Jainism

 

Lecture 4 Jainism

Society Vedic Age → Mahajanapad

Over time division gets created in the society in the form of castes- Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras.

Brahmin and kshatriya were used to enjoy the tax paid by vaishya. And vaishya were not happy with this.

Some intellectuals tried to create an egalitarian society and in doing this more than 60 sub religions got established in north india including jainism and buddhism. 

And these new religions get full support from vaishya and shudra communities.

24 Tirthankars 

Tirthankars → Symbol → Nirvana Place(Died At) 

1. Rishabhnath/Adinath → Bull → Ashtapad(Kailasha)

2. Ajitnath → Elephant → Sammed Sikhar(Parasnath hill, Jharkhand)

19. Mallinath → Kalasa → Sammed Sikhar(Parasnath hill, Jharkhand)

19th tirthankar 

Mallinath→male(Digambar sect), Malli→ female(Svetambara sect) 

22. Neminath → Conch → Mount Girnar

23. Parshvanath → Snake → Sammed Sikhar(Parasnath hill, Jharkhand)

24. Mahavir → Lion → Pava puri(Bihar)

Twenty out of twenty four tirthankar took nirvana at Sammed Sikhar(Parasnath hill, Jharkhand).

Mahaveer Jain Life

Born- 540 BC, Kundagram(Vaishali, Bihar)

Childhood name- Vardhaman

Died- 468 BC(72 Year Old), Pavapuri(Bihar)

Father- Siddharth(Head of Jnatrika Clan)

Mother- Trishala(Sister of lichchhavi chief Chetak)

Wife- Yashoda

Daughter- Anoja/Priyadarshana(married to Jamali)

Left house at the age of 30 and became an ascetic. He wandered for 12 years from place to place(never changed his clothes in these 12 years). 

Got enlightenment(kaivalya) at the age of 42 at Chambik gram under sal tree(situated on rijupalika river bank). After kaivalya, he abandoned his clothes. After kaivalya, he was known as jina(one who got victory over senses), jitendriya, nigrantha(free from all bonds), kevalin. 

He propagated his religion for the next 30 years(died at the age of 72).

First sermon/divya dhavani at Vipulachal mountain(Rajgir).

Jamali(Son-in-law) was the first disciple of mahavira.

He established the sangh with his first 11 disciples, these disciples were known as Ganadharas. 

Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Akampita, Arya Vyakta, Sudharman, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Acalabhraataa, Metraya, and Prabhasa.(Vrishabh sen was ganadhara of Rishabhanatha)

Jain Philosophy

Recognised both varna system and gods of aryans. But put the god lower to Jina. And also gave the concept that anyone can attain salvation including Shudras. 

They believed that the soul is present in everything, so they were against animal killing and also restrained themselves from agriculture. This led to confining Jain followers in trade and mercantile activity only. 

Anekantavada(multiple aspects)- Ultimate truth and reality is complex and no single statement can describe the absolute truth, it has multiple aspects.

Syadvada(possibilities)- All judgements are conditional, holding good only in certain conditions.

Nayavada(viewpoint/interpretation)- Seven nayas(viewpoint) through which one can make a proper conclusion on a topic.

Jain Teachings

The path of Liberation: Triratna(three jewels)

* Brahmacharya was added by lord mahavira. 

Digambara Vs Svetambara

In the 3rd century BC, 12 years of famine occurred in Magadh. Bhadrabahu along with his followers including Chandragupta Maurya moved to karnataka. Where both bhadrabahu and chandragupta took the santhara.

After the end of famine, when many jain followers returned to magadh, they found that the jain followers in the magadh region started wearing clothes. This led to division in Jainism- Digambara(no cloth) and Svetambara(white cloth). 

To end the differences, Sthulibhadra(Svetambara sect) organised the first jain council at patliputra in 3rd century BC. But the Digamber sect refused to join the council. Various Agam in prakrit language get compiled in this session.

Santhara/Sallekhana- Volunteer fasting to death(no food and water intake)

Digambara

1. Mula Sangh/Bisapantha- Oldest sangh, Supported the religious authorities, Bhattarakas(Dharma Guru). Acharya Kundakunda was associated with mula sangh. 
2. Terapanth- Against Bhattarakas, idol worship of tirthankars only.
3. Taran Panth or Samaiyapanth- Worship of sacred books and not the idols.
4. Gumnaam Pantha- Against offering in temples.
5. Totapantha- Tried to make compromise between Bispantha and Terapanth.

Svetambara

1. Murtipujak- Idol worship.
2. Sthanakvasi- No temple(no idol worship) , only prayer hall.
3. Terapanthi- Derived from Sthanakvasi(no idol worship), founded by Swami Bhikkanaji Maharaj. Followers are organised under the direction of a acharya.

Jain Council

1st Council- 3rd century BC- Patliputra- Sthulbahu

2nd Council- 512 AD- Vallabhi(Gujrat)- Devarddhigani Kshamashramana

Jain Texts

* Those who have knowledge of at least 10 Purvas are known as Shrutkevalins.

Agam- teachings of tirthankars

Bhagavati Sutra(5th Agam)- mention of 16 mahajanapadas

Bhadrabahu(Prakrit text)

Kalpasutra(Biography of Tirthankars)

Nirkutis-(Doctrine of jainism)

Kundakunda(Sauraseni Prakrit texts)

Samayasar (Treatise on the True Self)

Pravachanasar (Treatise of Preaching)

Niyamasar (Treatise on Rules of Conduct)

Panchastikaya (Treatise on Five Universal Substances)

Ashta-pahuda (Eight Steps), a collection of eight texts

Adipurana(sanskrit text- life story of Rishabhnath)- written by Jinasena(Patronised by Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha 1)

Tattvartha Sutra(Sanskrit text by Umaswami)-most authoritative text in jainism, accepted by both shwetambar and Digambar.

Indo-Aryan Language Development

At 600 BC, Sanskrit was the standard language used by Brahmins. And the language of common people was Prakrit. 

The use of Prakrit to write Jain texts led to standardisation of Prakrit. And thus jainism contributed to regional language development in india including maharashtri.

Most of the sangam age literature was compiled by the jain monks. So Jainism also contributed to the development of Dravidian languages including Tamil and Kannada.  

Patrons of Jainism

North India

Bimbisar, Ajatasatru

Chandragupta Maurya

Ama(kannauj ruler)

Kharavela(Kalinga)

South India

Pandyan Kings

Kadamba dynasty

Ganga dynasty

Amoghavarsha(Rashtrakuta)

Kumparpala(Chalukya)

Jain Architecture

Caves

Ellora caves(cave no 30-35), Mangi tungi cave, Gajpantha cave- Maharashtra

Udayagiri-Khandagiri caves, Hathi-gumpha cave(By king Kharavel)- Odisha

Sittanavasal Cave(only place having Pandya paintings)- TN

Statues

Gomateshwara/Bahubali(By western ganga dynasty commander Chamundarao)- Shravanabelagola, Karnataka

Statue of Ahimsa(Rishabhnath, Tallest Jain statue after 2002)- Mangi-tungi hills, Maharashtra

Temples

Dilwara Temple(By Vimal Shah in 11th century)- Mount Abu, Rajasthan

Girnar and Palitana temple of Rishabhnath- Gujarat

Muktagiri Digambara temples- Madhya pradesh

Table of contents Lecture 5