History (Ancient India History :- Jainism)

Ancient India History :- Jainism

 *ainism is of ancient origin & believed to have 24 Tirthankaras / Great teachers in their religion

 *1st one was Rishabdev (Born in Ayodhya) who is said to have laid the foundation of orderly human society & realised that the source of Jaina philosophy was Adinath.

 *23rd was Parshavnath (Born in Varanasi) & Last and 24th was Vardhamana Mahavira (Born 540 BC at Kundangrama near Vaishali)

Vardhamana Mahavira

Father :- Sidhhartha :- Head of Jnatrika Clan

Mother :- Trishla :- Sister of Lichchhavi chief chetaka, whose daughter married to Bimbisara

Mahavira’s family was connected to royal family of Magadha

 *In search of truth Mahavira abandoned the world at the age of 30 & became ascetic & medicated for 12 years practicing austerities.

 *In 13th year, at the age of 42, he attained Kaivalya (Juan) under Sal tree at Timbhikagrama

 *Kaivalya → One who conquered misery & happiness → And because of this conquest he is known as Mahavira or great hero or jina (the conqueror) & his followers Jainas

 *He propagated religion for 30 years & passed away at the age of 72 at Pavapuri near Rajgir

3 principles of Jainism → Triratnas

 *Right faith (believe in teachings & wisdom of Mahavira)

 *Right Knowledge (Acceptance of theory that there is no god & world has been existing without a creator & all objects possess a soul)

 *Right conduct (Refers to observance of 5 great vows)

 *Ahimsa

 *Satya

 *Asteya (Not to steal)

 *Parigraha (Not to acquire property)

 *Brahamcharya (observe continence / not to led immoral life → added by Mahavira)

Teaching of Jainism

 *Rejected the authority of Vedas & objected to Vedic rituals & sacrifices

 *Even practice of agriculture was considered sinful as it caused injury to earth, worms & animals

 *Doctrine of ascetism & renunciation was carried to great lengths by practice of starvation, Nudity & other form of self-tortures (Penance for all sins committed)

 *Although Parvanath (23rd Teacher) asked people to cover their upper & lower body part but Mahavira asked them to discard cloths altogether ( Extreme austerity)

 *Mahavira did not condemn Verna system as Buddhism did as according to Mahavira , a person born in higher or lower verna is the consequences of the sins of past life & through penance & meritorious life they can attain liberation

 *Jainism mainly aimed at freedom of Individual from worldly bonds

Twelve small vows (anuvrats) of Jainism

Five anuvrats

 *avoiding injury to mobile beings which have two or more senses or desisting from deliberate acts of violence

 *truthfulness to avoid false statements out of extreme affection for someone or out of hatred for someone

 *refraining from taking anything not given

 *desisting from sexual relationship with anyone other than one’s spouse

 *voluntarily limiting the possession of all forms of assets

The Seven supplementaries

 *refraining from movement beyond a limited area

 *restricting a movement to even a more limited area

 *refraining from wanton destruction of the environmentby thought, word or deed

 *keeping aloof from a sinful conduct for a set period of time (observing samayik)

 *fasting on sacred days and observing special restrictions at secluded places

 *limiting the use of consumable and non-consumable goods

 *Sharing your food or resources with guests or wandering ascetics.

Spread of Jainism

 *Admitted both women and shudras in its order of followers

 *Used prakrit (common language) for preaching instead of sanskrit

 *200 years after the death of Mahavira, there was a serious famine in Ganga valley. Many Jain followers led by Chandragupta Maurya & Bhadrabahu left for south (Karnataka) & rest stayed back under the leadership of Sthalbahu. Emmigrants spread Jainism in south India.

 *Meanwhile Sthalbahu changed the code of conduct for the monks which led to division of Jainism into 2 sects Swetambars (White clad / Northerners) & Digambars ( Naked / Sky Clad / Southerners)

 *1st Jain council was held at Pataliputra led by Sthalbahu & 2nd was held at Valabhi where 12 Anagas of Swetambars were finally compiled

Contribution of Jainism

 *1st serious attempt to mitigate evil of verna system & ritualistic vedic system

 *Adoption of Prakrit by Jainas helped in its growth & many regional languages grew out of Prakrit especially Shauraseni, out of which

Marathi grew

 *Jainas composed earliest important work in “ Apabhramsha” & prepared its 1st grammar

 *Jainism also contributed to the growth of Kannada

 *Basadis → Jains Monastic establishments

 *Jainism religious literature is written in “Ardhamagadhi” & text were finally compiled at Valabhi (Gujrat)