User:John Carter/Jainism
JAINISM. 1 – Introductory. - Jainism is a monastic religion which, like Buddhism, denies the authority of the Vedas, and is therefore regarded by the Brāhmans as heretical. The Jain church consists of the monastic order and the lay community. It is divided into two rival sections, the Śvetāmbaras, or 'White-robes,' and the Digambaras, or 'Sky-clad'; they are so called because the monks of the Śvetāmbaras wear white clothes, and those of the Digambaras originally went about stark naked, until the Muhammadans forced them to cover their privities. The dogmatic differences between the two sections are rather trivial (see art. DIGAMBARA); they differ more in conduct, as will be noticed in the course of the article.
The interest of Jainism to the student or religion consists in the fact that it goes back to a very early period, and to primitive currents of religious and metaphysical speculation, which gave rise also to the oldest Indian philosophies – Sānkhya and Yoga (qq.v.) - and to Buddhism. It shares in the theoretical pessimism of these systems, as also in their practical ideal – liberation. Life in the world, perpetuated by the transmigration of the soul, is essentially bad and painful; therefore it must be our aim to put an end to the Cycle of Births, and this end will be accomplished when we come into possession of right knowledge.1 In this general principle Jainism agrees with Sānkhya, Yoga, and Buiddhism; but they differ in their methods of realizing it. In metaphysics there is some general likeness between Sānkhya and Yoga on the one hand, and Jainism on the other. For in all these systems a dualism of matter and soul is acknowledge; the souls are principally all alike substances (monads) characterized by intelligence, their actual difference being caused by their connexion with matter; matter is, according to Jains and Sānkhyas, of indefinite nature, a something that may become anything. These general metaphysical principles, however, are worked out on different lines by the Sānkhyas and Jains2, the difference being still more accentuated by the different origins of these systems. For the Sānkhyas, owing allegiance to the Brāhmans, have adopted Brāhmanical ideas and modes of thought3, while the Jains, being distinctly non-Brāhmanical, have worked upon popular notions of a more primitive and cruder character, e.g. animistic ideas. But the metaphysical principles of Buddhism are of an entirely different character, being moulded by the fundamental principle of Buddhism, vix. that there is no absolute and permanent Being, or, in other words, that all things are transitory.4 Notwithstanding the radical difference in their philosophical notions, Jainism and Buddhism, being originally both orders of monks outside the pale of Brāhmanism, present some resemblance in outward appearance, so that even Indian writers occasionally have confounded them. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that some European scholars who became acquainted with Jainism through inadequate samples of Jain literature easily persuaded themselves that it was an offshoot of Buddhism.5 But it has since proved beyond doubt that their theory is wrong, and that Jainism is at least as old as Buddhism. For the canonical books of the Buddhists frequently mention the Jains as a rival sect, under their old name Nigantha (Skr. Nigrantha, common Prākrit Niggantha) and their leader in Buddha's time, Nātaputta (Nāta – or Nātaputta being an epithet of the last prophet of the Jains, Vardhamāna Mahāvīra), and they name the place of the latter's death Pāvā, in agreement with Jain tradition. On the other hand, the canonical books of the Jains mention as contemporaries of Mahāvīra the same kings as reigned during Buddha's career, and one of the latter's rivals. Thus it is established that Mahāvīra was probably a contemporary of Buddha, and probably somewhat older than the latter, who outlived his rival's decease at Pāvā.
Mahāvīra, however, unlike Buddha, was most probably not the founder of the sect which reveres him as their prophet, nor the author of their religion. According to the unanimous Buddhist tradition, Buddha had, under the Bodhi-tree, discovered by intuition the fundamental truths of his religion as it appears throughout his personal work; his first sermons are things ever to be remembered by his followers, as are the doctrines which he then preached. No such traditions are preserved in the canonical books of the Jains about Mahāvīra. His becoming a monk, and, some 12 years later, his attainment of omniscience (kevala), are, of course, celebrated events. But tradition is silent about his motives for renouncing the world, and about the particular truths whose discovery led to his exalted position. At any rate, Mahāvīra is not described by tradition as having first become a disciple of teachers whose doctrines afterwards failed to satisfy him, as we are told of Buddha; he seems to have had no misgivings, and to have known where truth was to be had,6 and thus he became a Jain monk. And, again, when, after many years of austerities such as are practised by other ascetics of the Jains, he reached omniscience, we are not given to understand that he found any new truth, or a new revelation, as Buddha is said to have received; nor is any particular doctrine or philosophical principle mentioned the knowledge and insight of which then occurred to him for the first time. But hs is represented as gaining, at his kevala, perfect knowledge of what he knew before only in part and imperfectly. Thus Mahāvīra appears in the tradition of his own sect as one who, from the beginning, had followed a religion established long ago; had he been more, had he been the founder of Jainism, tradition, ever eager to extol a prophet, would not have totally repressed his claims to reverence as such. Nor do Buddhistic traditions indicate that the Niganthas owed their origins to Nātaputta; they simply speak of them as of a sect existing at the time of Buddha. We cannot, therefore, without doing violence to tradition, declare Mahāvīra to have been the founder of Jainism. But he is without doubt the last prophet of the Jains, the last Tīrthakara. His predecessor, Pārśva, the last Tīrthakara but one, seems to have better claims to the title of founder of Jainism. His death is placed at the reasonable interval of 250 years before that of Mahāvīra, while Pārśva's predecessor Aristanemi is stated to have died 84,000 years before Mahāvīra's Nirvāna. Followers of Pārśva are mentioned in the canonical books; and a legend in the Uttarādhyayana sūtra xxiii. relates a meeting between a disciple of Pārśva and a disciple of Mahāvīra which brought about the union of the old branch of the Jain church and the new one.7 This seems to indicate that Pārśva was a historical person; but in the absence of historical documents we cannot venture to go beyond a conjecture.
2. Jain view of their origin, etc. - According to the belief of the Jains themselves, Jain religion is eternal, and it has been revealed again and again, in every one of the endless succeeding periods of the world, by innumerable Tīrthakaras. In the present avasarpinī period (see art. AGES OF THE WORLD [Indian], vol. I, p. 200 f.), the first Tīrthakara was Rsabha, and the last, the 24th, was Vardhamāna. The names, signs, and colours of the 24 Tīrthakaras were as follows:
Rsabha (or Vrsabha), bull, golden; (2) Ajita, elephant, golden; (3) Śambhava, horse, golden; (4) Abhinandana, ape, golden; (5) Sumati, heron, golden; (6) Padmaprabha, lotus-flower, red; (7) Supārśva, the svastika, golden; (8) Chandraprabha, moon, white; (9) Suvidhi (or Puspadanta), dolphin, white; (10) Sitala, the srīvatsa, golden; (11) Sreyārhsa (or Śreyān), rhinoceros, golden; (12) Vāsupūjya, buffalo, red; (13) Vimala, hog, golden; (14) Ananta (or Anantajit), falcon, golden; (15) Dharma, thunderbolt, golden; (16) Sānti, antelope, golden; (17) Kunthu, goat, golden; (18) Ara, the nandydvarta, golden; (19) Malli, jar, blue; (20) Suvrata (or Munisuvrata), tortoise, black; (21) Nami, blue lotus, golden; (22) Nemi (or Ariptanemi), conch shell, black; (23) Pārśva, snake, blue; (24) Vardhamāna, lion, golden. All Tīrthakaras were Ksatriyas; Munisuvrata and Nemi belonged to the Harivarhśa, the remaining 22 to the Iksvāku race. Malli was a woman, according to the Śvetāmbaras: but this the Digambaras deny, as, according to them, no female can reach liberation. The interval in years between Mahāvīra and the two last Tīrthakaras has been given above. Nami died 500,000 years before Nemi, Munisuvatra 1,100,000 years before Nami; the next intervals are 6,500,000, 10,000,000, or a krore; the following intervals cannot be expressed in definite numbers of years, but are given in palyopamas and sāgaropamas, the last interval being one krore of krores or abgaropamās. The length of the life and the height of the Tīrthakaras are in proportion to the length of the interval (see art. AGES OF THE WORLD [Indian]). These particulars are here given according to the Śvetāmbaras.
In connexion with these items of the mythological history of the Jains, it may be added that they relate the legends of 12 universal monarchs (Chakravartins), of 9 Vāsudevas, 9 Baladevas, and 9 Prativāsudevas who lived within the period from the first to the 22nd Tīrthakaras. Together with the 24 Tīrthakaras they are the 63 great personages of Jain history; the legends of their lives from the subject of a great epic work by Hemachandra – the Trisastiśalākapurusacharita, which is based on older sources, probably the Vāsudevahindī (edited in Bhāvnagar, 1906-09, by the Jainadharmaprasarakasabha).
All Tīrthakaras have reached Nirvāna at their death. Though, being released from the world, they neither care for nor have any influence on worldly affairs, they have nevertheless become the object of worship and are regarded as the 'gods' (deva) of the Jains (see art. ATHEISM [Jain], vol. Ii, p. 186 f.); temples are erected to them where their idols are worshipped.8 The favorite Tīrthakaras are the first and the three last ones, but temples of the remaining ones are also met with. The worship of the idols of the Tīrthakaras is already mentioned in some canonical books, but no rules for their worship are given;9 it was, however, already in full sway in the first centuries of our era, as evidenced by the Paümachariya, the oldest Prakrit kāvya of the Jains, and by the statues of Tīrthakaras found in ancient sites – e.g., in the Kankālī mound at Mathurā which belongs to this period.10 Some sects, especially a rather recent section of the Śvetāmbaras, the Dhundhīā or Sthānakavāsins, reject this kind of worship altogether.11
It goes without saying that the Tīrthakaras, except the two last, belong to mythology rather than to history; the 22nd, Aristanemi, is connected with the legend of Krsna as his relative. But the details of Mahāvīra's life as related in the canonical books may be regarded on the whole as historical facts.
He was a Ksatriya of the Jñāta clan and a native of Kundagrāma, a suburb of the town Vaiśālī (the modern Basārh, some 27 miles north of Patna).12 He was the second son of the Ksatriya Siddhārtha and Triśalā, a highly connected lady. The Śvetāmbaras maintain, and thus it is stated in the Ācharanga sūtra, the Kalpasūtra, etc., that the soul of the Tīrthakara first descended into the womb of the Brāhmanī Devánandā, and was, by the order of Indra, removed thence to the womb of Triśalā.13 But the Digambaras reject this story. His parents, who were pious Jains and worshippers of Pārśva, gave him the name Vardhamāna (Vira or Mahāvīra is an epithet used as a name: Arhat, Bhagavat, Jina, etc., are titles common to all Tīrthakaras). He married Yaśodā and by her had a daughter Anojjā. His parents died when he was 30 years old, and his elder brother Nandivardhana succeeded his father in whatever position he had held. With the permission of his brother and the other authorities, he carried out a long-cherished resolve and became a monk with the usual Jain rites. Then followed 12 years of self-mortification; Mahāvīra wandered about as a mendicant friar, bearing all kinds of hardships; after the first 13 months he even discarded clothes. At the end of this period dedicated to meditation, he reached the state of omniscience (kevala), corresponding to the Bodhi of the Buddhists. He lived for 42 years more, preaching the law and instructing his 11 disciples (ganadhara): Indrabhūti, Agníbhūti, Vāyubhūti, Ārya Vyakta, Ārya Sudharman, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Akampita, Achalbhrātr, Metārya, and Prabhāsa. In the 72nd year of his life he died at Pāvā and reached Nīrvāna. This event took place, as stated above, some years before Buddha's death, and may, therefore, be placed about 480 B.C. The Śvetāmbaras, however, place the Nīrvāna of Mahāvīra, which is the initial point of their era, 470 years before the beginning of the Vīkrama era, or in 527 B.C.14 The Digambaras place the same event 18 years later.
3. Canonical literature of the Śvetāmbaras. - The canonical books of the Śvetāmbaras (the Digambaras do not admit them to be genuine) are not works by Mahāvīra himself, but some of them claim to be discourses delivered by him to Indrabhūti, the Gautama, which his disciple, the ganadhara Sudhārman, related to his own disciple Jambūsvāmin. Before entering on details about the existing canon, it must be stated that, according to the Jains, there were originally, since the time of the first Tīrthakara, two kinds of sacred books, the 14 pūrvas and the 11 angas; the 14 pūrvas were, however, reckoned to make up a 12th anga under the name of Drstivāda. The knowledge of the 14 pūrvas continued only down to Sthūlabhadra, the 8th patriarch after Mahāvīra; the next 7 patriarchs down to Vajra knew only 10 pūrvas, and after that time the remaining pūrvas were gradually lost, until, at the time when the canon was written down in books (980 A.V.), all the pūrvas had disappeared, and consequently the 12th angā too. Such is the Śvetāmbara tradition regarding the pūrvas; that of the Digambaras is similar as regards the final loss of the pūrvas, differing, however, in most details; but they content that the angas also were lost after 9 more generations.15
The 11 angas are the oldest part of the canon (siddhānta), which at present embraces 45 texts. Besides the 11 angas, there are 12 upāngas, 10 paīnnas (prakīrnas), 6 chhedasūtras, Nāndī and Anuyogadvāra, and 4 mūlasūtras. A list of these texts according to the usual enumeration follows.16
(1)11 angas: Āchāra, Sūtrakrta, Sthāna, Samavāya, Bhagavatī, Jñātadharmakathās, Upāsakadaśās, Antarkrddaśās, Anutaraupapātikadaśās, Praśnavyākarana, Vipāka (Drstivāds, no longer extant); (2) 12 upāngas: Aupapatika, Rājapraśnīya, Jīvābhigama, Prajñāpanā, Jambudvīparpajñapti, Chandraprajñapti, Sūryaprajñapti, Nirayāvali [or Kapika], Kalpāvatarhaikā, Puspikā, Puspachulikā, Vrsnidaśās; (3) 10 painnas (prakīrnas): Chatuhśarana, Sarhstāra, Āturapratyākhyānam, Bhaktāparijñā, Tandulavaiyālī, Chandāvīja, Devendrastava, Ganivīja, Mahāpratyakhyāna, Vīrastava; (4) 6 chhedasūtrtas: Niśītha, Mahāniśītha, Vyavahāra, Daśāśrutaskandha, Brhatkalpa, Pañchakalpa; (5) 2 sūtras without a common name: Nāndī and Anuyogadvāra; (6) 4 mūlasūtras: Uttarādhyayana, Avaśyaka, Dsśavaikālika, and Pindaniryukti. Most of the canonical books have been edited in India, some with commentaries. English translations have been published of the Achāranga, Sūtrakrtānga, Upāsakadaśās, Antakrddaśās, Anuttaraupapātikadaśās, Uttarādhyayana, and two Kalpasūtras.
The redaction of the canon took place under Devarddhigani in 980 after the Nirvāna (A.D. 454, according to the common reckoning, actually perhaps 60 years later); before that time the sacred texts were handed down without embodying them in written books. In the interval between the composition and the final redaction of the texts, and even afterwards, they have undergone many alterations – transposition of parts, additions, etc. – traces of which can still be pointed out.17 Along with these alterations there seems to have gone on a gradual change of the language in which the texts were composed. The original language, according to the Jains, was Ardhamāgadhī, and they give that name, or Māgadhī, to the language of the present texts. But it has, most probably, been modernized during the process of oral transmission. The older parts of the canon contain many archaic forms for which in later texts distinct Mahārāstrī idioms are substituted. It will be best to call the language of the sacred texts Jain Prākrit, and that of later works Jain Mahārāstrī.
As the works belonging to the canon are of different origin and age, they differ greatly in character. Some are chiefly in prose, some in verse, some in mixed prose and verse. Frequently a work comprises distinctly disparate parts put together when the redaction of the canon took place. The older prose works are generally very diffuse and contain endless repetitions; some, however, contain succinct rules, some, besides lengthy descriptions, systematic expositions of various dogmatic questions; in others, again, the systematic tendency prevails throughout. A large literature of glosses and commentaries has grown up round the more important texts.18 Besides the sacred literature and the commentaries belonging to it, the Jains possess separate works, in close material agreement with the former, which contain systematic expositions of their faith, or parts of it, in Prākrit and Sanskrit. These works, which generally possess the advantage of accuracy and clearness, have in their turn become the object of learned labours of commentators. One of the oldest is Umāsvāti's Tattvārthādhigamasūtra, a Śvetāmbara work, which, however, is also claimed by the Digambaras.19 A sort of encyclopædia of Jainism is the Lokaprakāśa20 by Tejapāla's son, Vinaya vijaya (1652). ON these and similar works our sketch of the Jain faith is chiefly based.
It may be here mentioned that the Jains also possess a secular literature of their own, in poetry and prose, both Sanskrit and Prākrit. Of peculiar interest are the numerous tales in Prākrit and Sanskrit with which authors used to illustrated dogmatical or moral problems; They have also attempted more extensive narratives, some in a more popular style, as Haribhadra's Samarāichchakahā, and Siddharsi's great work Upamitibhavaprapañchā kathā (both edited in Bibl. Ind., Calcutta, 1901-14), some in highly artificial Sanskrit, as Somadeva's Yaśastilaka and Dhanapāla's Tilakamañjari (both published in the Kāvyamālā, Bombay, 1901-03, 1903). Their oldest Prakrit poem (perhaps of the 3rd cent. A.D.), the Paūmachariya, is a Jain version of the Rāmāyana. Sanskrit poems, both in purāna and in kāvya style, and hymns in Prākrit and Sanskrit, are very numerous with the Śvetāmbaras as well as the Digambaras; there are likewise some Jain dramas. Jain authors have also contributed many works, original treatises as well as commentaries, to the scientific literature of India in various branches – grammar, lexicography, metrics, poetics,k philosophy, etc. (cf. art. HEMACHANDRA, vol. vi, p. 591).
4. The doctrines of Jainism. - Jain doctrines may be broadly divided into (i.) philosophical and (ii.) practical. Jain philosophy contains ontology, metaphysics, and psychology. The practical doctrines are concerned with ethics and asceticism, monasticism, and the life of the laity.
1. (a) Philosophy. - The Āranyakas and Upanisads had maintained, or were believed to maintain, that Being is one, permanent, without beginning, change, or end. In opposition to this view, the Jains declare that Being is not of a persistent and unalterable nature: Being, they say, 'is joined to production, continuation, and destruction.'21 This theory they call the theory of the 'Indefiniteness of Being' (anckāntavāda); it comes to this: existing things are permanent only as regards their substance, but their accidents or qualities originate and perish. To explain: any material thing continues for ever to exist as matter; this matter, however, may assume any shape and quality. Thus, clay as substance may be regarded as permanent, but the form of a jar of clay, or its colour, may come into existence and perish. It is clear that the Brāhmanical speculations are concerned with transcendental Being, while the Jain view deals with Being as given in common experience.
The doctrine of the Indefiniteness of Being is upheld by a very strange dialectical method called Syādvāda, to which the Jains attach so much importance that this name frequently is used as a synonym for the Jain system itself. According to this doctrine of Syādvāda, there are 7 forms of metaphysical propositions, and all contain the syāt, e.g., syād asti sarvam, syād nāsti sarvam. Syāt means 'may be,' and is explained by kathamchit, which in this connexion may be translated 'somehow.' The word syāt here qualifies the word asti, and indicates the Indefiniteness of Being (or astitvam). For example, we say a jar is somehow, i.e, it exists, if we mean thereby that it exists as a jar; but it does not exist somehow if we mean that it exists as a cloth or the like. The purpose of these seeming truisms is to guard against the assumption of the Vedāntins that Being is one without a second, the same in all things. Thus we have the correlative predicates 'is' (asti) and 'is not' (nasti). A third predicate is 'inexpressible' (avaktavya); for existent and non-existent (sat and asat) belong to the same thing at the same time, and such a co-existence of mutually contradictory attributes cannot be expressed by any word in the language. The three predicates variously combined make up the 7 propositions, or sapta bhangas, of the Syādvāda.
Supplementary to the doctrine of the Syādvāda, and, in a way, the logical complement of it, is the doctrine of the nayas.22 The nayas are ways of expressing the nature of things: all these ways of judgement, according to the Jains, are one-sided, and they contain but a part of the truth. There are 7 nayas, 4 referring to concepts, and 3 to words. The reason for this variety of statement is that Being is not simple, as the Vedāntins contend, but is of a complicated nature; therefore every statement and every denotation of a thing is necessarily incomplete and one-sided; and, if we follow one way of expression or of viewing things, we are bound to go astray. Hence it is usual in explaning notions to state what the thing under discussion is with reference to substance, place, time, and state of being.
(b) Metaphysics. - All things, i.e. substances (dravya) are divided into lifeless things (ajīvakāya) and lives or souls (jīva). The former are again divided into (1) space (ākāśā); (2) and (3) two subtle substances called dharma and adharma, and (4) matter (pudgala). Space, dharma, and adharma are the necessary conditions for the subsistence of all other things, viz. souls and matter; space affords them room to subsist; dharma makes it possible for them to move or to be moved; and, adharma, to rest. It will be seen that the function of space, as we conceive it, is by the Jains distributed among three different substances; this seems highly speculative, and rather hyperlogical. But the conception of two cosmical substances dharma and adharma, which occur already, in the technical meaning just given, in canonical books, seems to be developed from a more primitive notion. For as their names dharma and adharma indicate, they seem to have denoted, in primitive speculation, those invisible 'fluids' which by contact cause sin and merit. The Jains, using for the latter notions the terms pāpa and punya, were free to use the current names of those 'fluids' in a new sense not known to other Indian thinkers.
Space (ākāśā) is divided into that part of space which is occupied by the world of things (lokākāśā), and the space beyond it (alokākāśā), which is absolutely void and empty, an abyss of nothing. Dharma and adharma are co-extensive with the world; accordingly no soul nor any particle of matter can get beyond this world for want of the substrates of motion and rest. Time is recognized by some as a quasi-substance besides those enumerated.
Matter (pudgala) is eternal and consists of atoms; otherwise it is not determined in its nature, but, as is already implied by the doctrine of the Indefiniteness of Being, it is something that may become anything, as earth, water, fire, wind, etc. Two states of matter are distinguished: gross matter, of which the things which we perceive consist, and subtle matter, which is beyond the reach of our senses. Subtle matter, for instance, is that matter which is transformed into the different kinds of karma (see below). All material things are ultimately produced by the combination of atoms.. Two atoms form a compound when the one is viscous and the other dry, or both are of different degrees either of sicousness or dryness. Such compounds combine with others, and so on. They are, however, not constant to their nature, but are subject to change or development, and are, therefore, spoken of as 'earth-bodies,' 'water-bodies,' etc. Here we meet with animistic ideas which, in this form, are peculiar to Jainism. They probably go back to a remote period, and must have prevailed in classes of Indian society which were not influenced by the more advanced ideas of the Brāhmans.
Different from matter and material things are the souls (jīva, lit. 'lives'). There is an infinite number of souls; the whole world is literally filled with them. The souls are substances, and as such eternal; but they are not of a definite size, since they contract or expand according to the dimensions of the body in which they are incorporated for the time being. Their characteristic mark is intelligence, which may be obscured by extrinsic causes, but never destroyed.
Souls are of two kinds: mundane (samsārin), and liberated (mukta). Mundane souls are the embodies souls of living being in the world and still subject to the Cycle of Birfth; liberated souls will be embodied no more; they have accomplished absolute purity; they dwell in the state of perfection at the top of the universe, and have no more to do with worldly affairs; they have reached nirvāna (nirvrti, or mukti). Metaphysically the difference between the mundane and the liberated soul consists in this, that the former is entirely filled by subtle matter, as a bag is filled with sand, while the latter is absolutely pure and free from any material alloy.
The defilement of the soul takes place in the following way. Subtle matter ready to be transformed into karma pours into the soul; this is called 'influx' (āsrava). In the usual state of things a soul harbours passions (kasāya) which act like a viscous substance and retain the subtle matter coming into contact with the soul; the subtle matter thus caught by the soul enters, as it were, into a chemical combination with it; this is called the binding (bandha) (of karma-matter). The subtle matter 'bound' or amalgamated by the soul is transformed into the 8 kinds of karma, and forms a kind of subtle body (kārmanaśarīra)23 which clings to the soul in all its migrations and future births, and determines the individual state and lot of that particular soul. For, as each particular karma has been caused by some action, good, bad, or indifferent, of this individual being in question, so this karma, in its turn, produces certain painful, or pleasant, or indifferent conditions and events which the the individual in question must undergo. Now, when a particular karma has produced its effect in the way described, it (i.e the particular karma-matter) is discharged or purged from the soul. This process of 'purging off' is called nirjarā. When this process goes on without interruption, all karma-matter will, in the end, be discharged from the soul; and the latter, now freed from the weight which had kept it down before the time of its liberation (for matter is heavy, and karma is material), goes up in a straight line to the top of the universe where the liberated souls dwell. But in the usual course of things the purging and binding processes go on simultaneously, and thereby the soul is forced to continue its mundane existence. After the death of an individual, his soul, together with its kārmanaśarīra, goes, in a few moments, to the place of its new birth and there assumes a new body, expanding or contracting in accordance with the dimensions of the latter.
Embodied souls are living beings, the classification fo which is a subject not only of theoretical but also of great practical interest to the Jains. As their highest duty (parama dharma) is not to kill any living beings (ahimsā), it become incumbent on them to know the various forms which life may assume. The Jains divide living beings according to the number of sense-organs which they possess: the highest (pañchendriya) possess all five organs, viz. those of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing, while the lowest (ekendriya) have only the organ of touch, and the remaining classes each one organ more than the preceding one in the order of organs given above; e.g. worms, etc., possess the organs of touch and tast; ants, etc., possess, in addition, smell; bees, etc., seeing. The vertebrates possess all five organs of sense; the higher animals, men, denizens of hell, and gods possess and internal organ or mind (manas), and therefore called rational (samjñin). The notions of the Jains about beings with only one organ are, in part, peculiar to themselves and call for a more detailed notice.
It has already been stated that the four elements are animated by souls; i.e., particles of earth, etc., are the body of souls, called earth-lives, etc. These we may call elementary lives; they live and die and are born again, in the same or another elementary body. These elementary lives are either gross or subtle; in the latter case they are invisible. The last class of one-organed lives are plants; of some plants each is the body of one soul only, but of other plants each is an aggregation of embodied souls which have all functions of life, as respiration and nutrition, in common. That plants possess souls is an opinion shared by other Indian philosophers. But the Jains have developed this theory in a remarkable way. Plants in which only one soul is embodied are always gross; they exist in the habitable part of the world only. But those plants of which each is a colony of plant-lives may also be subtle, i.e, invisible, and in that case, they are distributed all over the world. These subtle plants are called nigoda; they are composed of an infinite number of souls forming a very small cluster, have respiration and nutrition in common, and experience the most exquisite pains. Innumerable nigodas form a globule, and with them the whole space of the world is closely packed, like a box filled with powder. The nigodas furnish the supply of souls in place of those who have reached nirvāna. But an infinitesimally small fraction of one single nigoda has sufficed to replace the vacancy caused in the world by the nirvāna of all the souls that have been liberated from the beginningless past down to the present. Thus it is evidence that the samsāra will never be empty of living things (see Lokaprakāśa, vi. 81 ff.).
From another point of view mundane beings are divided into four grades: denizens of hell, animals, men, and gods; these are the four walks of life (gati), in which beings are born according to their merits or demerits. For details, see artt. DEMONS AND SPIRITS (Jain), vol. iv. p. 608 ff., COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY (Indian), § 4, vol. iv. p. 160f., and AGES OF THE WORLD (Indian), vol. I. p. 200.
We have seen that the cause of the soul's embodiment is the presence in it of karma-matter. The theory of karma is the key-stone of the Jain system; it is necessary, therefore, to explain this theory in more detail. The natural qualities of soul are perfect knowledge (jñāna), intuition or faith (darśana), highest bliss, and all sorts of perfections; but these inborn qualities of the soul are weakened or obscured, in mundane souls, by the presence of karma. From this point of view the division of karma will be understood. When karma-matter has penetrated the soul, it is transformed into 8 kinds (prakrti) of karma singly or severally, which form the karmanaśarīra, just as food is, by digestion, transformed into the various fluids necessary for the support and growth of the body. The 8 kinds of karma are as follows:
(1) Jñānāvaranīya, that which obscures the inborn right of knowledge (i.e. omniscience) of the soul and thereby produces different degrees of knowledge and ignorance;24 (2) darśanāvaranīya, that which obscures right intuition, e.g. sleep; (3) vedaniya, that which obscures the bliss-nature of the soul and thereby produces pleasure and pain; (4) mohaniya, that which disturbs the right attitude of the soul with regard to faith, conduct, passions, and other emotions, and produces doubt, error, right or wrong conduct, passions, and various mental states; (5) āyuska, that which determines the length of life of an individual in one birth as hell-being, animal, man, or god; (6) nāma, that which produces the various circumstances or elements which collectively make up an individual existence, e.g. the peculiar body with its general and special qualities, faculties, etc.; (7) gotrā, that which determiknes the nationality, caste, family, social standing, etc., of an individual; (8) antarāya, that which obstructs the inborn energy of the soul and thereby presents the doing of a good action when there is a desire to do it.
Each kind of karma has its predestined limits in time within which it must take effect and thereby be purged off. Before we deal with the operation of karma, however, we must mention another doctrine which is connected with the karma-theory, viz. that of the six leśyās. The totality of karma amalgamated by a soul induces on it a transcendental colour, a kind of complexion, which cannot be perceived by our eyes; and this is called leśyā. There are six leśyās: black, blue, grey; yellow, red, and white. They have also, and prominently, a moral bearing; for the leśyā indicates the character of the individual who owns it. The first three belong to bad characters, the last three to good characters. 25
The individual state of the soul is produced by its inborn nature and the karma with which it is vitiated; this is the developmental or pārināmika state. But there are 4 other states which have reference only to the behaviour of the karma. In the common course of things karma takes effect and produces its proper results; then the soul is in the audayika state. By proper efforts karma may be prevented, for some time, from taking effect; it is neutralized (upaśamita), but it is still present, just like fire covered by ashes; then the soul is in the aupaśamika state. When karma is not only prevented from operating, but is annihilated altogether (ksapita), then the soul is in the ksāyika state, which is necessary for reaching nirvāna. There is a fourth state of the soul, ksāyopaśamika, which partakes of the nature of the preceding ones; in this state some karma is annihilated, some is neutralized, and some is active. This is the state of ordinary good men, the ksāyika and aupaśamika states belong to holy men, especially the former. It will be easily understood that these distinctions are constantly referred to in the practical ethics of the Jains.
We shall now consider the application of the karma-theory to ethics. The highest goal is to get rid of all karma (nirjarā) and meanwhile to acquire no new karma – technically speaking, to stop the influx (āsrava) or karma, which is called samvara, or the covering of the channels through which karma finds entrance into the soul. All actions produce karma, and in the majority of cases entail on the doer continuance of worldly existence (sāmparāyika); but, when a man is free from passions and acts in strict compliance with the rules of right conduct, his actions produce karma which lasts but for a moment and is then annihilated (īryapatha). Therefore the whole apparatus of monastic conduct is required to prevent the formation of new karma; the same purpose is served by austerities (tapas), which, moreover, annihilate the old karma more speedily than would happen in the common course of things.
It is evident from the preceding remarks that the ethics and ascetics of the Jains are to be regarded as the logical consequence of the theory of karma. But from a historical point of view many of their ethical principles, monastic institutions, and ascetic practices have been inherited from older religious classes of Indian society, since Brāhmanical ascetics and Buddhists resemble them in many of their precepts and institutions (see SBE xxii. [1884] Introd., p. xxii ff.).
ii. Jain ethics has for its end the realization of nirvāna, or moksa. The necessary condition for reaching this end is the possession of right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct. These three excellences are metaphorically named the 'three jewels' (triratna), an expression used also by the Buddhist but in a different sense; they are not produced, but they are manifested on the removal of obstructing or obscuring species of karma. To effect this, the rules of conduct must be observed and corresponding virtues must be acquired. Of first importance are the five vows, the first four of which are also acknowledged by Brāhmans and Buddhists. The five vows (vratas) of the Jains are: (1) not to kill; (2) not to lie; (3) not to steal; (4) to abstain from sexual intercourse; (5) to renounce all wordly things, especially to keep no property. These vows are to be strictly observed by monks, who take them on entering the Order, or, as it is commonly expressed, on taking dīksā. In their case the vows are called the five great vows (mahāvrata). Lay people, however, should observe these vows so far as their conditions admit; the five vows of the lay people are called the small vows (anuvrata). To explain: not to kill any living beings requires the greatest caution in all actions, considering that nearly everything is believed to be endowed with life. Endless rules have been laid down for monks which aim at preventing the destruction of the life of any living beings whatever. But if a layman were to observe these rules he could not go about his business; he is, therefore, obliged to refrain only from intentionally killing living beings, be it for food, pleasure, gain, or any such purpose. And so it is also with the remaining vows; their rigour is somewhat abated in the case of laymen. A layman, however, may, for a limited time, follow a more rigorous practice by taking one of the following particular vows or regulations of conduct (śīlavrata): (1) digvirati; he may limit the distance up to which he will go in this or that direction; (2) anarthadandavirati; he may abstain from engaging in anything that does not strictly concern him; (3) upabhogaparibhogaparimāna; he may set a measure to his food, drink, and the things he enjoys, avoiding besides gross enjoyments. (It may be mentioned in passing that certain articles of food, etc., are strictly forbidden to all, monks and laymen alike, e.g. roots, honey, and spirits; and likewise no food may be eaten at night.) The preceding three vows are called gunavrata; the next four are the disciplinary vows (śiksāvrata): (4) deśavirata, reducing the area in which one will move; (5) sāmāyika; by this vow the layman undertakes to give up, at stated times, all sinful actions by sitting down motionless and meditating on holy things; (6) pausadhopavāsa, to live as a monk on the 8th, 14th, or 15th day of the lunar fortnight, at least once a month: (7) atithisanvibhāga, lit., to give a share to guests, but it is understood in a less literal sense, viz. to provide the monks with what they want.
Most of these regulations of conduct for laymen are intended apparently to make them participate, in a measure and for some time, in the merits and benefits of monastic life without obliging them to renounce the world altogether. The rules for a voluntary death have a similar end in view (see art. DEATH AND DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD [Jain]), vol. iv, p. 484 f.). It is evident that the lay part of the community were not regarded as outsiders, or only as friends and patrons of the Order, as seems to have been the case in early Buddhism, well defined by religious duties and privileges; the bond which united them to the Order of monks was an effective one. The state of a layman was one preliminary and, in many cases, preparatory to the state of a monk; in the latter respect, however, a change seems to have come about, in so far as now and for some time past the Order of monks is recruited chiefly from novices entering it at an early age, not from laymen in general. It cannot be doubted that this close union between laymen and monks brought about by the similarity of their religious duties, differing not in kind, but in degree, has enabled Jainism to avoid fundamental changes within, and to resist dangers from without for more than two thousand years, while Budedhism, being less exacting as regards the laymen, underwent the most extraordinary evolutions and finally disappeared altogether in the country of its origin.
A monk on entering the Order takes the five great vows stated above; if they are strictly kept, in the spirit of the five times five clauses, or bkāvanās (SBE xxii, 202 ff.), no new karma can form. But, to practise them effectually, more explicit regulations are required, and these constitute the discipline of the monks. This discipline is described under seven heads.
(1) Since through the activity of the body, speech, and mind, which is technically called yoga by the Jains, karma-matter pours into the soul (āsrava) and forms new karma, as explained above, it is necessary, in order to prevent the āsrava (or to effect samvara), to regulate those activities by keeping body, speech, and mind in strict control: these are the three guptis (e.g., the gupti or guarding of the mind consists in not thinking or desiring anything bad; having only good thoughts, etc.). (2) Evenn in those actions which are inseparable from the duties of a monk, he may become guilty of sin by inadvertently transgressing the great vows (e.g., killing living beings). To avoid such sins he must observe the five samitis, i.e. he must be cautious in walking, speaking, collecting alms, taking up or putting down things, and voiding the body; e.g., a monk should in walking look before him for about six feet of ground to avoid killing or hurting any living being; he should, for the same reason, inspect and sweep the ground before he puts anything on it; he should be careful not to eat anything considered to possess life,26 etc. (3) Passion being the cause of the amalgamation of karma-matter with the soul, the monk should acquire virtues. The 4 cardinal vices (kasāya) are anger, pride, illusion, and greed; their opposite virtues are forbearance, indulgence, straightforwardness, and purity. Adding to them the following 6 virtues, veracity, restraint, austerities, freedom from attachment to anything, poverty, and chastity, we have what is called the tenfold highest law of the monks (uttamadharma).27 (4) Helpful for the realization of the sanctity of which an earnest searcher of the highest good stands in need are th 12 reflexions (anupreksā or bhāvanā) on the transitoriness of all things, on the helplessness of men, on the misery of the world, and similar topics, which form the subject of endless homilies inserted in their works by Jain authors. (5) Furthermore, it is necessary for a monk, in order to keep in the right path to perfection and to annihilate his karma, to bear cheerfully with all that may cause him trouble or annoyance. There are 22 such 'troubles' (parīsaha) which a monk must endure without flinching, as hunger and thirst, cold and heat, all sorts of trying occurrences, illness, ill treatment, emotions, etc., If we consider that the conduct of the monk is regulated with the purpose of denying him every form of comfort and merely keeping him alive, without, however, the risk of hurting any living beings, it may be imagined to what practical consequences the endurance of the parīsahas must lead. (6) Conduct (chāritra) consists in control and is of 5 degrees or phases. In the lowest phase all sinful activities are avoided, and the highest leads to the annihilation of all karma, preliminary to final liberation. (7) The last item of asceticism or austerities (tapas), which not only prevents the forming of new karma (samvara) but also purges off the old (nirjarā), provided that it be undertaken the right way and with the right intention; for there are also the 'austerities of fools' (bālatapas) practised by other religious sects, through which temporary merits, such as supernatural powers, birth as a god, etc., can be accomplished but the highest good will never be attained. Tapas is, therefore, one of the most important institutions of Jainism. It is divided into (a) external and (b) internal tapas; the former compises the austerities practised by the Jains, the latter their spiritual exercises. (a) Among austerities fasting is the most conspicuous; the Jains have developed it to a kind of art, and reach a remarkable proficiency in it. The usual way is to eat only one meal every second, third, fourth day, and so on down to half a year. Another form of fasting is starving oneself to death (māranāantikī samlekhanā; see 'Voluntary death or euthanasia' in the art. DEATH AND DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD [Jain]). Other kinds of abstinence are distinguished from fasting properly so called: reduction of the quantity of the daily food; restrictions as regards the kind of food selected from what one has obtained by begging (for monks and nuns must, of course, beg their daily meal and must not eat what has been specially prepared for them); rejection of all attractive food. To the category of external austerities belong also sitting in secluded spots to meditate there and the postures taken up during meditation. The latter item Jain ascetics have in common with Brāhmanical Yoga. (b) Internal austerities embrace all that belongs to spiritual discipline, including contemplation – e.g., confessing and repenting of sins. Transgressions of the rules of conduct are daily expiated by the ceremony of pratikramana; greater sins must be confessed to a superior (ālochanā) and repented of. The usual penance in less serious cases is to stand erect in a certain position for a given time (kāyotsarga); but for graver transgressions the superior prescribes other penances – in the worst cases a new ordination of the guilty monk. Other kinds of internal austerities consist of modest behaviour, in doing services to other members of the Order or laymen, in the duty of studying, in overcoming all temptations. But the most important of all spiritual exercises is contemplation (dhyāna). Contemplation consists in the concentration of the mind one object; it cannot be persevered in for longer than one muhŭrta (48 minutes), and is permitted only to persons of a sound constitution. According to the object on which the thoughts are concentrated and the purpose for which this is done, contemplation may be bad or good, and will lead to corresponding results. We are here concerned only with good contemplation, which is either religious (dharma), or pure or bright (śukla). The former leads to the intuitive cognition of things hidden to common mortals, especially of religious truths. Indeed it, cannot be doubted that the pretended accuracy of information on alls orts of subjects, such as cosmography, astronomy, geography, spiritual processes, etc., which the sacred books and later treatises contain is in great part due to the intuition which the 'religious contemplation' is imagined to produce. Higher than the latter is the 'pure' contemplation, which leads through four stages to final emancipation: first, single objects are meditated upon, then only one object; then there is the stage when the activities of the body, speech, and mind continue, but only in a subtle form without relapse. At this stage, when the worldly existence rapidly draws towards its end, the remaining karma may be suddenly consumed by a kind of expulsion called samudghāta. Then, in the last stage of contemplation, all karma being annihilated and all activities having ceased, the soul leaves the body and goes up to the top of the universe, where the liberated souls stay forever. It must, however, be remarked that 'pure contemplation' is not by itself a means of reaching liberation, but that it is the last link of a long chain of preparatory exertions. Even its first two stages can be realized only by those in whom the passions (kasāya) are either neutralized or annihilated; and only kavalins, i.e. those who have already reached omniscience, can enter into the last two stages, which lead directly to liberation. On the other hand, the nirvāna is necessarily preceded by 12 years of self-mortification of the flesh,28 which should be the closing act of a monk's career, though it no longer leads to liberation, for Jambūsvāmin, the disciple of Mahāvira's disciple Sudharman, was the last man who reached kevala, or omniscience, and was liberated on his death29 (64 after Mahavirā's nirvāna); accordingly during the rest of the present Avasarpinī period nobody will be born who reaches nirvāna in the same existence. Nevertheless these speculations possess a great theoretical interest, because they afford us a deeper insight into the Jain system.
In this connexion we must notice a doctrine to which the Jains attach importance, viz. the doctrine of the gunasthānas, i.e. the 14 steps which, by a gradual increase of good qualities and decrease of karma, lead from total ignorance and wrong belief to absolute purity of the soul and final liberation.
In the first stage (mithayādrstī) are all the beings from the nigodas upwards to those men who do not know or do not believe in the truths revealed by the Tīrthakaras; they are swayed by the two cardinal passions, love and hate (rāga and dvesa), and are completely tied down by karma. In the following stages, as one advances by degrees in true knowledge, in firmness of belief, and in the control and repression of passions, different kinds of karma are got rid of their effects cease, so that the being in question becomes purer and purer in each following stage. In all stages up to the 11th (that of the upaśāntakasāyavītarāgachchhadmastha) a relapse may take place and a man may fall even down to the first stage. But as soon as he has reached the 12th stage, in which the first four kinds of karma are annihilated (that of a ksīnakasāyavītarāgachchhadmastha), he cannot but pass through the last two stages, in which omniscience is reached; in the 13th stage (that of a sayogiksvalin), the man still belongs to the world, and may continue in it for a long period; he retains some activities of body, speech, and mind; but, when all his activities cease, he enters on the last stage (that of an ayogiksvalin), which leads immediately to liberation, when the last remnant of karma has been annihilated.
A question must now be answered which will present itself to every critical reader, viz. Is the karma-theory as explained above an original and integral part of the Jain system? It seems so abstruse and highly artificial that one would readily believe it a later developed metaphysical doctrine which was grafted on an originally religious system based on animistic notions and intent on sparing all living things. But such a hypothesis would be in conflict with the fact that this karma-theory, if not in all details, certainly in the main outlines, is acknowledged in the oldest parts of the canon and presupposed by many expresions and technical terms occurring in them. Nor can we assume that in this regard the canonical books represent a later dogmatic development for the following reason: the terms āsrava, samvara, nirjarā, etc., can be understood only on the supposition that karma is a kind of subtle matter flowing or pouring into the soul (āsrava), that this influx can be stopped or its inlets covered (samvara), and that the karma-matter received into the soul is consumed or digested, as it were, by it (nirjarā). The Jains understand these terms in their literal meaning, and use them in explaining the way to salvation (the samvara of the āsravas and the nirjarā lead to moksa). Now these terms are as old as Jainism. For the Buddhists have borrowed from it the most significant term āsrava; they use it in very much the same sense as the Jains, but not in its literal meaning, since they do not regard the karma as subtle matter, and deny the existence of a soul into which the karma could have an 'influx.' Instead of samvara they say āsavakkhaya (āsravaksaya), 'destruction of the āsravas,' and identify that with them āsrava has lost its literal meaning, and that, therefore, they must have borrowed this term from a sect where it had retained its original significance, or, in other words, from the Jains. The Buddhists also use the term samvara, e.g. sīlasamvara, 'restraint under the moral law,' and the participle samvuta, 'controlled,' words which are not used in this sense by Brāhmanical writers, and therefore are most probably adopted from Jainism, where in their literal sense they adequately express the idea that they denote. Thus the same argument serves to prove at the same time that the karma-theory of the Jains is an original and integral part of their system, and that Jainism is considerably older than the origin of Buddhism.
5. Present state of Jainism. – The Jains, both Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras, number, according to the census of 1901, 1, 334,140 members, i.e even less than ½ per cent of the whole population of India.30 On account of their wealth and education the Jains are of greater importance, however, than might be expected from their number. There are communities of Jains in most towns all over India. The Digambaras are found chiefly in Southern India, in Maisūr and Kannada, but also in the North, in the North-Western provinces, Eastern Rājaputnā, and the Panjāb. The headquarters of the Śvetāmbaras are in Gujarāt (whence Gujaratī has become the common language of the Śvetāmbaras, rather than Hindī) and Western Rājaputāna, but they are to be found also all over Northern and Central India. Very much the same distribution of the Jains as at present seems, from the evidence of the inscriptions, to have prevailed ever since the 4th century.31 Splendid temples bear testimony to the wealth and zeal of the sect, some of which rank among the architectural wonders of India, as those on the hills of Girnār and Satruñjaya, on Mount Ābū, in Ellora, and elsewhere.
The outfit of a monk is restricted to bare necessities, and these he must beg;clothes, a blanket, an almsbowl, a stick, a broom to sweep the ground, a piece of cloth to cover his mouth whem speaking lest insects enter it. The nuns' outfit is the same except that they have additional clothes. The Digambaras have a similar outfit, but keep no clothes and use peacock's feathers instead of the broom. The monks shave the head, or remove the hair by plucking it out (locha). The latter method of getting rid of the hair is to be preferred and is necessary at particular times; it is peculiar to the Jains and is regarded by them as an essential rite.
Originally the monks had to lead a wandering life except during the monsoon, when they stayed in one place; compare the vassa of the Buddhist monks. Thus Mahāvīra in his wandering stayed for one day only in a village and five days in a town. But this habit has been somewhat changed by the introduction of convents (upāśraya), corresponding to the vihāras of the Buddhists.
The upāśrayas 'are separate buildings erected by each sect for their monks or nuns. An Upāśraya is a large bare hall without bath-rooms and cooking places, furnished only with wooden beds' (M. Stevenson, Mod. Jainism, p. 88).
The Śvetāmbaras, as a rule, go only to those places where there are such upāśrayas; and now they stay as long as a week in a village, in a town as long as a month. It is in the upāśraya that the monks preach or explain sacred texts to laymen who come to visit them. The daily duties of a monk are rather arduous if conscientiously performed; e.g., he should sleep only three hours of the night. His duties consist in repenting of and expiating sins, meditating, studying, begging alms (in the afternoon), careful inspection of his clothes and other things for the removal of insects, for cleaning them, etc. (for details see lect. xxvi. of the Uttarādhyayana sūtra [SBE xlv. 142 ff.]). There are various monastic degrees. First there is the novice (śaiksa), who is not yet ordained. When he or any other man takes the vows (vratādāna), he renounces the world (pravrajyā) and is initiated or takes dīksā. The most important ceremony at that time is the shaving or pulling out of the hair under a tree. From a common monk he may rise to the rank of a teacher and superior called upādhyāya, āchārya, vāchaka, ganin, etc., according to degrees and occupations.
The religious duties of the laity have, to some extent, been treated above. The ideal of conduct is that of the monk, which a layman, of course, cannot realize, but which he tries to approach by taking upon himself particular vows.32 But in practical life also, apart from asceticism, the Jains possess a body of rules composed by monks which lay out a rational course of life for laymen and tend to improve their welfare and moral standard.33 The monks have also to provide for the religious wants of the laity by explaining sacred texts or religious treatises and delivering sermons; this is done in the upāśrayas where the laymen visit them; similarly the nuns are visited by, or visit, the lay women. But the most conspicuous habit of the laity is attendance in temples, and worship of the Tīrthakaras and the deities associated with them.34
We must now advert to a pecularity of the Jains which has struck all observers more than any other, viz. their extreme carefulness not to destroy any living being, a principle which is carried out to its very last consequences in monastic life, and has shaped the conduct of the laity in a great measure. No layman will intentionally kill any living being, not even any insect, however troublesome; he will remove it carefully without hurting it. It goes without saying that the Jains are strict vegetarians. This principle of not hurting any living being bars them from some professions, e.g. agriculture, and 'has thrust them into commerce, and especially into its least elevating branch of money-lending.. Most of the money-lending in Western India is in the hands of the Jains, and this accounts in a great measure both for their unpopularity and for their wealth.' 35A remarkable institution of the Jains, due to their tender regard for animal life, is their asylums for old and diseased animals, the panjarapolas, where they are kept and fed till they die a natural death.
6. History of Jainism. – The history of the Jain church, in both the Śvetāmbara and the Digambara sections, is chiefly contained in their lists of patriarchs and teachers and in legends concerning them. The oldest list of patriarchs of the Śvetāmbaras is the Sthavirāvalī in the Kalpasūtra, which begins with Mahāvīra's disciple Sudharman and ends with the 33rd patriarch Śāndilya or Skandils. Of most patriarchs only the names and the gotra are given; but there is also an expanded list from the 6th, Bhadrabāhu, down to the 14th, Vajrasena, which adds more details, viz. the names of the disciples of each patriarch and of the schools and branches (gana, kula, and śākhā) founded by, or originating with, them. As some of these details are also mentioned in old Jain inscriptions of the 2nd cent. A.D. Found at Mathurā, this part at least of the Jain tradition is proved to be based on historical facts. Further, the more detailed list of patriarchs shows that after the 6th patriarch a great expansion of Jainism took place in the N. and N.W. of India. Beyond the details mentioned, we have no historical records about the patriarchs; but such legends as were known about them down to Vajrasena have been combined in Hemachandra's Pariśista parvam into a kind of continuous narrative. For later times there are lists of teachers (gurvāvali, pattāvali) of separate schools, called gaschchha, which usually differ only in minute details of conduct, is said to amount to 84, of which only 8 are represented in Gujarāt, the most important of them being the Kharatara Gachchha, which has split into many minor gachchhas, the Tapā, Afichala, and others. Separate mention is due to the Upakeśa Gachchha, whose members are known as the Oswāl Jains; they are remarkable for beginning eheir descent, not from Mahāvīra, but from his predecessor Pārśva. These lists of teachers seem, as a rule, to be reliable only in that part which comes after the founder of the school to which they belong; the preceding period down to about the 9th cent. A.D. is one of great uncertainty; there seems to be a chronological blank of three centuries somewhere.
Records which allude to contemporaneous secular history are scant; such as we have in inscriptions and legends refer to kings who had favoured the Jains or were believed to have embraced Jainism. The first patron king of the Jains is said to have been Samprati, grandson of the great emperor Aśoka; but this is very doubtful history. A historical fact of the greatest importance for the history of Jainism was the conversion of Kumārapāla, king of Gujarāt, by Hemachandra (see art. HEMACHANDRA).
Finally, we must mention the schisms (nihnava) that have occurred in the Jain church. According to the Śvetāmbaras, there were eight schisms, of which the first was originated by Mahāvīra's son-in-law, Jamāli; and the eighth, occurring in 609 A.V. or A.D. 83, gave rise to the Digambara sect. But the Digambaras seem to be ignorant of the earlier schisms; they say that under Bhadrabāhu rose the sect of Ardhaphālakas, which in A.D. 80 developed into the Śvetāmbara sect. It is probable that the separation of the sections of the Jain church took place gradually, an individual development going on in both groups living at a great distance from one another, and that they became aware of their mutual difference about the end of the 1st cent. A.D. But the difference is small in articles of faith (see art. DIGAMBARA).
The sources for the history of the Digambaras are of a similar kind to those of the Śvetāmbaras, but later in date. The Digambara line of patriarchs is quite distinct from that of their rivals, except that they agree in the names of the first patriarch, Jambū, and the 6th, Bhadrabāhu, who, according to the Digambaras, emigrated at the head of the true monks towards the South. From Bhadrabāhu dates the gradual loss of their sacred literature, as stated above. The inscriptions furnish ample materials for a necessarily incomplete history of their ancient schools (ganas); but they do not quite agree in all details with the more modern tradition of the pattāvalis. According to the latter, the main church (mūla-sangha) divided into four ganas, Nandi, Sena, Simha, and Deva, about the end of the 1st cent. A.D.
1 It may be added that, with the exception of Yoga, all these ancient systems are strictly atheistic, i.e. they do not admit an absolute Supreme God; even in Yoga, the Iśvara is not the first and only cause of everything existent. 2 The Sākhyas endeavour to explain, from their dualistic principles, purusa and prakrti, the development of the material world as well as that of living beings; the Jains, however, are almost exclusively concerned with the latter, and declare that the cause of the material world and of the structure of the universe is lokasthiti, 'primeval disposition' (Tattvārthādhigama sūtra, iii. 6 com.) Sānkhya, probably based on cosmogonic theories contained in the Upanisads, was intended as a philosophic system which in the course of time became the theoretical foundation of popular religion. But Jainism was, in the first place, a religion, and developed a philosophy of its own to make this religion a self-consistent system. 3 e.g., the Sānkhya principle mahān means mahān ātmā; the three gunas are suggested by the trivrtkarana of Chhāndogya Up. vi. 3 f.; and prakrti by the cosmical brahmā of the earlier Upanisad doctrine, wherefore in the Gaudapāda Bhāsya on Kārikā 22 brahmā is given as a synonym of prakrti, etc. 4 The fundamental theories of Jainism, e.g. the syādvāda, their division of living beings, especially the elementary lives, are not found in Buddhism. 5 See SBE xlv. [1895] Introd., p. xviii ff. 6 A. F. R. Hoernle, Uvāsagadasāo, tr., p. 5 f., note (Calcutta, 1890), says that Mahāvīra, having been born in Kollāga, 'naturally, when he assumed the monk's vocation, retired (as related in Kalpasutra 115 f.) to the cheĭya of his own clan, called Dūipalāsa and situated in the neighbourhood of Kollāga. Mahāvīra's parents (and with them probably their whole clan of Nāya Ksattriyas) are said to have been followers of the tenets of Pārśvanātha (see Āyāranga, ii. 15, § 16). As such they would, no doubt, keep up a religious establishment (cheĭya) for the accomodation of Pārśva, on his periodical visits, with his disciples, to Kundapura or Vesālī. Mahāvīra, on renounding the world, would probably first join Pārśva's sect, in which, however, he soon became a reformer and chief himself.' 7 SBE xlv. Introd. p. xxi f. 8 For images and idols of the Jains see J. Burgess, 'Digambara Jain Iconography,' IA xxxii. [1903] 459 ff.; G. Bühler, 'Specimens of Jaina Sculptures from Mathura' in Epigraphia Indica, ii. [1894] 311 ff.; J. Ferguson and J. Burgess, Cave Temples, London, 1880, p. 487 ff. 9 Some kind of worship, however, seems to be implied for the oldest times by the mention of the various cheĭya (chaitya), or shrines, in the sacred books. These shrines were situated in gardens in which Mahāvīra resided during his visits to the towns to which they belonged. Cf. Hoernle, Uvāsagadasāo, tr., p. 3, note 4. 10 Epigr. Ind. ii. 311 f. 11 See 'Notes on the non-Idolatrous Shwetambar Jains,' by 'Seeker', 1911; and Margaret Stevenson, Notes on Modern Jainism, p. 13 f. 12 Kundaggāma and Vāniyaggāma, both suburbs of Vesālī, have been identified by Hoernle (loc. cit. p. 4, note 8) with the modern villages of Bāniyā and Basukund. 13 Cf. the transfer of the embryo of Baladeva from the womb of Rohini to that of Devakī, whence he got the name Samkarsana, still retaining the metronymic Rauhineya. 14 In the Preface to his ed. of the Pariśista Parvan (Bibl. Ind., Calcutta, 1891), p. 4 ff., the present writer criticizes the Śvetāmbara tradition, and, by combining the Jain date of Chandragupta's accession to the throne in 155 after the Nirvāna with the historical date of the same event in 321 or 322 B.C., arrives at 476 or 477 B.C. As the probable date of Mahāvīra's Nirvāna. 15 For details see A. A. Guérinot, Répertoire d'épigraphie jaina, Paris, 1908, p. 36. 16 For details see Weber, 'Sacred Literature of the Jainas, which first appeared (in German) in Indische Studien, xvi.[1883] and xvii. [1885], and was translated in IA xvii. [1888]-xxi. [1892]. 17 See Weber, loc. cit. 8. 18 The development of this commenting literature has been studied by E. Leumann, ZDMG xlvi. [1892] 585 ff. 19 The Skr. text with a German tr. and explanation has been published by the present writer in ZDMG lx. [1906] 287 ff., 512 ff.; text and bhāsya are contained in the Bibl. Ind. Edition (Calcutta, 1906). 20 Edited by Hirālāla Harnsarāja, 3 vols. Jāmnagar, 1910. 21 See H. Jacobi, 'The Metaphysics and Ethics of the Jainas,' in Trans. of the Congress for the Hist. of Religion, Oxford, 1908, ii. 60. 22 Ib. 61. 23 The Jains recognize 5 bodies which an individual may possess (though not all simultaneously), one gross and 4 subtle ones. Besides the kārmanaśarira, which is the receptacle of karma and has no bodily functions, there are (1) the transmutation body (vaikriyaśarira), producing the wonderful appearances which gods, magicians, etc., may assume; (2) the translocation body (ahārakaśarira), which certain sages may assume for a short time in order to consult a Tirthakara at some distance; (3) the igneous body (taijasaśarira), which in common beings causes the digestion of food, but in persons of merit gives effect to their curses (that they burn their objects) and to their benedictions (that they gladden as the rays of the moon), etc. This doctrine of subtle bodies, in which, however, many details are subject to controversy, seems to be the outcome of very primitive ideas about magic, etc., which the Jains attempted to reduce to a rational theory. With the terms vaikriya- and taijasaśarira may be compared vaikārika and taijasa ahamkara of the Sānkhyas. 24 The Jains acknowledge five kinds of knowledge: (1) ordinary cognition (mati), (2) testimony (śruta), (3) supernatural cognition (avadhi), (4) direct knowledge of the thoughts of others (manahparyaya), (5) omniscience (kevala). 25 The belief in colours of the soul seems to be very old and to go back to the time when expressions like 'a black soul,' 'a bright soul,' were understood in a literal sense. Traces of a similar belief have also been found elsewhere (see Mahābhārata, xii. 290. 33 f., 291 4 ff.; see Yogasūtra, iv. 7). 26 The second part of the Āchārānga sūtra will give an idea of the cautions to be taken in this regard. 27 Cf. Manu, vi. 92. 28 See DEATH AND DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD (Jain), vol. iv. p. 484. 29 Pariśista Parvan, iv. 50 ff. 30 The small number of Jains is explained by the fact that Jainism is not a religion of the uncultivated masses, but rather of the upper classes. 31 See Guérinot, Répertoire d'épigraphie jaina, p. 34. 32 Mention should be made of the 11 padimās (Skr. pratimā), or standards of ascetic life, which a layman may take upon himself, especially when he intends to end his life by starting (cf. Hoernle, Uvāsagadasāo, tr., p. 45, n. 12 f., IA xxxiii. [1904] 330). 33 K. Windisch, Yogaśāstra, Germ. tr., ZDMG xxviii. [1874]; L. Suali, Yogabindu, Ital. tr., Giornale della Socistá Asiatica Italiana, xxi. [1908]; Warren, Jainism, p. 64 ff. 34 For a description of the worship of the different sections of the Jains see Stevenson, Mod. Jainism, p. 85 ff., where there is also a short notice of the Jain festivals and fasts (p. 107 ff.; cf. also art. FESTIVALS AND FASTS [Jain], vol. v. p. 875 ff.). 35 Stevenson, 41.