The Jains believe in the 24 Tirthankaras or founders of the faith. The first Tirthankara was Rishabhadeva and the final one is Mahavira. Along with Mahavira, the 23rd Tirthankara Parsvanatha is also a historical personality while the others are merely legends for us. Parsvanatha lived n the 8th-9th century BC. Mahavira gave a new orientation to the faith.
The Jainas believe in “Anekantavada” as per which matter and spirit are separate independent realities. There are innumerable atoms and innumerable independent souls which are separately and independently real. Each atom and each soul possesses innumerable aspects of its own. Every object possesses innumerable positive and negative characters. It is not possible for ordinary people to know all the qualities of a thing.
Human knowledge is essentially relative and limited and so are our judgments. This is called “Syadvada”, while ‘Anekantavada” says reality has innumerable characters.
SYADVADA: Absolute affirmation and absolute negation both are wrong. All judgments are conditional. Almost all philosophical, ideological and and religious differences and disputes are mainly due to mistaking a partial truth for the whole. Our judgments represent different aspects of the many sided reality and can claim only partial truth. This view makes Jainism broad minded and tolerant.
In Jainism, the whole Universe is brought within 2 categories ‘Jiva” the conscious spirit and “Ajiva” the unconscious non spirit. Ajiva includes not only matter, but also space, motion, rest and time.
JIVAS: The Jivas of Jainism are qualitatively alike and only quantitatively different and the whole universe is literally filled with them.
The Jivas are divided into those that are liberated (Mukta) and those that are bound (Baddha). The bound souls are divided into mobile and immobile. The mobile souls are again divided into those who have 2, 3, 4 & 5 senses.
Every soul from the lowest to the highest possesses consciousness. The degree of consciousness varies according to the obstacles of Karma. The lowest souls which inhabit material atoms appear to be lifeless and unconscious, but both life and consciousness are present in them although in a dormant form.
The purest consciousness is found in the emancipated souls where there is no shred of Karma. The badha soul is bound by matter. Freedom from matter means omniscience and emancipation.
BONGADE & LIBERATION: Karma is the link which unites the soul to the body. Ignorance of truth and passion attract the flow of karmic matter towards the soul. In bondage the karmic matter unites with the soul. By the practice of right faith, knowledge and conduct the influx of fresh karma is stopped. Then, the already existing Karma is to be exhausted. When this happens finally the partnership between soul and matter is dissolved. This state is called Moksha or liberation.
SECTS: Jainism is divided into “Shvetamabara” or white clad and “Digambara” or nude. The Digambaras are more puritanical and the Shvetamabaras more accommodating. However, only the highest monks go around white clad or nude but not laymen and ordinary monks.
The Digambaras maintain that the perfect saint (Kevali) needs no food and that women cannot attain liberation (unless they are reborn as men in the next birth). They also maintain that the original canon of Mahaviras teachings is lost. The Shvetamabaras reject these views.
