Life and teachings of mahavira pdf

World Religions Report

© Thomas Hilgers

First Encounter

On a street in Southeast Asia you ask a gentleman for directions. This leads to further

conversation because your accent gives you away and he has relatives in the United States.

“Maybe you know them?” he asks. “Do you live close to Tennessee?”

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Even though you don’t know his relatives, you are soon learning all about his family. He has two

sons, already married, and a willful daughter who is of marriageable age. He is frightened that

she might fall in love with a person of a different religion, and then what will he do? Soon he is

taking you into his nearby gurdwara—the religious center for Sikhs—where he will be doing

volunteer work this afternoon and having something to eat.

At the entrance, your new friend takes a piece of orange cloth and makes a turban to cover the

top of your head. He does the same for himself. “We do this for respect,” he says. Upstairs, you

meet the resident priest, a bright-eyed man in blue, who wears an orange cap. “Our congregation

brought him from India to be our priest,”

your Sikh friend explains as you walk to the altar area. Soon the priest is showing you copies of

the Adi Granth, the sacred book of the Sikhs. They are housed in a special air-conditioned

sanctuary beside the altar. Then you see the sword collection at the side of the room and discuss

the kirpan (ritual knife) that the priest wears. “Sikhs had to learn to defend themselves,” your

friend explains. “These are symbols of our strength.”

Afterward, you are invited downstairs to an enormous kitchen and dining room. Large vats

gleam. You and your friend sit at a long table, drinking tea with milk and eating a late-afternoon

snack with the kitchen workers.

At the entrance, before leaving, you give back your turban to the Sikh guide and thank him for

his kindness. You commiserate about his daughter and take the names and addresses of his

relatives in the United States, whom you plan to contact on your very next visit to their state. He

helps you find a taxi and, as it stops, invites you to a service three days from now. “There will be

wonderful Sikh music. You must come.” As you are climbing into the taxi, he adds, “There will

be much good food, too.”

Turbans, you decide as your taxi snakes through the traffic, are fine. But swords? And priests

who wear knives? Are these suitable symbols for any religion? How can religions hold such

differing attitudes about violence?

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Shared Origins

India is home to two religions, Jainism and Sikhism, that are now becoming better known in the

West (Figure 5.1). The first is ancient, and the other is relatively young. Adherents of the two

religions can be found in limited numbers around the world, but the majority of them still live in

India.

Figure 5.1 Jain and Sikh holy sites in India.

Both religions have some connection with Hinduism, sharing with it certain characteristics, such

as a belief in karma and rebirth. Furthermore, both of them, having developed in opposition to

Hindu polytheism and ritualism, strive toward greater religious simplicity. In spite of their

similarities, however, Jainism and Sikhism differ in their views of reality and in their emotional

tone. It is therefore interesting to look at them side by side. Jainism rejects belief in a Creator and

sees the universe simply as natural forces in motion, yet it also recognizes the spiritual potential

of each person. Like early Buddhism, Jainism emphasizes the ideals of extreme nonattachment

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and nonharm (ahimsa). Sikhism, to the contrary, embraces a devout monotheism and accepts

meat eating and military self-defense. Regardless of their differences, both religions stress the

importance of the individual’s struggle to purify the self, to act morally, and to do good to others.

Jainism

Background

As the Vedic religion expanded eastward into the Ganges River valley, it created opposition. As

we saw in Chapter 4, some people rebelled against the growing strength of the caste system, and

nonbrahmins, especially the aristocrats, felt threatened by the power of the priests. Moved by

compassion, some people opposed the animal sacrifices that were often a part of the Vedic ritual.

Two great religious movements grew out of this opposition. One—Buddhism—is well known

because it spread beyond India. The other movement—Jainism—has remained less well known

because, until recently, it has not sought converts in other lands. When they arose, both

Buddhism and Jainism were influenced by some early Hindu ideas, but they may have also

practiced much older ascetic traditions.

It is possible that Jainism has not spread widely because it is uncompromising: in it we find an

extremist quality that is fascinating, thought provoking, and often noble. Tendencies toward

nonviolence and austerity apparent in Hinduism and Buddhism are carried to their logical

endpoint in Jainism, and the skepticism of early Buddhism is practiced rigorously. The study of

Jainism, in fact, gives greater clarity to our understanding of those two other Indian religions.

Although Jainism did not spread widely, its strong ideal of nonviolence has attracted interest

throughout the world. We see its influence directly in the thought and work of Mahatma Gandhi

and, indirectly, in the thought and work of Martin Luther King Jr.

Mahavira and the Origins of Jainism

Jains date the origins of their religion to the distant past. They believe that in the present cycle of

the universe, twenty-four great people have reached perfection; and though living in quite

different centuries, these saints have been role models and guides who have shown the way to

others. These saints are called tirthankaras, which can be translated as “crossing makers” or “ford

finders”—a ford being a shallow section of a river through which people can wade to the other

side. It is notable that the term does not convey the image of a bridge. The point of the term is

that people cannot cross to the other side without getting wet and going through the river itself.

The historical existence of most of these tirthankaras cannot be proven, but the twenty-third one,

Parshva, may have been a real person who lived in India, possibly between 850 and 800 BCE

(Timeline 5.1).

TimeLine 5.1

Timeline of significant events in the history of Jainism and Sikhism.

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Jain monks leave the pilgrimage center at Belagola in India.

© Jagadeesh Nv/Reuters/Corbis

The most recent tirthankara is considered to be the greatest of them all and is often thought of by

outsiders to be the founder of Jainism. His name was Nataputta Vardhamana, but he is usually

referred to by an honorary title: Mahavira, meaning “great man” or “hero.” When he lived is not

entirely certain. An older dating, accepted by Jains, puts his life entirely in the sixth century BCE

(c. 599–527 BCE), but some scholars believe he lived a bit later (540–468 bce), possibly as a

contemporary of the Buddha.

Mahavira’s life story is surrounded by legend, although the basic outline—which somewhat

resembles the story of the Buddha—seems clear. He was born into an aristocratic family of a

noble clan. Luckily, he was the second son and thus had fewer responsibilities to care for his

parents than did his older brother. One branch of Jains holds that he never married; another says

that he married and had a child. But all agree that he left home at about age 30 to live the life of a

wandering holy man.

After leaving home, Mahavira embraced extreme asceticism, and legend tells of his harshness

toward himself and of the harshness received from others. He is said to have pulled out his hair

when he renounced the world, and villagers taunted him during his meditations by hurting him

with fire and with pins that they pushed into his skin. Dogs attacked him, but he did not resist. In

order to avoid all attachments to people and places, he moved to a new place every day; and after

losing his loincloth, he went entirely naked for the rest of his life. He lived as a wandering holy

man, begging for his food along the way. He was so gentle that to avoid causing injury to any

living thing, he strained whatever he drank to keep from swallowing any insect that might have

fallen into his cup, and he stepped carefully as he walked down a road to avoid crushing even an

ant.

After twelve years of meditation, wandering, and extreme mortification, Mahavira, at the age of

42, had an experience of great liberation. He felt completely free of all bondage to the ordinary

world—no longer being troubled by pain, suffering, shame, or loss. He now felt fully in control

of himself, sensing that he had won out over all the forces that bind a person to the world.

As a result of his liberating experience, Mahavira is called a jina (“conqueror”). It is from this

title that the religion Jainism takes its name.

Mahavira spent the next thirty years of his life teaching his doctrines and organizing an order of

naked monks. He died at about 72 at the village of Pava, near present-day Patna, in northeastern

India.

Worldview

Jainism, like Buddhism, rather starkly rejects belief in a Creator God. The Mahapurana, a long

Jain poem of the ninth century CE, states that “foolish men declare that Creator made the world.

The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised and should be rejected.” 1 Jainism offers the

following philosophical arguments: If God is perfect, why did God create a universe that is

imperfect? If God made the universe because of love, why is the world so full of suffering

beings? If the universe had to be created, did not God also need to be created? And where did

God come from in the beginning?

Jains respond to these questions by denying any beginning and asserting instead that the universe

is eternal. Although the universe has always existed, it must continually change, and in the

process of eternal change, structure arises on its own. Jainism (like Hinduism) teaches that the

universe goes through regular great cycles of rise and fall. During the periods when human

beings exist, there first is moral integrity, followed by inevitable moral decay; luckily, however,

in each human age, tirthankaras appear to point the way to freedom.

According to Jainism, everything is full of life and is capable of suffering. This view of reality,

called hylozoism (Greek: “matter-alive”), may be quite ancient. In addition, Jain philosophy is

dualistic, for Jains teach that all parts of the universe are composed of two types of reality, which

are intermixed. There is spirit, which senses and feels, and there is matter, which is not alive and

has no consciousness. Jainism calls these two principles jiva (“soul,” “spirit,” “life”) and ajiva

(“nonsoul,” “nonlife”). Jains, however, see life and consciousness where others do not—even in

fire, rocks, and water. Thus they extend the notion of spirit and feeling beyond human beings,

animals, and insects. They are also aware of the minuscule life-forms that live in earth, water,

and wood. Their way of looking at reality makes Jains cautious about injuring anything—even

that which does not at first appear to have the capacity to suffer.

Jainism sees the human being as composed of two opposing parts. The material side of the

human being seeks pleasure, escape from pain, and self-interest, while the spiritual side seeks

freedom and escape from all bondage to the material world and from the limitation of ego.

Because other forms of reality are not aware of their two opposing aspects, they can do nothing

about the essential incompatibility of the two parts. Human beings, however, have the ability to

understand their dual nature and to overcome their limitations. With discipline, human beings

can overcome the bondage of the material world and the body, liberating their spirits through

insight, austerity, and kindness.

Enriching this vision of the human situation are the Jain beliefs in karma and reincarnation. Like

Hindus, Jains believe that spirits are constantly being reborn in various forms. A spirit can move

up or down the scale of rebirth, as well as free itself entirely from the chain of rebirths.

What controls the direction of rebirth is karma, which is produced by every action. As discussed

earlier, karma is an important notion in Hinduism and Buddhism, but for Jains, karma has a quite

physical quality: it is like a powder or grime that settles on and clings to the spirit. The level of

rebirth is determined automatically, according to one’s state of karma at the time of death of

one’s current body.

Jains traditionally have believed that superhuman beings exist in realms of the universe above

the earth. Often these beings are called gods or deities, but such terms can be misleading. We

must recall that Jains believe that these superhuman beings are also subject to karma and change.

When the karma that has brought them rebirth as gods has run out, they will be reborn in lower

parts of the universe. Some Jains, however, do believe that when in their superhuman form, these

celestial beings can be of help to people on earth who pray to them. Jains also believe that some

beings exist in painful realms below the earth, and Jains hope to avoid being reborn there.

The Jain goal is to reach a state of total freedom. Liberated spirits, at last freed of their

imprisoning material bodies, live on in the highest realm, which is thought to be at the very top

of the universe. Mahavira and other tirthankaras dwell there, and although they cannot assist

human beings (as deities might), they are role models whom human beings devoutly recall in

order to gain strength and courage.

Jain Ethics

Jainism has five ethical recommendations, which monks and nuns are expected to keep quite

strictly. Laypeople, however, have the flexibility to adjust their practice to their particular life

situations. (We must also recall that these are ideals that are not always lived out perfectly by

individuals.)

The saint, with true vision, conceives compassion for all the world.... The great sage becomes a

refuge for injured creatures, like an island which the waters cannot overwhelm.

Acaranga Sutra 1:6, 5 2

Nonviolence (ahimsa) A more accurate English translation of ahimsa might be “gentleness” or

“harmlessness.” Ahimsa is the foundation of Jain ethics, and Jains are best known for their

extreme measures in this regard. Believing that Mahavira swept the ground in front of him as he

walked and before he sat down, Jain monks and nuns sometimes use a small, soft brush to move

ants and other insects out of the way so that no life-form—even the tiniest—will be crushed.

Feeling a kinship with the animal world as well, Jains have established hospitals to care for sick

animals. They have been known to buy caged animals and set them free. Jains are also strict

vegetarians, and some reject the use of animal products such as leather, feathers, and fur.

Because Jain laypeople avoid occupations that would harm insects or animals, hunting and

fishing are forbidden, as are slaughtering or selling animal flesh. And although some Jains are

farmers, farming is often avoided because the necessary plowing could hurt small animals and

insects living in the fields. Jains, instead, have gravitated to careers that ideally cause no harm,

such as medicine, education, law, and business. As an indirect result, the Jains in India make up a

powerful business class whose reputation for virtue earns them the trust of others. Nonlying

Jainism discourages the telling of any falsehood and avoids exaggeration, even when meant

humorously. Lying and exaggeration are dangerous, Jains think, because they often cause hurt.

Although these ideals are not always followed, Jains’ general mindfulness of their speech and

their reputation for honesty in their contractual agreements have earned them great respect.

Deeper Insights: Jains and a Holy Death

Because it so values nonattachment, Jainism defends a person’s right to end his or her own life.

(This is also true of Hinduism, but not so for many other religions—although most religions are

indeed concerned with a good and holy death.) Jain scriptures even teach that Mahavira and his

parents died by self-starvation. We must be cautious here, however, in using the word suicide.

Jains do accept ending one’s own life, but we must understand the practice from the Jain point of

view and within that context. Jains see all life as a preparation for the liberation of the spirit

(jiva) from the body, and when a person is sufficiently evolved spiritually, that person can make

the final choice to no longer create more karma.

The Jain ideal thus allows and esteems ending one’s life only after a long life of virtue and

detachment, and it must be done with consideration for others. Gentle methods of ending one’s

life are the best, such as walking into an ocean or lake. The most highly esteemed method,

however, is self-starvation, called sallekhana, “holy death.” Jains prepare for sallekhana over the

years by practicing fasting. When a person is old and growing weak, eating less and less is seen

as an appropriate way to hasten the end. Self-starvation, or “the final fast,” involves giving up

food but continuing to drink liquids. Death comes in about a month. This kind of death by self-

starvation is considered an ultimate, noble expression of nonattachment and freedom.

At the same time, Jainism teaches that “absolute truth” is impossible to find or express, because

everyone sees a situation from a unique point of view. A famous story illustrates the relativity of

truth. In this story, several blind people touch the same elephant, but they experience it quite

differently. The first person touches the ear and says it is a fan; the second person touches the leg

and says it is a tree trunk; the third person touches the tail and says it is a rope; and so on.

(Although this story is popular among Jains, it is doubtless older than Jainism itself.)

Nonstealing Jains may not take from others that which is not given. Stealing arises from

improper desire and causes pain to others.

Chastity For the monk or nun, this means complete celibacy, and for the married individual, this

means sexual fidelity to one’s spouse. Mahavira saw sex as a danger, because it strongly binds a

person to the physical world, strengthens desires, and can create passions that harm others. For

those who are sexually active, improper sex is that which hurts others. Nonattachment Human

beings form attachments easily—to family, to home, to familiar territory, to clothes, to money,

and to possessions.

A devotee anoints the feet of a Jain statue. The vines on each side (showing at the top corners of

the photograph) hint at the immobility and perseverance of the tirthankara.

© Paul Stepan/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Jainism asserts that all attachments bring a certain bondage and that some attachments, especially

to money and to possessions, can take complete control of a person. For laypeople, the ethical

requirement of nonattachment suggests cultivating a spirit of generosity and detachment and

limiting one’s possessions to what is truly necessary. For monks and nuns, this requirement is

interpreted more severely. Jainism teaches that Mahavira abandoned all attachments—family,

possessions, even his clothing—and that monks and nuns must imitate him to the best of their

capacity.

The Development of Jainism and its Branches

Jainism first developed in northeastern India, in the same area that gave rise to Buddhism. Both

Mahavira and the Buddha rebelled against aspects of Vedic religion: they refused to accept the

authority of the Vedas and the Vedic gods, and they rejected the importance of a priestly class;

instead, they placed emphasis on meditation and self-purification.

Although Buddhism followed a deliberate path of moderation—a “middle way”—Jainism

gloried in austerity. While the Buddha rejected both nakedness and suicide, as well as all

extreme austerity, Mahavira’s breakthrough experience of liberation, most Jains believe, was due

to his extreme harshness toward himself. He was successful precisely because he accepted—and

even sought—cold, heat, poverty, nakedness, and humiliation.

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The way of extreme austerity, however, is for rare individuals only. For most people, even for

monks and nuns, the harshness must be softened according to life’s circumstances. Because

Jainism spread to different parts of India, each with its distinct culture and climate, several

branches of Jainism arose, which interpret the basic principles and teachings with some variation

(Figure 5.2).

Figure 5.2 Branches of Jainism.

Digambaras

The name of this sect is beautiful and means “clothed in sky” or “atmosphere-clad.” It is a

pleasant way of referring to the monks’ ideal of going completely naked, even in public. The

Digambara branch holds that everything must be renounced, including the last scrap of clothing

and the consequent shame of nakedness.

Most members of this branch live in southern India today. As tradition explains, a famine that

occurred in the north drove many Jains southward. Divergences developed between those who

had remained in the north and those who had moved south. Thinking that northern followers had

lost an essential seriousness, the southern branch became conservative, continuing to insist on

renunciation of the most literal type. Its conservatism shows itself in many ways. For example,

Digambara Jainism does not accept women into monastic life, holding that they may become

monks only when they have been reborn as men. Possibly because of its high regard for celibacy,

it also rejects the tradition that Mahavira was ever married.

Shvetambaras

The name of this sect means “clothed in white” and comes from the fact that its monks dress in

white robes. The Shvetambara branch allows women to enter monastic life as nuns and to dress

in white as well. (Being clothed was allowed not only in deference to modesty but also because it

was demanded by the colder climate of northern India.) Shvetambara Jainism teaches that

Mahavira was indeed married at one time but that he left home to find liberation. Nowadays this

branch has members not only in the northeast but also in western and northwestern India.

Sthanakavasis

By the standards of India, the Sthanakavasi branch is fairly young, having grown up within the

past few hundred years. It is a reform movement that emerged from the Shvetambara branch in

the early eighteenth century. Popular Jainism had increasingly developed the practice of

venerating statues of Mahavira and other tirthankaras, influenced by the Hindu practice of puja

(devotional ritual performed in front of statues and at altars). Some Jain reformers opposed this

practice because it seemed to turn the tirthankaras into deities to be prayed to for help. The

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Sthanakavasis, therefore, do not make use of either temples or images. (Their name comes from

the simple buildings—sthanakas—in which they meet.) Rather than concentrate on temple

ceremony, Sthanakavasis focus on meditation and individual austerities.

Terapanthis

An even newer reformist movement is the Terapanthi branch. It was founded by Acharya

Bhikshu (1726–1803), also called Swami Bhikkanji Maharaj. The origin of the name Terapanthi,

which means “thirteen,” is debated. It may come from the thirteen moral principles outlined by

the founder or from the number of persons comprising the earliest disciples. Like the

Sthanakavasis, the Terapanthis reject the use of images. To ensure discipline, the founder

instituted a hierarchical structure with a supreme guru, the Acharya, at the top, who oversees all

operations. The Terapanthis, while being strict in their practice, have been at the forefront in

spreading Jainism outside of India and in spreading basic Jain principles among non-Jains, both

within India and beyond.

Jain Practices

Because they emphasize the ability of individuals to purify themselves and to perfect their own

characters, Jains do not stress that devotional acts—directed toward gods or deceased leaders—

bring help. Nonetheless, the practice of puja—offered to both the tirthankaras and to deities—has

been adopted by most Jains. (Exceptions are the Sthanakavasis and Terapanthis.) There is a

general feeling that the devotional acts have a good effect on one’s state of karma and that they

focus the mind on saintly behavior. Jain temples, therefore, contain statues of the tirthankaras,

especially Rishaba (the first tirthankara), Nemi (the twenty-second), Parshva, and Mahavira. The

temple statues often look the same. In Digambara temples, the statues are unclothed and simple;

in Shvetambara temples, they may be clothed and more ornate. Puja is performed before statues

regularly, both by Jains and (in some places) by brahmin Hindus employed for the task. Puja

ordinarily involves the offering of food, incense, the flames of oil lamps, and flowers, and

sometimes the statues are bathed and devotees circumambulate (walk around) the statues. On

special occasions in some areas, large outdoor statues are bathed in milk and other liquids. Many

Jains also maintain home altars where they perform puja.

Monks and nuns regularly practice fasting, particularly at the times of full and new moons.

Laypeople join the monks in fasting on the last days of the Jain year in late summer, before the

celebration of the New Year begins (in August or September). This period of fasting (paryusana)

lasts fifteen days for the Digambaras and eight days for the Shvetambaras. The religious year

ends with a confession of wrongdoing and a plea for pardon from anyone the devotee might have

offended.

Pilgrimage is an important part of Jain spirituality, and the village near Patna, where Mahavira

died, is a great pilgrimage center. Jains also visit the great temple complexes and attend the

bathing of large statues. In the spring Jains celebrate the birthday of Mahavira, and in the fall

they recall his experience of liberation.

Jain Scriptures

Jains speak of ancient scriptures, the Purvas, that exist no longer in their entirety but only as

limited quotations in later scripture. Disagreement exists among the sects over what is to be

accepted as canonical (authoritative). The literature preserved by the Shvetambara sect consists

of forty-five works, divided into the canonical scriptures and later noncanonical works. At the

heart of the canonical material are the eleven Angas (“limbs”). (A twelfth is said to have existed

at one time.) Jainism holds the Angas to be the teachings of Mahavira, although they were not

given final form until two centuries after his death. There are also twelve Upangas (“lesser

limbs”), a collection of laws, rituals (particularly associated with assistance in dying), and other

miscellaneous texts. Later noncanonical works include biographies of holy persons,

commentaries on canonical works, and books of philosophy and science. 3 The Digambara sect

does not fully accept the authenticity of the Angas, maintaining that the words of Mahavira were

remembered and transmitted imperfectly after the first division of the Jains had taken place. The

Sthanakavasis do not recognize any literature as scripture.

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