Jainism

Overview

Jains believe every living being, including insects and plants, has a soul. The aim is to free the soul from karma, which is thought of as a subtle matter that sticks to it. The path rests on five vows:

• Ahimsa: nonviolence.
• Satya: truthfulness.
• Asteya: not stealing.
• Brahmacharya: sexual restraint.
• Aparigraha: non-attachment to possessions.

Monks and nuns keep the vows with extreme strictness. Lay people keep them in a more moderate way.

Origins and History

Mahavira (6th–5th centuries BCE) was a prince who gave up all his possessions, according to tradition practised extreme asceticism for twelve and a half years and attained perfect knowledge. He renewed and organised a community of monks and believers. According to tradition he was the 24th in a line of teachers. Jainism enjoyed the patronage of kings, including, according to tradition, the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta.

Development and Branches

• The split: the community split into two branches. According to the Digambara tradition the split began as early as the 4th century BCE, and according to the Svetambara tradition around 82 CE. Scholars note that it was not a single event but a gradual hardening of differences over several centuries, and the formal split is usually associated with the Council of Vallabhi in the 5th century CE. The Digambaras hold that a true monk wears no clothes at all and that women cannot attain liberation in the same life. Svetambara monks wear white, and Svetambaras hold that women can also attain liberation.
• Changing fortunes: over the generations the community shrank in times of hostility and flourished mainly among merchants in western India.

How It Spread and Grew

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Jainism never spread significantly outside India. It kept a small, educated and economically established community, mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Today it also has small communities in the Indian diaspora in the West.

Influence on the World

• Ahimsa: Jains developed ahimsa in an especially consistent and far-reaching way. Gandhi, who grew up in Gujarat, was influenced by it. They also founded animal hospitals.
• Diet: they contributed to India's vegetarian culture.
• Philosophy: they developed a philosophy of many viewpoints (anekantavada), which recognises that truth has many aspects.
• Culture: they also influenced India's literature and its magnificent temples.

What Draws Believers (Strengths)

• Moral consistency: respect for all forms of life.
• A modest way of life, with an emphasis on avoiding waste.
• Intellectual openness: "truth has many faces".
• A close, supportive and generous community.

Criticism and Challenges

• Asceticism: critics point to extreme asceticism, including sallekhana, voluntary fasting to death. In August 2015 the Rajasthan High Court banned the practice as suicide, and the Supreme Court of India stayed the ruling at the end of that month.
• Women's status: there is criticism of women's status in the Digambara tradition.
• Strict demands: some argue the demands are so strict as to be impractical in modern life.

Human Life, War and Peace – What It Teaches

• Absolute ahimsa: avoiding harm to any living being, including, as far as possible, insects and plants.
• The doctrine of many viewpoints (anekantavada) encourages tolerance and nonviolence, in thought and speech too.
• Harm in self-defence is sometimes recognised as necessary, but is still considered spiritually damaging.
• Compared with other religions: Sanctity of Life Across Religions

Religion, Power and Violence

A history of nonviolence: Jainism has an especially weak link to violence. Nonviolence is its central principle, and it has no history of conquest or forced conversion. Jains even avoid occupations that involve harming living beings, such as certain kinds of farming and hunting.

The other side: historically there were Jain kings who waged wars like any ruler. Jain teaching recognises that self-defence may be necessary, but sees it as harm that generates karma.

When believers were victims:

• Medieval South India: some southern kings converted from Jainism to Shaivism or Vaishnavism, and the Jain communities there shrank. According to historical sources, the Shaivite Lingayat movement destroyed Jain temples and adapted them to its own use.
• Under Muslim rulers: Jainism suffered persecution during and after the Muslim conquests of the subcontinent. Babur, the first Mughal emperor, ordered the destruction of Jain idols in Gwalior, and in 1567, after conquering the fort of Chittor, Akbar ordered the destruction of Jain temples there. Desecration of shrines was also recorded under Jahangir, Shah Jahan and above all Aurangzeb. Some Muslim rulers also permitted the rebuilding of temples that had been destroyed.