Similarities & Differences between Jainism and Buddhism

Spread of Jainism: Heterodox Sects, the Teachings of Mahavira, and Jaina Philosophy

The sixth century BCE was a watershed moment in the religious history of ancient India, witnessing the emergence of numerous heterodox sects in reaction to the ritualistic orthodoxy of the Brahmanas. Among these movements, Jainism and Buddhism developed into the most popular and well-organised religions, each offering an alternative to Vedic ritualism grounded in ethical conduct rather than sacrifice. Understanding the social, economic, religious, and political conditions that gave rise to these heterodox movements — and, in particular, the life of Vardhamana Mahavira, the doctrines of Jainism, and its subsequent spread, schisms, and decline — is essential for UPSC History Optional aspirants studying the religious history of ancient India.

The Emergence of Heterodox Sects

• The sixth century BCE was an important stage in Indian history for the development of new religions. This period saw a growing opposition to the ritualistic, orthodox ideas of the Brahmanas, which ultimately led to the emergence of many heterodox religious movements in the middle Gangetic plains — as many as 62 religious sects are recorded, among which Buddhism and Jainism developed into the most popular and well-organised religions.
• These new religious ideas emerged out of the prevailing social, economic, and religious conditions of the period. The changing features of social and economic life — the growth of towns, the expansion of the artisan class, and the rapid development of trade and commerce — were closely linked to changes in the sphere of religion and philosophical speculation.
• The period was characterised by the parivrajakas, or sramanas, who renounced their household status and wandered from place to place, meeting and debating with others like them; it was through this ceaseless movement that they propagated their ideas and built up a following.
  • What united all the sramanas was their opposition to the established Brahmanical tradition based on the cult of sacrifice — central to Brahmanical ideology — and to the Brahmanas’ claims of pre-eminence in society; for these reasons, they have been described as non-conformist, or heterodox, sects.
  • Their ideas spanned an entire range — from annihilationism (Ucchedavada) to eternalism (Sashvatvada), and from the fatalism of the Ajivikas to the materialism of the Charvakas.

Causes for the Rise and Growth of Heterodox Sects

Social Conditions

• In post-Vedic times, society was clearly divided into four varnas — brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras — each assigned well-defined functions, though it was emphasised that varna was based on birth, and the two higher varnas enjoyed particular privileges.
  • The brahmanas, entrusted with the functions of priests and teachers, claimed the highest status in society and demanded privileges including gifts and exemption from taxation and punishment — post-Vedic texts record many such instances.
  • The kshatriyas ranked second in the varna hierarchy; they fought and governed, living on taxes collected from the peasantry.
  • The vaishyas engaged in agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trade, and appear as the principal taxpayers; along with the two higher varnas, they were placed in the category of dvija (“twice-born”), entitled to wear the sacred thread and study the Vedas.
  • The shudras were meant to serve the three higher varnas and, along with women, were barred from Vedic study; they appear in post-Vedic times as domestic slaves, agricultural slaves, craftsmen, and hired labourers, often described pejoratively as cruel, greedy, and thieving, with some treated as untouchables.
• The higher the varna, the more privileged and “purer” a person was considered; conversely, the lower the varna of an offender, the more severe the punishment prescribed for them — a system that naturally generated social tensions.
  • While there is little evidence of how the vaishyas and shudras reacted, the kshatriyas, who functioned as rulers, reacted strongly against the ritualistic domination of the brahmanas, leading a kind of protest movement against the importance attached to birth in the varna system.
  • This kshatriya reaction against the priestly class’s claims to various privileges was one of the causes behind the origin of the new religions. Both Vardhamana Mahavira, founder of Jainism, and Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism, belonged to the kshatriya clan, and both disputed Brahmanical authority.

Economic Conditions

• The real cause of the rise of these new religions lay in the spread of a new agricultural economy in north-eastern India — the regions of eastern Uttar Pradesh and northern and southern Bihar, which receive about 100 cm of rainfall.
  • Before large-scale colonisation, these areas were thickly forested, and the thick jungles could not easily be cleared without iron axes. Large-scale habitation in the middle Gangetic plains began around 600 BCE, once iron came into use, making forest clearance, agriculture, and large settlements possible.
• The agricultural economy based on the iron ploughshare required the use of bullocks, and could not flourish without animal husbandry; the Vedic practice of indiscriminately killing cattle in sacrifices, however, stood in the way of this new agriculture, as cattle wealth was slowly decimated through numerous Vedic sacrifices.
  • The newly emerging, and increasingly dominant, peasant communities did not approve of killing cattle in sacrifice, since cattle wealth was essential to supplement agricultural operations; the non-killing, or ahimsa, preached by the heterodox sects appears to have drawn these social groups towards them, since if the new agrarian economy was to remain stable, this killing had to stop.
• This period also saw the rise of numerous cities in north-eastern India — such as Kaushambi (near Allahabad), Kusinagar (Deoria district, Uttar Pradesh), Banaras, Vaishali (north Bihar), Chirand (Saran district), and Rajgir (about 100 km south-east of Patna) — home to many artisans and traders who began using coins for the first time.
  • The earliest coins, belonging to the fifth century BCE, are known as punch-marked coins, and first circulated in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; their use facilitated trade and commerce, adding to the importance of the vaishyas, who ranked only third in Brahmanical society, after the brahmanas and kshatriyas — and naturally sought a religion that would improve their standing.
• Besides the kshatriyas, the vaishyas extended generous support to both Mahavira and Gautama Buddha; the merchants, called setthis, made handsome gifts to the Buddha and his disciples, for several reasons:
  • First, Jainism and Buddhism, in their initial stages, attached no importance to the existing varna system.
  • Second, they preached the gospel of non-violence, which promised to end wars between kingdoms and thereby promote trade and commerce.
  • Third, the Brahmanical law-books, the Dharmasutras, decried lending money on interest, condemning those who lived on interest — so the vaishyas, who depended on lending money amid growing trade and commerce, were not held in esteem and were eager to improve their social status.
• At the same time, there was also a strong reaction against various forms of private property: old-fashioned people disliked the use and accumulation of coins of silver, copper, and possibly gold, and detested new dwellings, dresses, and systems of transport that amounted to luxury, along with war and violence.
  • These new forms of property created social inequalities and caused misery and suffering to the masses, so common people yearned to return to a primitive, ascetic ideal that dispensed with new forms of property and lifestyle.
  • Both Jainism and Buddhism preferred simple, puritan, ascetic living; Buddhist and Jaina monks were asked to forgo the good things of life, were not allowed to touch gold and silver, and were to accept from their patrons only as much as was sufficient to keep body and soul together — a rebellion against the material advantages of the new life in the Gangetic basin.
  • In other words, the reaction against changes in material life in the mid-Ganga plain of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE resembles the reaction against the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution in modern times — just as the Industrial Revolution made many wish to return to a pre-machine-age life, people in the past wished to return to a pre-iron-age life.

Religious Conditions

• Vedic religious practices had become cumbersome and, in the context of the new society, often meaningless ceremonies; sacrifices and rituals grew increasingly elaborate and expensive, and with the breakup of communities, participation in these practices became restricted, rendering them irrelevant to many sections of society.
• The growing importance of sacrifices and rituals established the domination of the Brahmanas, who acted as both priests and teachers and, through their monopoly over sacred religious rites, claimed the highest position in a society now divided into four varnas — even as Vedic ritualistic practice had ceased to hold much relevance for this new social order.

Political Conditions

• Kshatriyas, whether in monarchies or in the gana-sanghas, came to wield far more political power than before, and consequently resisted Brahmanical domination.
• Constant wars among the emerging kingdoms left merchants discontented, and they too looked for peaceful, non-violent religions.
• Buddha and Mahavira were, by no means, the first to criticise existing religious beliefs — earlier preachers such as Kapila, Makkali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambalin, and Pakuda Kachchayana had already highlighted the evils of Vedic religion and developed new ideas on life and God, along with new philosophies. It was, however, Buddha and Mahavira who succeeded in providing a full alternative religious order.

Jainism: Origins and the Tirthankaras

• Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that teaches that the path to liberation and bliss lies in living lives of harmlessness and renunciation; its essence lies in concern for the welfare of every being in the universe, and for the health of the universe itself.
• According to the Jainas, the origin of their religion goes back to very ancient times, and they believe in twenty-four tirthankaras — great teachers or leaders of their religion.
  • The first tirthankara is believed to be Rishabhadev, born in Ayodhya; the twenty-third was Parshvanath, born in Varanasi, who gave up royal life to become an ascetic; and Mahavira was the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara.
  • The names of two Jaina tirthankaras — Rishabha and Arishtanemi — are found in the Rig Veda, and the Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana describe Rishabha as an incarnation of Narayana.
  • The mythology of the tirthankaras — most of whom were born in the middle Ganga basin and attained nirvana in Bihar — seems to have been constructed to give antiquity to Jainism. Little is known about the first twenty-two tirthankaras.

Parshvanatha: The Twenty-Third Tirthankara

• Parshvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara and immediate predecessor of Mahavira, appears to have been a genuine historical figure — the son of king Ashvasena of Banaras.
• He enjoined on his disciples the four great vows of:
  • non-injury (ahimsa),
  • truthfulness (satya),
  • non-stealing (asteya), and
  • non-possession (aparigraha).
• To these, Mahavira later added the vow of brahmacharya, or continence.

The Twenty-Four Tirthankaras and Their Symbols

• The tirthankaras are known by their names and associated symbols, including:
  • 1st — Rishabha — bull;
  • 2nd — Ajita — elephant;
  • 22nd — Arishtanemi — conch shell;
  • 23rd — Parshvanatha — hooded snake; and
  • 24th — Mahavira — lion.

Vardhamana Mahavira: Life and Times

• Vardhamana Mahavira, regarded as the founder of Jainism, was the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara.
• He was born in 540 BCE, in the village of Kundagrama near Vaishali — identified with modern Basarh, in the Vaishali district of north Bihar — on the thirteenth day of the rising moon of Chaitra.
  • His father, Siddhartha, was the head of the Jnatrika clan (a Kshatriya clan), and his mother, Trishala, was the sister of the Lichchhavi chief Chetaka, whose daughter Chellana was wedded to Bimbisara — thus connecting Mahavira’s family to the royal house of Magadha.
  • Mahavira was married to Yashoda, by whom he had a daughter, Anojja (Priyadarshana).
• Mahavira initially led the life of a householder, but in his search for truth, he abandoned his family at the age of thirty and became an ascetic.
  • For twelve long years he wandered from place to place doing penance. In the thirteenth year, at the age of forty-two, he attained omniscience, or supreme knowledge (Kaivalya), under a Sal tree near the village of Jrimbhikagrama, on the northern bank of the river Rijupalika, in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.
  • He was now known as Kevalin (the omniscient), Jina (conqueror), and Mahavira (the great hero) — having, through kaivalya, conquered both misery and happiness. His followers were known as Jainas, and he became head of a sect called the Nigranthas (“free from fetters”), known in later times as Jainas, or followers of the Jina.
• For the next thirty years, Mahavira moved from place to place, preaching his doctrines in Kosala, Magadha, Mithila, Champa, and elsewhere — wandering for eight months of the year and spending the four months of the rainy season in some prominent town of eastern India. He often visited the courts of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru.
• He died by voluntary self-starvation (Sallekhana) at Pava, near Rajagriha, at the age of seventy-two, in 468 BCE.

Teachings of Mahavira

• Mahavira rejected the authority of the Vedas, Vedic ritual, and Brahmin supremacy. Jainism mainly aims at freedom from worldly bonds, which does not require the use of any ritual to acquire — it can instead be obtained through right knowledge, right faith, and right conduct. Since Jainism does not accept the authority of the Vedas, it is classed as an atheistic philosophy.
• Mahavira advocated an austere and simple life, with the ultimate aim of attaining Kaivalya (nirvana or moksha).
  • Where Parshva had asked his followers merely to cover the upper and lower portions of the body, Mahavira asked them to discard clothes completely — implying an even more austere life. This distinction later led to the division of Jainism into two sects: the Shvetambaras (“white-clad”), who wore white dress, and the Digambaras (“sky-clad”), who remained unclothed.
• Unlike Buddhism, Mahavira did not condemn the varna system. According to him, a person is born into a high or low varna as a consequence of the sins or virtues acquired in a previous birth; nevertheless, he recognised human values even in a chandala, holding that through a pure and meritorious life, members of the lower castes too could attain liberation.
• Mahavira recognised the existence of gods, but placed them lower than the jina; the world, in his view, was not created, maintained, or destroyed by a personal God, but governed by a universal law.
  • He regarded all objects, animate or inanimate, as endowed with varying degrees of consciousness, possessing life and capable of feeling pain when injured.
• Mahavira believed in karma and the transmigration of the soul. The influx of karma (asrava) binds the soul by creating layers that overshadow it, leading to the cycle of birth and death; karma is the result of evil thoughts and actions, and through its influx, the soul loses its pure character.
  • By following the five great vows, the flow of asrava on the soul can be stopped — a process known as samvara (the ending of asrava) — while self-torment and self-mortification (penance) are practised to destroy the karma already accumulated.
  • Once the layers of karma over the soul are totally destroyed, the soul is liberated and free, and Kaivalya is achieved.
• Jainism holds that the main goal of human life is the purification of the soul and the attainment of nirvana (moksha) — freedom from birth and death — achieved not through rituals and sacrifices, but through the pursuit of the triratna (three jewels) and panchamahavrata (five great vows).
  • Since Brahmanism was a ritual-oriented religion, this new faith was, by contrast, conduct-oriented.
  • To attain nirvana, a person must abandon all trammels, including clothing; only through a long course of fasting, self-mortification, study, and meditation can one rid oneself of karma — hence, a monastic life is considered essential for salvation, though householders were expected to observe a milder form of these vows, called anuvrata (small vows).

The Three Jewels (Triratna)

• The aim of Jaina life is the liberation of the soul, achieved by following the Jaina ethical code — living rightly according to the three jewels (triratna), a metaphor for right conduct and knowledge.

Right Faith / Perception (Samyak Darshana)

• This does not mean believing what one is told, but seeing (or hearing, feeling, and so on) things properly, avoiding the preconceptions and superstitions that obstruct clear perception — including belief in true prophets (such as the Jaina Tirthankaras), true scriptures (such as the Jaina Shastras), and true preceptors (such as Jaina saints).

Right Knowledge (Samyak Jnana)

• This means having accurate and sufficient knowledge of the real universe, requiring true knowledge of the five substances and nine truths of the universe; if one’s character is flawed and conscience unclear, knowledge alone will not bring composure and happiness — but a person with right knowledge naturally frees themselves from attachment and desire, achieving peace of mind.
• Right knowledge is broadly divided into five categories:
  • Sensory knowledge (Mati Gyan) — knowledge derived through the sense organs (eyes, ears, and so on) and the mind, which may be true or false depending on the accuracy of perception.
  • Study knowledge (Srut Gyan) — verbal or scriptural knowledge.
  • Remote knowledge (Avadhi Gyan, or clairvoyance) — determinate knowledge of remote physical objects, derived directly without the instrumentality of the senses or mind.
  • Mind-reading knowledge (telepathy, or Man Prayaya Gyan) — the knowledge that apprehends the shapes taken by other minds when engaged in thought.
  • Omniscience (Kaivalya Gyan) — unlimited knowledge of the whole of reality, acquired directly by the individual soul; once omniscience appears, the soul is set for liberation.

Right Conduct (Samyak Charitra)

• This means living according to Jaina ethical rules, avoiding harm to living things, and freeing oneself from attachment and other impure attitudes and thoughts. Jains believe that a person possessing right faith and right knowledge will naturally be motivated and able to achieve right conduct.

The Five Great Vows (Panchamahavrata)

• Mahavira added the vow of brahmacharya (continence) to the four vows — ahimsa, satya, asteya, and aparigraha — prescribed earlier by Parshvanatha. Jainism encourages spiritual development through the cultivation of personal wisdom and self-control through vows, accepting different levels of compliance for strict ascetics and laypeople.
• The five major vows undertaken by followers are:
  • Ahimsa (non-violence) — the first and foremost vow, requiring the minimisation of intentional and unintentional harm to other living creatures through actions, speech, or thoughts.
  • Satya (truth) — always speaking the truth, though given the priority of non-violence, silence may be observed where speaking the truth could lead to violence.
  • Asteya (non-stealing) — not taking anything not willingly offered; attempting to extort wealth from others or exploit the weak is also considered theft.
  • Brahmacharya (chastity for laypeople, celibacy for monks and nuns) — requiring control over the senses to restrain sexual indulgence.
  • Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) — encompassing non-materialism and non-attachment to objects, places, and people; Jaina monks and nuns completely renounce property and social relations.

The Four Main Forms of Existence

• Jaina doctrine recognises four main forms of existence:
  • gods (deva),
  • humans (manushya),
  • hell beings (naraki), and
  • animals and plants (tiryancha).
• The animal-and-plant category is further sub-divided by sense faculties:
  • The lowest category comprises single-sense bodies (ekendriya), of which the lowest are the nigodas — tiny organisms possessing only the sense of touch, whose lives last a fraction of a second; nigodas are supposed to be everywhere, inhabiting the bodies of plants, animals, and people alike.
  • Slightly higher are single-sense organisms that inhabit the various elements (sthavara) — known as earth bodies, water bodies, fire bodies, and air bodies.
  • Plant beings rank higher still — though possessing only the sense of touch, they have a more complex structure and longer life.
  • Animals rank higher yet, possessing two to five senses; those with all five senses are further classified into those wholly dependent on instinct and those with powers of reasoning.

Jaina Philosophy: Metaphysics, Anekantavada, and Cosmology

• Jaina philosophy, based on the teaching of Mahavira, is fundamentally dualistic, holding Reality to comprise two main kinds of objects:
  • Jiva (soul) — the Jivas are infinite in number, varying in their capacity for knowledge, power, and joy; the essence of Jiva is consciousness, power, and bliss. Potentially, every Jiva possesses these qualities in infinite magnitude, but actually displays them in varying degrees, being overpowered by the material particles of karma-pudgala with which souls are intermixed.
  • Ajiva (matter/non-soul) — under this category fall matter, space, motion (dharma), rest (adharma), and time (kala).
• Both Jiva and Ajiva have existed eternally; while Ajiva is destructible, Jiva is indestructible, and the salvation of an individual is possible through the progress of the Jiva.
  • In short, the living and the non-living (soul and matter), by coming into contact with each other, create energies that cause birth, death, and the various experiences of life; these energies, once created, can be destroyed through a course of discipline leading to salvation, or nirvana.
  • This chain of reasoning yields seven propositions, called the seven tattvas (truths or realities) by the Jainas: that there is something called the living; that there is something called the non-living; that the two come into contact with each other; that this contact leads to the production of energies; that the process of contact can be stopped; that the existing energies can be exhausted; and that salvation can thereby be achieved.
  • On this basis, Jaina philosophy holds that one seeking nirvana must destroy karma — gradually, by first avoiding evil karma and then other karma — a goal achieved through the observance of the panchamahavrata. Thus, the annihilation of accumulated karma through extreme asceticism, combined with the prevention of fresh karmic influx through disciplined conduct, is essential for salvation; the liberated soul rises to the top of the universe and abides there in bliss.
• Instead of believing in a creator God, the Jainas believe in the existence of perfected souls, abiding in the highest region of the world with fully developed consciousness, power, and bliss. Reality, in this view, has an infinite number of aspects and attributes (ananta dharmatmakameva tattvam) — a doctrine known as Anekantavada.
  • The related doctrine of Syadvada asserts that statements must be made with caution, since they cannot be absolute and opposite statements remain possible — yielding seven possible modes of predication (Saptabhangi); this doctrine shows a close affinity with the Samkhya system of philosophy.
  • Closely related to Syadvada is Nayavada (the doctrine of viewpoints), which sets out seven ways of approaching an object of knowledge.
• Jainism recognises five sources and kinds of knowledge: Mati (knowledge from sense-perception and inference), Sruti (knowledge conveyed by others through intelligible symbols), Avadhi (acquired by supernormal means), Manahparyaya (gained through telepathy), and Kevala Jnana (the knowledge of perfected, omniscient souls).
• The Jaina idea of creation holds that the world was never created — it is eternal, its existence divided into an infinite number of cycles, each consisting of a period of improvement (utsarpini) and one of decline (avasarpini). The current era is in the phase of decline, itself divided into six periods; the Jainas therefore do not believe in the existence of a creator.
  • In each period of utsarpini and avasarpini, there are 63 salaka purush (great beings/souls), and within the era of each salaka purush, there arise 24 Tirthankaras and 12 Chakravartis (great kings).

Emphasis on Ahimsa (Non-Violence)

• The Jainas lay great emphasis on ahimsa (non-violence), both in theory and practice, and this emphasis extended to a prohibition on the practice of war and even agriculture for followers, since both involve the killing of living beings; as a result, the Jainas came to be confined largely to trade and mercantile activities.
  • Injuring living beings is considered detrimental from two points of view — it causes the victim to suffer, and it harms the person who causes the injury. It is not merely the actions but the emotions and intentions behind them that count, since injuring others draws on negative emotions and passions, detrimental to the achievement of salvation.

Ahimsa in Daily Life and Diet

• Strict vegetarianism is the most important dietary rule for Jainas. Since nigodas are believed to be especially found in sweet and fermented substances, figs, honey, and alcohol are also forbidden.
• Even if an animal has died a natural death rather than being killed for food, its meat is not to be eaten, since dead flesh is considered a breeding ground for nigodas; the Shvetambaras made some exceptions, permitting meat to be eaten in the event of famine or to cure an illness.

Ahimsa in Monastic Discipline

• The renunciant is expected to observe ahimsa at a still higher level than the layperson in daily living: while laypersons need only avoid harming beings with two or more senses, the renunciant must refrain from harming even single-sense beings (ekendriya) and element-bodies (sthavara).
  • Monks and nuns must not dig the earth, lest they kill earth bodies; must avoid bathing, swimming, or walking in the rain, lest they kill water bodies; must not light or extinguish flames, to avoid harming fire bodies; must not fan themselves, to avoid harming air bodies; and must try not to walk on greenery or touch living plants, to avoid harming vegetable bodies.
• Jainism holds that a monastic life is essential for attaining salvation, which a householder cannot attain. One of the most distinguishing features of Jainism, in this connection, is the concept of anekantavada (or syadavada) — that truth can be viewed from aneka, or various angles, since reality has an infinite number of aspects and attributes.

Schisms in Jainism: Digambaras and Shvetambaras

• The spread of Jainism to South India is attributed to the great famine that struck Magadha roughly two hundred years after Mahavira’s death; the famine lasted twelve years, and in order to protect themselves, many Jaina monks migrated south under the leadership of Bhadrabahu (said to have been accompanied by Chandragupta Maurya), while the rest stayed back in Magadha under the leadership of Sthulabahu.
• At the end of the famine, the southern monks returned to Magadha, where they developed differences with the local Jainas — changes that had taken place in the code of conduct followed by Sthulabahu’s community led to the division of the Jainas into Digambaras (“sky-clad” or naked, associated with the south) and Svetambaras (“white-clad,” associated with Magadha).
  • In later centuries, further splits occurred within both groups — the Samaiyas broke away from the Digambaras, and the Terapanthis from the Svetambaras; both new groups renounced idol worship, worshipping only the scriptures.
• Of the differences in daily practice between Digambara and Shvetambara monks, the most important concerns clothing. Both traditions agree that Mahavira and his early disciples moved about naked; the Digambaras follow this tradition strictly, holding that a monk must renounce all possessions, including clothes — the only permitted items being a small broom (rajoharana), for brushing insects aside before sitting, and a water gourd (kamandalu), for toilet hygiene.
  • The Shvetambaras, by contrast, wear white robes, viewing nudity as a practice that had fallen into abeyance and was no longer necessary.

Jaina Councils

The First Jaina Council

• The First Jaina Council was held at Pataliputra, under the leadership of Sthulabahu, in the early third century BCE, and resulted in the compilation of twelve Angas (sections) to replace the fourteen lost Purvas (old texts).
• The Digambaras boycotted this council and refused to accept its decisions.

The Second Jaina Council

• The Second Jaina Council was held at Valabhi in Gujarat in the fifth century CE, by the Svetambaras, under the leadership of Devardhi Kshamasramana, resulting in the final compilation of the twelve Angas and twelve Upangas.

The Jaina Church

• Mahavira himself founded the Jaina Church. He had eleven ardent disciples, called ganadharas (heads of schools), ten of whom died during Mahavira’s own lifetime; only one, Arya Sudharman, survived him and became the first thera (pontiff) of the Jaina Church after his death.
• His successor, Jambu, held the office for forty-four years. During the reign of the last Nanda ruler of Magadha, the Jaina Church was presided over by the fifth thera, Sambhutavijaya, and the sixth thera, Bhadrabahu.
• The fourteen Purvas (the old scriptures), which Mahavira himself had taught to his ganadharas, were perfected by Sambhutavijaya and Bhadrabahu. For the history of the Jaina Church, from its inception to the fourth or third century BCE, historians are indebted to the Jaina Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu, the sixth thera after Mahavira and a contemporary of Chandragupta Maurya.

Spread of Jainism

• To spread the teachings of Jainism, Mahavira organised an order of followers admitting both men and women; his teachings became very popular among the masses, and different sections of society were attracted to it.
  • Since Jainism did not mark itself out very clearly from Brahmanical religion, however, it failed to attract the masses on a large scale and did not achieve great success in the Gangetic plain. Despite this, Jainism gradually spread into south and west India, where Brahmanical religion was comparatively weak.
• As noted above, the great Magadhan famine, roughly two hundred years after Mahavira’s death, drove many Jainas south under Bhadrabahu, while the rest stayed in Magadha under Sthulabahu; the emigrant Jainas spread the religion into South India.
  • The early Jainas discarded Sanskrit, patronised mainly by the brahmanas, adopting instead the Prakrit language of the common people to preach their doctrines.
  • Udayin, successor of Ajatashatru of Magadha, was a Jaina, as were the Nanda rulers.
• According to tradition, the spread of Jainism in Karnataka is attributed to Chandragupta Maurya (322–298 BCE), who is said to have become a Jaina, given up his throne, and spent his last years in Karnataka as a Jaina ascetic — though this tradition is not corroborated by any other source, and epigraphic evidence for the spread of Jainism in Karnataka is no earlier than the third century CE.
  • After the fifth century CE, numerous Jaina monastic establishments called basadis sprang up in Karnataka, granted land by the king for their support.
• Jainism spread to Kalinga in Orissa in the fourth century BCE, and by the first century BCE, it enjoyed the patronage of the Kalinga king Kharavela; in the second and first centuries BCE, it also appears to have reached the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
  • In the Kushana period, it flourished at Mathura, and it was dominant in eastern India in the time of Harsha. During the early centuries of the Christian era, Mathura in the north and Sravana-Belgola in the south were great centres of Jaina activity.
• From the fifth century CE onwards, many royal dynasties of South India — the Gangas, Kadambas, Chalukyas, and Rashtrakutas — patronised Jainism. Jinasena and Gunabhadra composed their Mahapurana during the reign of king Amoghavarsha, whose own great Jaina work, the Ratnamalika, became very popular.
  • In later centuries, Jainism penetrated Malwa, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The Chalukyan king of Solanki, Siddharaja (also known as Jayasimha, 1094–1143), professed Jainism, and his successor Kumarapala was a great patron of the faith.
• Although Jainism did not win as much state patronage as Buddhism and did not spread as rapidly in early times, it retained its hold in the areas to which it spread — in contrast to Buddhism, which practically disappeared from the Indian subcontinent.

Jaina Literature

• Jaina literature was written in the Ardhamagadhi form of Prakrit, and the texts were finally compiled in the sixth century CE, in Gujarat, at a place called Valabhi, a great centre of education. The adoption of Prakrit by the Jainas helped the growth of this language and its literature.
  • Many regional languages developed out of the Prakrit languages, particularly Shauraseni, from which grew the Marathi language; the Jainas also composed the earliest important works in Apabhramsha and prepared its first grammar.
• According to tradition, the original doctrines taught by Mahavira were contained in fourteen old texts known as the Purvas.

Jaina Canonical Texts

• The sacred literature of the Svetambaras, written in the Ardha-Magadhi form of Prakrit, is classified into twelve Angas, twelve Upangas, ten Prakirnas, six Chhedasutras, and four Mulasutras.
• At the First Council at Pataliputra, Sthulabhadra divided the Jaina canon into these twelve Angas, a classification accepted by the Svetambaras; the Digambaras, however, refused to accept it, claiming that all the old scriptures had been lost.
  • Of the twelve Angas, the Ayaramga-sutta (Acharanga Sutra) deals with the code of conduct a Jaina monk was to follow; the Sutrakritanga is devoted mainly to a refutation of heretical doctrines; and the Bhagavati Sutta, one of the most important Jaina canonical texts, contains a comprehensive exposition of Jaina doctrine.
• At the Second Council, held at Vallabhi, new additions were made in the form of Upangas (minor sections), mostly dogmatic and mythological in character; the ten Prakirnas deal with various doctrinal matters and are written in verse, while the six Chhedasutras deal with disciplinary rules for monks and nuns.
  • The best-known of the Chhedasutras is the Kalpasutra, attributed to Bhadrabahu, forming part of the fourth Chhedasutra and comprising three sections: the Jainacharita, containing the biographies of the twenty-three tirthankaras who preceded Mahavira; the Theravali, a list of ganas and their ganadharas (heads); and the Samachari, containing the rules for Jaina monks.

Non-Canonical Works

• Non-canonical Jaina literature comprises commentaries, stories, historical and semi-historical works, romances, and religious lyrics.
  • Commentaries to the canonical texts form the most significant part of this literature; the oldest, called the Niryuktis, may be traced back to the time of Bhadrabahu, and were later developed into elaborate Bhasyas and Churnis (written in Prakrit) and Tikas and Vrittis (written in Sanskrit). Important commentators included Haribhadra (9th century CE), Santisuri, Devendragani, and Abhayadeva (11th century CE).
  • The Kathakosa is a rich mine of stories, including the Jaina version of the Nala-Damayanti episode from the Mahabharata.
  • The Jainas also possess an extensive poetic literature called Prabandhas and Charitras — the former giving accounts of historical Jaina monks and laymen, the latter narrating the stories of tirthankaras and mythical sages. Among the most famous is the Trisastisalaka Purushacharita (“Lives of 63 Best Men”) by Hemachandra, ranked as a Mahakavya among the Jainas; the book is divided into ten Parvas, of which the last, the Mahaviracharita, deals with the life of Mahavira — while its appendix, the Parisistaparvan (or Sthaviravalicharita), a biography of the earliest teachers of Jainism, is especially valuable from the point of view of literary history.
  • Semi-historical works such as the Prabandhachintamani of Merutunga (1306 CE) and the Prabandhakosa of Rajasekhara (1349 CE) are also important.
  • The Digambaras styled their Charitras as Puranas — for instance, the Padmacharita (or Padmapurana) by Vimalasuri; Jinasena wrote the Harivamsapurana, completed in 783 CE.
  • The Jainas also possess prose romances, such as the Samaraichchakaha of Haribhadra and the Upamitibhava-Prapanchakatha of Siddharshi (906 CE).

Jaina Architecture

• The innumerable specimens of Jaina sculpture found across practically all parts of India show that the Jainas enlisted the services of sculptors from very ancient times; their most common form of sculpture, even today, is the modelling of images or statues of the Tirthankaras.
  • In shaping these figures, however, no scope was given to the free play of individual sculptors’ imagination, since regular rules regarding the form and pose of Tirthankara statues had been prescribed by Jaina religion from the very beginning; consequently, Jaina images from any part of the country are difficult to distinguish stylistically, even across widely different periods.
• Jainism did not create a distinct architecture of its own — wherever the Jainas settled, they adopted local building traditions: in northern India, they followed the Vaishnava style, while in southern India they adhered to the Dravidian type.
  • The stupas of the Jainas are indistinguishable in form from those of the Buddhists, and a Jaina curvilinear steeple is identical in outline to that of a Brahmanical temple. Like the Buddhists, the Jainas also built several cave-temples cut into rock from early times, though Jaina cave temples were generally smaller than Buddhist ones, since Jaina religion gave prominence to individualistic rather than congregational ritual.
• The Hathigumpha caves of Kharavela (2nd century BCE) and the Khandagiri and Udaigiri caves of Orissa contain early Jaina relics; Ellora in Maharashtra, with its Jaina relief work and statues, represents an example of excellent architecture and sculpture from this period.
  • The gigantic statues of Bahubali (called Gomatesvara) at Sravana Belgola and Karkal in Mysore are among the wonders of the world; the former, 56.5 feet high and carved from a granite mass atop a hill, was erected in 982 CE by Chamundaraya, minister of the Ganga ruler Rachamalla.
  • The image of a tirthankara from Lohanipura (Patna), dating to the Maurya period, is one of the earliest Jaina figures.
• Like the Buddhists, the Jainas also erected stupas in honour of their saints, complete with stone railings, decorated gateways, stone umbrellas, elaborately carved pillars, and abundant statues; early examples, discovered at the Kankali mound near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, are believed to date to the first century BCE.
  • During the Kushana period, Mathura was a great centre of Jaina art. The Jaina temples at Ranakpur and the Dilwara temples at Mount Abu, both in Rajasthan, are products of superb Jaina craftsmanship.

Jaina Painting

• Along with architecture and sculpture, the Jainas contributed substantially to the development of painting in India; the tradition of Jaina painting is as old as Buddhist painting, and innumerable Jaina paintings of exquisite quality can be found on walls, palm leaves, paper, cloth, and wood.
• The Jainas possess a very extensive treasure of manuscript paintings drawn in the early Western Indian style, sometimes called the “Gujarat Style,” or specifically the “Jaina Style.”

Social Composition of the Jaina Sangha and Laity

• Jaina texts reflect an idea of the superiority of the Kshatriya varna over all others; the early medieval Adi Purana attributes the creation of the Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra varnas to the first tirthankara Rishabha, who assumed the powers of a king before attaining jina-hood, while the Brahmana varna is described as having been instituted by Rishabha’s son Bharata, the first chakravarti ruler.
• Like Buddhist texts, Jaina texts criticise the Brahmanas, their sacrifices, way of life, and arrogance — but they also speak of the “true,” or ideal, Brahmana, giving the word new content by shifting the emphasis from birth to conduct; thus redefined, only a Jaina monk was considered worthy of being called a Brahmana.
• People of all varnas and social backgrounds could enter the Jaina sangha. Notwithstanding this theoretical openness, all the chief disciples (ganadharas) of Mahavira were Brahmanas from the Magadha region, described as having entered the sangha along with hundreds of their own disciples; there was likewise a strong Brahmana presence among the Jaina acharyas (Bhadrabahu, Siddhasena Divakara, Pujyapada, Haribhadra, and Jinasena).
  • Among the laity, Jainism especially enjoyed the allegiance and patronage of the affluent urban merchant class.

Women in Jainism

• Like Buddhist texts, Jaina texts present women as a danger to the celibacy of monks, warning monks of women’s wiles and urging them to avoid their friendship and company. At the same time, Jainism did establish a monastic order for women, and the traditional Jaina account of the growth of the sangha during Mahavira’s lifetime in fact gives greater prominence to women.
  • According to the Kalpa Sutra, when Mahavira died, there were 14,000 monks and 36,000 nuns, 159,000 laymen, and 318,000 laywomen; a total of 1,400 women, as against 700 men, are described as having attained salvation during his lifetime. Nuns must have played an important role in spreading Jaina teaching among laywomen.
• The issue of clothing was central to the Jaina debate on gender and salvation. The Digambaras emphasised the necessity of nudity for members of the order, since clothes counted as possessions associated with passion, sexual desire, and shame — though they nonetheless seem to have shared the broader social disapproval of women moving about naked in public.
  • A woman’s body was thus seen as an obstacle to her own salvation; women mendicants associated with the Digambara order, respectfully addressed as aryika or sadhvi (noble or venerable women), were regarded more as celibate laywomen who had made significant spiritual progress, rather than as full ascetics.
  • The Shvetambaras, on the other hand, held that wearing or not wearing clothes was optional, and that women could attain moksha within their own lifetime; monks and nuns of this order took the same vows and were, in theory, considered on par with each other.
    • In practice, however, an element of inequality persisted, similar to that within the Buddhist sangha — no matter how senior a nun or how junior a monk, the nun had to offer respectful salutation first, and nuns could confess their misdemeanours to monks and be censured by them, but not the reverse.
• Was it possible for a woman to become a tirthankara? Digambara tradition holds that a woman must be reborn as a man before she can attain salvation. The Shvetambaras, however, acknowledge the possibility of women attaining jina-hood — Malli, their nineteenth tirthankara, was a woman.
  • Both traditions agree that women are incapable of experiencing the worst forms of undesirable volition, and so can never be born into the seventh and lowest hell; yet both also consider misdeeds and negative propensities — cheating, greed, unpredictability, and cunning — to be responsible for rebirth as a woman. Even the Shvetambara tradition of Malli ascribes her birth as a woman to cheating in a previous birth, and Malli never became a popular focus of worship — only one ninth-century image, depicting her with breasts and a long braid of hair, has so far been found.
• The denial of the possibility of salvation to women appears to have discouraged their association with a particular order, as suggested by the declining number of Digambara nuns over time. Yet the offer of salvation was, by itself, no guarantee of the long-term survival of a women’s monastic order — as is clear from the virtual disappearance of the Buddhist bhikkhuni sangha among Theravada communities in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Causes for the Decline of Jainism

1. Lack of royal patronage: The initial momentum of royal patronage enjoyed by Jainism under Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, Udayin, and Kharavela was not maintained by kings and princes of later times; instead, the zeal and determination of Ashoka, Kanishka, and Harsha in spreading Buddhism came to eclipse Jainism, and the lack of sincere, determined royal patronage relegated it to the margins.
2. Lack of missionary effort: There was a decline in the missionary zeal and sincerity of Jaina mendicants, who became less particular about undertaking the strain of spreading the faith in villages and towns; traders and businessmen remained loyal to Jainism, but had little time to actively promote its spread.
3. Severity of Jainism: The very severity of Jainism boomeranged against it. Unlike the “middle path” of Buddhism, Jainism demanded severe penance, meditation, fasting, and restraint — practices too demanding to endure for most, leading to popular disillusionment and gradual alienation from a faith once widely adored.
4. Unintelligible philosophy: Much of Jaina philosophy was unintelligible to the masses — concepts such as Jiva, Ajiva, Pudgala, and Syadvada could not be readily understood, and many could not accept the view that stone, water, trees, or earth possessed souls of their own; this gradual decline in popular faith paved the way for Jainism’s decline.
5. Factionalism in Jainism: Factionalism among the Jainas after Mahavira’s death also contributed to decline — some advocated strictly following his teachings, while others sought to tone down its severity, leading to a rift that divided the community into Digambara and Svetambara groups (led respectively by Bhadrabahu, who gave up dress and adopted severe penance, and Sthulabahu, who wore white dress); this division weakened Jainism and curtailed its spread.
6. Spread of Buddhism: Buddhism posed a formidable obstacle to the spread of Jainism, being simpler, more intelligible, and free of Jainism’s severity — even a householder could follow it.
7. Role of Hindu preachers: Hinduism, too, posed a threat to Jainism — preachers such as Nimbarka, Ramanuja, and Sankaracharya strengthened the foundations of Hinduism, and the rise of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism relegated Jainism to comparative insignificance, making its decline inevitable in the face of these constant challenges.

Contribution of Jainism

1. Growth of language and literature: Jainism greatly influenced Indian language and literature. Vardhamana Mahavira preached in Ardha-Magadhi, the language of the common people, allowing those who knew Magadhi and Shauraseni to easily follow his teachings; in due course, the Jaina canonical texts were written in Prakrit.
   • The early Jainas discarded Sanskrit, patronised mainly by the Brahmanas, adopting Prakrit instead; their religious literature, written in Ardhamagadhi, was finally compiled in the sixth century CE at Valabhi in Gujarat, a great centre of education. The adoption of Prakrit helped the growth of this language and its literature, and many regional languages developed out of Prakrit — particularly Shauraseni, from which grew Marathi; the Jainas also composed the earliest important works in Apabhramsha and prepared its first grammar.
   • Jaina literature encompasses epics, Puranas, novels, and drama; a large portion of Jaina writing remains in manuscript form, unpublished, and preserved in Jaina shrines across Gujarat and Rajasthan. In early medieval times, the Jainas also made good use of Sanskrit, writing many texts in it, and contributed significantly to the growth of Kannada literature — thus enriching vernacular and regional languages through their religious and literary output (as seen in texts like the Anga, Upanga, Kalpasutra, Acharangasutra, and Uttaradhyayanasutra, some of which were also rendered in Sanskrit).
2. Principle of non-violence: Mahavira was the embodiment of peace and a preacher of non-violence, rejecting Vedic ritual and teaching kindness and humanity towards animals; his emphasis that both living and non-living beings possess life and feel pain had a profound influence on the course of Indian history.
3. Influence on politics: Jainism also influenced Indian politics, casting its spell over many rulers — the great Chandragupta Maurya is said to have become the famous ascetic Chandramuni under its influence, while the mighty emperor Kharavela (Mahameghavahana) became an ardent devotee of Mahavira. By following the principle of non-violence, such kings became kind-hearted and tolerant — a lasting impact on Indian political culture.
   • The Jainas, especially in southern and western India, produced a large number of eminent monarchs, ministers, and generals, contributing to the political importance of the community; Jaina acharyas (saints) were themselves far from indifferent to secular affairs — Megasthenes records that, in the fourth century BCE, the Sramanas (Jaina ascetics) living in the woods were frequently consulted by kings, through messengers, on the causes of things.
   • In Karnataka, in particular, Jainism showed how religious tenets could be practised without sacrificing political exigencies — Jaina acharyas there ceased to be mere exponents of dogma and became creators of kingdoms, playing a role in founding both the Ganga kingdom (2nd century CE) and the Hoysala kingdom (11th century CE).
4. Growth of the trading community: Jainism contributed significantly to the growth of the trading community — becoming popular first among traders and merchants, fostering a sense of brotherhood among them that later gave rise to the guild system; the resulting wealth and social standing of merchants brought them closer to the ruling class, and this cooperation brought stability to society.
5. Creation of a healthy society: Jainism helped create a healthier society by preaching against the caste system; with the weakening grip of the higher castes over the lower, a more equitable society emerged, influencing the subsequent course of Indian history.
6. Growth of charitable institutions: Jainism contributed significantly to the growth of charitable institutions, its influence on kings and other patrons proving lasting — kings created caves for the dwelling of ascetics of different backgrounds, and distributed food and clothing to the people. Over time, other wealthy individuals followed this practice, creating charitable institutions that furthered social welfare.
7. Growth of art and architecture: Jainism greatly enriched Indian art and architecture. Patronised by kings, Jaina images and images of the Tirthankaras are found across many parts of India — the image of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka (known as Gomateswara) is the tallest Jaina image ever carved in India, while important Jaina art remains are also found at Mathura, Bundelkhand, northern Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Benares.
   • The cave art of Udayagiri in Bhubaneswar, and of Ellora in Maharashtra, offer unique examples of Jaina art, while the Dilwara Jaina temple at Mount Abu in Rajasthan is famously described as “a dream in marble.” Most Jaina temples were gifts of single wealthy individuals, distinguished for their elaborate detail and exquisite finish; the Jain Tower in the fort of Chittor is another notable specimen of architectural engineering, while innumerable manuscripts written on palm leaves — some painted with gold dust — gave rise to a new school of painting known as the “Western Indian School.”
8. New outlook on life: Jainism brought a new outlook to life, criticising Vedic religion and Brahminical pre-eminence, and turning people’s attention away from unnecessary ritualistic practice towards a simple and unadorned way of living — an influence that shaped the character of Indian society for centuries to come.

Conclusion

From its ancient roots in the tradition of the twenty-four tirthankaras to the historical mission of Vardhamana Mahavira, Jainism offered ancient India a rigorous ethical alternative to Vedic ritualism — grounded in ahimsa, the triratna, and a distinctive philosophy of Anekantavada and Syadvada. Though it never matched Buddhism’s geographical reach or royal patronage, and though internal schisms between the Digambaras and Shvetambaras divided its community, Jainism’s emphasis on non-violence, its patronage of vernacular language and literature, and its distinctive contributions to art and architecture have ensured its continued survival in India to this day — in marked contrast to Buddhism’s near-disappearance from the land of its birth. For UPSC History Optional aspirants, Jainism’s doctrines, social composition, and historical trajectory offer an essential comparative counterpoint to the study of Buddhism and the broader heterodox movements of ancient India.