Jeff Gushman

HIST 134
Module 11 Research Paper
Dr. Alec Thomson
Religious History: The Jain Faith
Jainism is one the three distinct religions with its roots in India. The other two being

Hinduism and Buddhism. Jainism is indeed its own separate faith, not a subsect of Hinduism.

Jainism first originated around the 6th century BCE. Around this time it was believed that there

were twenty four tirthankaras, or ford makers who had all the secrets of the universe and were

able to tell the world more about them. The last of these great teachers was named Mahavira.

Mahavira is known as the founder of Jainism to the outside world. However Jains do not believe

their religion had a true founder, much like they do not believe the universe was created; it has

simply always existed.

Mahavira and Buddha can be likened to one another in many ways. They lived in a very

similar time period. Both were sons of a chieftan in the warrior class. Their religions would be

very similar in the end as well, with both embracing a life of peace, nonviolence, and love.

Mahavira recruited a number of disciples on his path to understanding his religion, some of

which would survive him and continue to spread the religion. Through its early years, Jainism

grew rather quickly, attaining about 50,000 monks and nuns by the time of Mahaviras death.

Jainism also faced relatively few hurdles within itself during this period. Only one small

disagreement has been documented, relating to a robe wearing sect of monks and the naked sect

of monks. There was also some disagreement as to whether women could attain the ultimate goal

of Jainism, to attain moksha.

 Moksha, or liberation, is the primary end point of the Jain faith. When one is able to

reach this goal, they stop the cycle of reincarnation. Indeed, Jains believe in reincarnation, and it

is not only limited to being reincarnated as another person. In the Jain faith, someone can be

reincarnated as a human, an animal, or even a plant! One of the higher positions of reincarnation

is to become a deity of sorts. Not a god per se, but someone who is all knowing and all seeing. It

is easy to see based on these beliefs why the most devout Jains wear no clothes, as fibers are

made of plants, and often cover their mouths and nose as to not inhale insects of anything living.

The divisions in the faith, while seemingly small in the beginning, would intensify over

time. These two sects, today known as Shvetambara and Digambara, would break off into their

own separate groups. During this period, Jainism did expand and moved westward to Ujjain.

Here, Jainism thrived and the king of this area would become a Jain. Later, when this king was

overthrown, the religion moved to central and western India, where it would enjoy its biggest

successes. The Digambara sect were successful in mixing Jainism in with politics in places like

Karnataka and Deccan. These two sects, the Digambara to the south and the Shvetambara in the

north, would continue to spread their respective branches of Jainism until the 19th century.

Around this time, the Shvetambaras were all but extinct. These areas of the faith had been

taken over by monks known as yatis. During this time period, the south Digamabaras would

enjoy even more growth, successful, and revival of their ideals. Today, both communities

embrace their history, and in the true tradition of Jainism, work together peacefully to preserve

their temples in both regions.

In the 20th century, Jainism has been able to become a worldwide religion. Many Jains

from India have settled in different regions in Africa, and in the 1960s, the first Jain temple was

opened in the United Kingdom. Jains have traditionally assumed jobs in the mercantile and
professional occupations. Moving into the United States and Canada, Jains have been able to

continue these non-violent professions very easily, as there is an abundance of them available in

these regions.

The predominance of Jains are still found in India today. About 4.2 Million Jains call

India home. They truly live some of the most peaceful and nonviolent lives of any group of

people on earth. Jains do not eat meat. In fact they may be some of the worlds first vegetarians

and vegans. They do not support the killing of any creature. Jains believe in two selfs, our true

self, and the illusion of ourselves. If Jains can free themselves of their material selves they can

attain nirvana, or moksha. Jains also believe in a complete open-mindedness. They believe that

no one way of life, or opinion on any matter has any more merit than any other. Jains also

believe in living a life of absolute truth, all the time. Only through this complete truth can a Jain

attain moksha. Overall, Jains believe in wanting to be the kindest, least harmful beings on earth.

If one can attain being absolutely selfless, compassionate, honest, and have no ego, they can

truly attain ultimate happiness.

 Works Cited

Dundas, Paul, et al. Jainism. Britannica.com. 29 Aug 2016. Web. Accessed 16 Apr 2017.

Encyclopedia Britannica is a well known scholarly source material that has existed for

decades. Their online format presents a wealth of knowledge about many topics including

world religions.

Jain practices. ReligionFacts.com. 18 Nov. 2016. Web. Accessed 16 Apr 2017.

Religion Facts is a well detailed, online source for the history and principles of many

religiojs.

Jainism. Patheos.com. Web. Accessed 16 Apr 2017.

The Patheos Library is a website dedicated to hosting the conversation of different world

faiths.

History of Jainism. BBC.co.uk. 10 Sep 2009. Accessed 16 Apr 2017.

BBC, one of the worlds most reputable news organizations, hosts a variety detailed

history articles on their site.