All About Jainism
Jainism is an ancient tradition, a movement and specifically a religion that originated in India.[1] It is considered one of the oldest religious beliefs. Jainism is a religion and tradition of ahimsa or non-violence.[2]The main principal of the religion is to protect and care every living beings. That is why Jainism has been remembered with vegetarianism and today majority of the Jains are vegeratian. Plants are used to be and still are as important as animals for the Jains. But staying alive requires something to eat. However, throughout the years, some religious Jains have been fasting to death in order to achieve liberation from the world’s bondage. The main purpose of Jainism is liberation of jiva or soul which is directly connected with other elements of the religion. A jain does not believe in God who can create, protect or destroy.[3] For the Jains, worshipping for God or Gods to get anything is useless. Instead, they believe that those who become liberated from material existence through the Jain tradition reach a God-like status.[4] They are Tirthankaras or ford makers whose numbers were twenty four and the last ford maker is Mahavira (Great Hero) who is considered the most recent spiritual teacher and could be accepted as a prophet of the religion. Mahavira’s life has so many similarities with the life of Buddha.[5] He was, like Buddha, a son of a family from Kshatriya (Warrior) Class. He married in his early life and had a daughter[6] (It is still debatable whether it is true or not). At the age of 30, he abandoned his life to take up the ascetic life: He chose the life of a monk. Mahavira had wandered around as an ascetic, for twelve years. At the end, he attained enlightenment and spent his next 30 years teaching.[7]He ended his life committing Santhara (fast to death).[8]
Jainism has 2 major sects: the Digambaras and the Svetambaras. The division between these two sects occurred during the fourth century CE.[9]The split between these two sects occurred due to the migration of Bradrabahu (leader of the Digambaras) to Shravanabelagola city, which is located in Southern India.[10]They had separated because of the disagreements between each other. The Digambaras, who are considered more extreme, argued that clothing was an obstacle to enlightenment and washing the laundry in the river was risky because it could harm creatures. [11] Furthermore, the Digambaras denied that a soul could be freed from a woman’s body as the Svetambaras believed that purity resided in the mind.[12]By the 1st century CE, the disagreement over whether it was possible for a monk who owned property to achieve moksha (spiritual release) also divided the Jain community.[13] As a result, the Digambaras did not take part in meetings and the split became permanent.[14]They continued to live and behave as they believed; the Digambara monks wear no clothes at all but it does not apply to nuns. And the Svetambara monks and nuns wear white robes (an upper and a lower garment). Moreover, they still believe that women can attain enlightenment.[15]This essay will focus on the Digambaras, their life styles, the time period that they involved in politics until the 13th century: shortly what makes this sect unique will be tried to answer. Moreover, this essay will make clear the similarities and differences between Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism and how Jainism was affected by these religions.
The Digambara sect has more extreme and strict rules, requirements in comparison with the Svetambaras. They use a broom or whisk to protect tiny creatures from being stepped on.[16]They drink water from the gourd and they eat food which they beg, once a day.[17] Nudity is not just giving up wearing for them; actually, it means the abandonment of all possessions and passions. Shortly, the naked monks imitate the ford makers.[18]Apart from the daily life of the Digambaras, it is also important to know their presence in politics in early medieval time periods. The Digambaras gained the patronage of prominent monarchs of three major dynasties in today’s Karnata and Tamil in early medieval period: The Gangas, the Rashtrakutas and the Hoysalas. [19]The Digambara monks guaranteed here the Jain political protection and support which led Jainism prosper in Karnata. Political figures, rulers and emperors took the monks near them as spiritual advisors.[20] And moreover, they all endowed the Jain community with tax revenues and with direct grants for the construction and upkeep of temples.[21] Some of the Rashtrakuta kings were zealous Jains and they heralded an Augustan age in literature, art, and architecture, to which the Digambara contributions have been of classical significance.[22](Basham 1999, 102) In this period, Digambara Jains produced numerous literary works in Kannada, Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil.[23] They constituted a significant proportion of ancient Tamil literature and earliest grammar of the Tamil language.[24](Dundas 1992, 100) The Digambaras contributed to art as well. In the 10th century, the Ganga general Chamundaraya diretly oversaw the creation of an enormous statue of Bahubali who was the son of first ford maker Rishabhanatha.[25]In the period of their great influence, they may have been influenced by lay patronage that the Digambaras (and also the Svetambaras) stopped living as a wandering ascetics and started to live in temples and monasteries.[26] As a result of this, rather than assuming a life of naked ascetic wandering, they became the administrators and guardians of temples and holy places.
Jainism was born in the region which was the cradle of so many religions, civilizations, nations and so on. Indo-Aryans migrated from Central Asia to India between 2000–1500 BCE. That migration led the Hinduism come about. After a very long time period, Buddhism, which has lots of common elements with Jainism and Hinduism, came about in the same region. These three religions contain similaries that cannot be underestimated. First of all, they all have the belief of karma which is a moral principle of cause and effect.[27] If one engages in actions that are violent, or motivated by hatred, selfishness, or egotism, the universe will respond in kind, producing suffering in the one who has caused suffering to others.(Long 2009, 1) Shortly and basically, karma, in these three religions, means that you are going to get what you have done so far. In Jainism, karma is an atomic substance and not a process, as it is in Hinduism and Buddhism.[28] And everyone is responsible for his own karma; and when karmas are disappeared there is an end to transmigration, followed by the attainment of supreme spiritual bliss.[29](Basham 1999, 101) Jainism, like Hinduism and Buddhism, aims to escape from the cycle of rebirth — moksha, or liberation from the karmic bondaga.[30] An individual should leave the suffering of this world of Samsara or reincarnation by acquiring nirvana. Nirvana, for these 3 religions, is blissful enlightenment. Ahimsa or non-injury is also accepted by these 3 religions. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism support the Ahimsa in their campaigns against animal sacrifice.[31] They link all living things together in a single complex system- gods, human beings, souls in torment, animals, even humble insects, all possessed souls are essentially the same.(Basham 1999, 79) They all have Dharma in common. However, its meaning is quite different in every religions. In Hinduism, it means the cosmic, religious and moral law. It applies to everyone- consisting of truthfulness, non-injury and generosity.[32] In Buddhism, it shortly means the teachings of Buddha and the way to enlightenment.[33] Dharma is movement in Jainism[34]; it causes the conditions to help the universe organise itself and help the jiva or soul become liberated. Although yoga is associated with Buddhism in general concept, Jainism and Hinduism also have yoga within their religions and philosophies. Yoga is about making an individual concantrate so much that leads us to attain enlightenment. It is the cultivation of the true knowledge of reality[35], it is the pathway to rebirth or realization of the divine in us.[36]
Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism share the Swastika which represents the Samsara or reincarnation. In Jainism, it is the emblem of seventh Tirthankara and the four possible places of rebirth: in the animal or plant world, in hell, on Earth, or in the spirit world.[37] For Buddhists, the Swastika symbolizes the feet or the footprints of Buddha.[38] Although the word, swastika, was derived from Sanskrit world “svastika”, throughout the history, a lot of nations and empires used this figure in several purposes and meanings. Apart from the Swastika and other common elements of these 3 religions, there are countless of common elements, rituals, beliefs, etc. as a result of living in the same regions. For example, the hero of the very famous legend of Indians, Ramayana, Rama, was co-opted as a non-violent Jain. And furthermore, the Hindu deity, Krishna was considered as a cousin of Arishtanemi, who is the 22th Tirthankara.[39]
To conclude, Jainism is, without a doubt, one of the oldest and most important religions in the Asian history and in the world. Two major sects of Jainism; the Svetambaras and the Digambaras played an important roles in history. While the Svetambaras were maintaining their activities mostly in the North, the Digambaras involved in politics in the South and ensured the existence of Jainism there. Despite the interpretations that Jainism is a kind of Hindu sect or Buddhist heresy, it is, for sure, an independent phenomenon. Jainism has been influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism, of course. However, it cannot be denied that it has influenced them, as well. With the understanding of life, with the way of perceiving the people, animals, every living creatures and the universe, Jainism is seperated from all others. And in addition, despite the scarcity of their population in India and in worldwide, their legacy deserves the admiration. Their literary works, artworks, the messages of the religion about not harming any living things and not having any bad intentions towards anybody and all other admirable aspects of them make Jainism one of the most influential and important religions.
Bibliography
[1] Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 1.
[2] Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 1.
[3] Stephan Knapp, The Universal Path to Enlightenment: The Eastern Answers to Mysteries of Life: Volume Two (Michigan: World Relief Network, 1992), 58.
[4] Stephan Knapp, The Universal Path to Enlightenment: The Eastern Answers to Mysteries of Life: Volume Two (Michigan: World Relief Network, 1992), 58.
[5]Britannica Academic, s.v. “Jainism,” accessed December 25, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/105858.
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[8] Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
[9] Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
[10]Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 62.
[11]Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
[12] Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
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[14] Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
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[16] Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 3.
[17]Britannica Academic, s.v. “Digambara,” accessed December 26, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/30423.
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[22] A.L. Basham, A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Noida, 1999) 102.
[23]Britannica Academic, s.v. “Jainism,” accessed December 25, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/105858.
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[26]Britannica Academic, s.v. “Jainism,” accessed December 25, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/105858.
[27] Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009), 1.
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[29] A.L. Basham, A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Noida, 1999) 101.
[30]Jeffrey D. Long, Jainism: An Introduction (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009) 2.
[31]A.L. Basham, A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Noida, 1999) 79.
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[33]A.L. Basham, A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Noida, 1999) 84–85
[34]Britannica Academic, s.v. “Dharma,” accessed December 27, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/30214.
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[36]A.L. Basham, A Cultural History of India (Oxford: Noida, 1999) 74.
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[39]Salem Press Encyclopedia, s.v. “Jainism,” January, 2016
