Jainism

Start writing...Vardhamana Mahavira was born in 599 BCE in a village near Vaishali (Capital of Videha). He is considered to be a contemporary of the Buddha. His father was the head of a famous Kshatriya clan and his mother, a Lichchhavi princess. They were connected with the royal family of Magadha; high connections made it easy for Mahavira to approach princes and nobles in the course of his mission.

In the beginning, Mahavira led the life of a householder but in search of the truth, he abandoned the world at the age of 30 and became an ascetic. He wandered for 12 years practising severe austerities, fasting and meditation. At the age of 42, he attained perfect/infinite knowledge (kevalajnana), on the banks of the Rijupalika river. He propagated his religion for 30 years. Through kevalajnana, he conquered misery and happiness.

Doctrines of Jainism

The Jaina doctrine is much older than Buddhism. In Jainism, ‘Tirthankara’ refers to 24 enlightened spiritual masters who are believed to have achieved perfect knowledge through asceticism. Jainas don’t see Mahavira as the founder of their religion but as the 24th Tirthankara in a long history of spiritual masters. The first Tirthankara Rishabhadeva (symbol-bull) is believed to be the first founder and has references in Rig Vega and Vayu Purana. Neminantha belonging to Saurashtra (Gujarat) is believed to be the 22nd Tirthankara, and the 23rd Tirthankara is believed to be Parshvanatha (of Banaras).

Teachings of Jainism

The followers of Jainism are bound by their religion to live in such a way that would not harm any being. According to Jainism, one can get rid of bad Karma and pull themselves out of the cycle of rebirth and achieve salvation through a three-jewel fold path of right belief, knowledge, and conduct. These three jewels of Jainism are commonly called Ratnatraya. Jains are compulsorily supposed to follow the five constraints in life:

Ahimsa(Non-Violence)

Satya(Truthfulness)

Asteya (Non-Stealing)

Aparigraha(Non acquisition)

Bhattacharya(chaste living).

Why did Jainism Emerge?

Jainism emerged as a religion due to various causes. It is said there was complete chaos with respect to religion in the 6th century B.C. to counter this chaos and give direction to the people, Jainism was founded. The various causes of the emergence of Jainism have been listed below:-

Religious Corruption: One of the major reasons was the corruption that went through religious practices and customs. The priests were said to be corrupt & duped people out of their money.

Expensive Rituals: People were against costly affairs in the name of various rituals and practices. They wished to have a less costly way to practice their religion.

Rigidity in the Caste System: There was impartiality and unfairness in the way people from different castes were treated. Therefore, there was the need to develop a system where everyone is treated equally and caste shouldn’t matter in religion.

Incomprehensible Language: The sacred religious texts, the Vedas were written in a difficult Sanskrit language. A common man was unable to comprehend this language. This is why the need for a different religion arose so that everyone was able to have easy access to such religious texts and could make use of the knowledge.

The major teachings of Jainism that are parallel with the contemporary world are listed here. The doctrines of Jainism teach us to follow the path of non-violence and non-possession. The teachings of Jainism will help us in living with peace and prosperity in today’s world.

Attempt to reform ill practices of the Varna system.

Expansion of Prakrit and Kannada languages.

The principle of Ahimsa is that is non-violence helpful in reducing growing violence and terrorism. It also helps to promote the No First Use nuclear policy.

The principle of Aparigraha, which is non-possession also helps reduce people’s greedy nature. It can also help reduce Green House Gas Emissions by controlling or non-possession attitudes toward luxuries producing carbon emissions.

It also contributed to prosperous architecture and literature.