Jainism :
The word Jainism comes from the Sanskrit word for saint "jinah" which derives from "Jayati" meaning "he conquers" - thus they are conquers of mortal bondage.
Along with Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism is one of the three most ancient Indian religions still in existence. Although Jainism has fewer followers than Hinduism and Sikhism it has had an influence on Indian culture for over 2,500 years, making significant contributions in philosophy, logic, art and architecture, grammar, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, and literature.
Lord Mahavira is regarded as the last of a line of 24 holy and spiritually enlightened beings, the Tirthankaras. Mahavira was born in India
- Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - not to cause harm to any living beings
- Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only
- Non-stealing (Asteya) - not to take anything not properly given
- Chastity (Brahmacharya) - not to indulge in sensual pleasure
- Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - complete detachment from people, places, and material things.
Jainism is a religion of love and compassion above all else. Jains believe that the universe is eternal. They believe in the eternity of the soul. There are thought to be multitudes of souls or life-modas, which are all independent and eternal.
Practicing the ideals of Jainism results in the souls getting lighter in color and rising to the level of a universal being. The goal of the Jains is to achieve liberation and then to float like a bubble to the ceiling of the universe. Present estimates of the number of Jains worldwide range as high as six million or more.
Jainism is a religion and philosophy of India, founded in about the 6th century BC by Vardhamana, who is known as Mahavira ("Great Hero")--the 24th of the Tirthankaras ("Ford-makers"), Jinas ("Conquerors"; whence the name Jainism), the great religious figures on whose example the religion is centered--in protest against the orthodox Vedic (early Hindu) ritualistic cult of the period; its earliest proponents may have belonged to a sect that rebelled against the idea and practice of taking life prevalent in the Vedic animal sacrifice.
Jainism, which does not espouse belief in a creator god, has as its ethical core the doctrine of ahimsa, or noninjury to all living creatures, and as its religious ideal the perfection of man's nature, to be achieved predominantly through the monastic and ascetic life.
History
According to Jains their faith is eternal and has been revealed through the successive ages of the world by the Tirthankaras, each of whom attained perfection and absolute freedom and then preached Jainism to the world. The first Tirthankara, Rsabha or Aadinath, is thus the traditional founder of Jainism, but though his name occurs in the Vedas and the Puranas very little else is known of him; nor is there historical evidence of the other Tirthankaras until Parsva, the 23rd in the line, who is thought to have died in the late 8th century BC.
The actual and historical founder of Jainism was Mahavira, who was born in 599 BC near Patna in what is now Bihar state. His father was a ruling Kshatriya (the second of the four Hindu social classes), chief of the Nata clan. Mahavira was an elder contemporary of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and is referred to in Buddhist writings as Nataputra ("Son of the Nata").
When he was about 28 years of age he took up the life of an ascetic. After years of hardship and meditation he attained enlightenment; thereafter he preached Jainism for about 30 years and died at Pava (also in Bihar ) in 527 BC. Pava has been, since then, one of the chief places of Jain pilgrimage also known as Pavapuri; Diwali, the Hindu New Year festival, is a day of great pilgrimage for Lord Mahavira.
Jainism has never been torn by philosophic dispute, but from the beginning it was subject to schismatic movements. In the 4th or 3rd century BC the Jains began to split into two sects on points of rules and regulations for monks, a rift which was complete at least by the end of the 1st century AD.
The Digambaras ("Sky-clad"; i.e., naked) hold that an adherent should own nothing, not even clothes. They also believe that salvation is not possible for women. The Svetambaras ("White-robed") differ from them on these points.
Philosophy
Jain metaphysics is a dualistic system dividing the universe into two ultimate and independent categories: soul or living substance (jiva), which permeates natural forces such as wind and fire as well as plants, animals, and human beings; and non-soul, or inanimate substance (ajiva), which includes space, time, and matter.
The next most important concept is that of karma, which, in contrast to the more abstract Hindu-Buddhist conception of the principle, is regarded in Jainism as a substance, subtle and invisible, yet material, which flows into and clogs the jiva, causing the bondage of life and transmigration.
This inflow can be stopped by many lives of penance and disciplined conduct, resulting in the final moksha, or liberation, the ultimate goal of human endeavour. Souls are divided into those that have attained perfection and those still in bondage.
Ethics
The Jain ethic is a direct consequence of the philosophy of soul and karma. Since the individual's primary duty is the evolution and perfection of his soul and that of his fellow creatures, ahimsa, or the refraining from harming any living being, is the cardinal principle.
Jains build asylums and rest houses for old and diseased animals, where they are kept and fed until they die a natural death. The three ideals of samyagdarsana ("right belief"), samyagjnana ("right knowledge"), and samyakcarita ("right conduct") are known as the three jewels, or ratnatraya.
