Jainism

Older than Buddhism — its tradition of Tirthankaras long predates Mahavira, who was the 24th and last.

'Ford-builder' — one who helps people cross the ocean of suffering (samsara).

Mentioned in the Rig Veda: Rishabha (1st) and Arishtanemi / Neminatha (22nd).
Only the last two — Parshvanatha (23rd) and Mahavira (24th) — have historical proof.

Also called Adinatha; symbol: Bull.
His son Bharata is said to have been the first chakravarti.

The 22nd Tirthankara.
Symbol: Conch; associated with the Saurashtra region.

The 23rd Tirthankara. Symbol: Serpent.
A prince of Benaras; died at Parshvanath Hill, Jharkhand.

Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Aparigraha — four vows.
Mahavira later added a fifth.

The 24th Tirthankara. Symbol: Lion.
He added the 5th vow — Brahmacharya (celibacy).

Born 540 BC at Kundagrama, near Vaishali.
Belonged to the Jnatrika Kshatriya clan. He lived 540–468 BC.

• Father: Siddhartha
• Mother: Trishala — the sister of Chetaka, ⚠️ NOT his daughter
• Wife: Yashoda (Shvetambara view); Digambaras say he never married

Renounced at 30; underwent 12 years of severe austerities.
The Acharanga Sutra describes them — naked, without shelter, enduring insect bites and thorns.

With Makkhali Gosala, who later founded the Ajivika sect.
They split over doctrine: Gosala taught fatalism (Niyati), while Mahavira insisted on karma and effort.

At age 42, under a sal tree at Jambhikagrama, on the river Rijupalika.

• Kevalin — omniscient
• Jina — conqueror (of the passions)
• Nirgrantha — free from bonds
• Arhant — worthy of worship

Mahavira's name in Buddhist texts — ⚠️ NOT the Buddha's name.

At Pava, to 11 Ganadharas — his chief disciples, all Brahmanas.
The first Ganadhara was Indrabhuti Gautama.

Died aged 72, in 468 BC, at Pavapuri.

Jainism rejected the Vedas and holds there is no creator God.
The world is maintained by Universal Law, not by any deity.

Every object has a soul (jiva) — including rocks, water, fire and air.
This is why Jain ahimsa extends far beyond animals.

Karma is material particles floating in space that cling to the soul, obscuring its natural qualities (infinite knowledge, perception, bliss and energy).
In Buddhism karma is moral cause-effect from intentional action — not a substance.

Karma is the bane of the soul and is ended through severe penance — ⚠️ NOT the middle path (that is Buddhist).

• Samyak Jnana → Right Knowledge
• Samyak Darshana → Right Faith
• Samyak Charitra → Right Conduct
⚠️ Different from the Buddhist Triratna (Buddha–Dhamma–Sangha).

Ahimsa + Satya + Asteya + Aparigraha (the four from Parshvanatha) + Brahmacharya (celibacy), added by Mahavira.

• Anuvrata = lesser vows, for lay followers
• Mahavrata = the strict version, for monks

Death by voluntary fasting, considered the highest form of death.
⚠️ It is NOT suicide — it is a deliberate withdrawal from the body once life's purpose has been fulfilled, undertaken calmly and without passion.

• Ekendriya — single-sense organisms, which still possess souls
• Nigodas — the tiniest forms of life, existing in vast clusters

Monks must avoid digging, bathing, walking in the rain, and lighting or extinguishing fires — since each destroys earth-, water- or fire-bodied beings.
Emotions and intentions count too; strict vegetarianism is required.

Trade became the preferred occupation because it was the least harmful to life (unlike agriculture, which involves killing soil organisms).
This is the origin of Jain mercantile communities such as the Oswals and Agarwals.

The doctrine of the manifold nature of reality — no single viewpoint captures the whole truth.
💡 Illustrated by the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

Syadvada = the 'maybe' doctrine — syat means 'perhaps'; every statement is conditional.
Sapta-bhangi-naya = the 7-fold predication — seven conditional ways of asserting anything.

1. Mati → sensory knowledge
2. Shruta → scriptural knowledge
3. Avadhi → clairvoyance
4. Manahparyaya → telepathy
5. Kevala Jnana → omniscience (= Kaivalya)

A famine in Magadha, around 298 BC.

• Bhadrabahu migrated south to Shravanabelagola with Chandragupta Maurya → became the Digambaras. He knew the 14 Purvas.
• Sthulabhadra stayed in Magadha → became the Shvetambaras.

'Sky-clad' (nude).
• Hold that Mahavira never married
• Women cannot attain moksha directly
• Dominant in South India

'White-clad'.
• Hold that Mahavira married Yashoda
• Women can attain moksha
• Dominant in Western and North-Western India

A Shvetambara sub-sect that opposes idol worship.

300 BC at Pataliputra.
Chair: Sthulabhadra.
Result: compiled the 12 Angas.

512 AD at Vallabhi, Gujarat.
Chair: Devarddhi Kshamashramana.
Result: final compilation of 12 Angas + 12 Upangas.

Written in Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit.
Structure: 12 Angas (core) | 12 Upangas | 14 Purvas — the Purvas are the oldest, preserved as part of the 12th Anga.

• Acharanga Sutra — monastic rules (and the account of Mahavira's austerities)
• Bhagavati Sutra — Mahavira's life + the list of 16 Mahajanapadas

No — the Therigatha is Buddhist, a collection of poems by nuns.

• Parishishtaparvan — Hemachandra, 12th cen. AD
• Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana — Jinasena
Both are Jain texts. (UPSC 2022)
• Kalpa Sutra — Bhadrabahu; biographies of the Tirthankaras

He became a Jain monk under Bhadrabahu and died by sallekhana at Shravanabelagola.

Kalinga king, 1st cen. BC.
Built the Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves.
His Hathigumpha inscription records him retrieving a Jina image (taken earlier by a Nanda king).

Gangas (Karnataka), Rashtrakutas, and the Solankis of Gujarat — the last great royal patrons.
The merchant class supported it, since trade was the least harmful occupation.

57–65 ft, a monolithic granite statue at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka.

Built by Chamundaraya, a minister of the Ganga dynasty, in 983 AD.

It represents Bahubali, son of the 1st Tirthankara — ⚠️ not the last Tirthankara.
Mahamastakabhisheka = the anointing ceremony, held every 12 years.

• Dilwara Temples — Mount Abu, Rajasthan; famed for exquisite marble carvings
• Ranakpur Temple — Rajasthan; 1,444 intricately carved pillars

• Palitana Temples — Gujarat; the most sacred Shvetambara site
• Sittanavasal Cave — Tamil Nadu; a Jain cave shrine with paintings

• Both reject Vedic authority, rituals and caste hierarchy
• Both emphasise ahimsa
• Both founded by Kshatriyas; supported by the merchant class
• Both believe in the karma + rebirth cycle
• Both use Prakrit dialects (not Sanskrit) to reach ordinary people

• Path — Buddhism: Middle Path, avoid extremes | Jainism: extreme penance + austerity (tapas)
• Soul — Buddhism: Anatta, no permanent soul | Jainism: every particle has a soul (jiva)
• Karma — Buddhism: moral cause-effect of intentional action | Jainism: material particles clinging to the soul

• Ahimsa — Buddhism: important but moderate | Jainism: extreme (mouth-cloth, sweeping the path, straining water)
• God — Buddhism: silent on God (non-theistic) | Jainism: no creator God; Tirthankaras are guides
• Language — Pali (western Prakrit) | Ardhamagadhi (eastern Prakrit)
• Spread — Buddhism spread widely abroad (SE Asia, China, Japan) | Jainism remained largely within India