Origins and Philosophy

Jainism is an Indian religion followed by several millions of people in India and by a sizeable number of migrant Jains in Europe, East Africa and North America. The name Jain is derived from a word in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit Jina meaning 'victor' over the passions and the self. Jains aspire to be 'spiritual victors' and revere twenty four past 'enlightened ones', known as tirthankaras, who show the way to spiritual liberation.

What is the origin of Jainism?

The origin of Jainism remains untraceable. Jains believe time rotates in a cosmic cycle, descending and ascending. In each half of the cycle twenty-four tirthankaras establish the fourfold order (sangha) consisting of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen; and revive the teachings of previous tirthankaras. The first tirthankara in this descending cycle was Risabhdeva, who is traditionally believed to have lived thousands of centuries ago, the twenty-third was Parsvanatha (c.870 BCE to 770 BCE) and the twenty-fourth (and last) was Vardhamana Mahavira who lived from 599 to 527 BCE. It is worth noting that both Mahavira and Buddha were contemporaries (Mahavira 30 years older than Buddha) and their parents were the followers of Parsvanatha.

Who was Mahavira?

Mahavira was a prince; he became an ascetic at the age of 30 and after severe austerities for 12½ years that included long period of fasting to control his physical desires, long period of silence to clear his speech and long period of meditation to control his mind, he became ’enlightened’ and a Jina. He established the Jain Sangha – a fourfold order for his followers and preached the Jain way of life for 30 years. He emphasised that the liberation can be attained by any one only by self-effort and not by divine grace. Those who accepted his teaching totally became ascetics, others who observed them partially so as to fulfill their worldly duties, remained as lay men and women. Mahavira possessed a great organising capacity and encouraged a close union between the ascetics and the laity by advocating similar religious duties for both, duties that differed not in kind but in degree.

He appointed Indrabhuti Gautam, a Brahmin scholar, as his chief disciple and head of monk order, Chandana as the head of the nun order, Sankha Sataka as the head of lay men and Sulasa and Revati as the two heads of lay women as their number was larger.

What is Jain Sangha?

• The living beings or souls
  And the five non-living things:
• matter
• medium of motion
• medium of rest
• space
• time.

All except the matter are formless. The soul is the living being (jiva) and the others are non-living substances (ajiva).

The medium of motion and the medium of rest help the soul in its activities and rest. Both jiva and ajiva are interdependent; may change their form, but are everlasting.  It is the attachment of non-living substance (karma) to the soul that causes clouding of its characteristics and apparent injustices of life, an unending cycle of birth, death and rebirth in any destiny: heavenly, human, animal and plants or infernal.

The celestial beings live in the ‘upper world’ of the occupied universe. Humans, animals, plants, astral bodies and lower kind of heavenly beings occupy the ‘middle world’; the infernal beings live in lower world.

Jainism does not accept a God as creator or ruler, but it does accept ‘godhood’ - those other qualities attributed to God, which are attainable practically by all human beings, through their own efforts by shedding karma attached to their souls.