and form orders of nuns. All renouncers are required to pluck out their hair rather than shave or cut it, hence Jains are often called hair pluckers. After twelve years of strict asceticism, a Jain renouncer may commit suicide through self-starvation.

Jainism has existed continuously in India for 2,500 years. Jain beliefs, particularly ahimsa, have had a significant influence on India's culture. Asoka (d. c. 238), a Buddhist emperor, stressed the practice of ahimsa in his reforms. In the twentieth century Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869–1948) was influenced by the concept of ahimsa when he developed his policy of nonviolent resistance in India's struggle for independence. Historically ahimsa and vegetarianism have been important in Buddhism and Hinduism. Jains also have contributed to philosophy, logic, art, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and literature.

Jains constitute the oldest religious minority still practicing in India. The 1981 Indian census counted some 3.2 million Jains, most of whom live in urban centers in the modern states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. Traditionally the Jains have avoided farming because cultivation of the soil may accidentally kill insects and violate the ahimsa restriction. Twenty-first-century Jains are mainly bankers, jewelers, merchants, moneylenders, and industrialists. As merchants and businesspeople they are known for their honesty. Even though the Jains are a wealthy community, they seek out and support humanitarian causes to relieve suffering. They are particularly renowned for operating centers dedicated to maintaining abused and sick animals and for endowing lavish temples.

Bhattacharyya, N. N. (1999) Jain Philosophy: Historical Outline. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishing.

Cort, John E., ed. (1998) Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Cultures in Indian History. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Dundas, Paul. (1992) The Jains. New York: Routledge.

Jain, Jagdishchandra. (1992) Studies in Early Jainism. New Delhi: Navrang.

Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1991) Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.