Jain religion nischaya dharma purity of soul which results from the above action dirt of karma disappears. Jainism dont have any specific holy book like the bhagavad geeta,the quran or the bible. Jain agamas wikipedia copying an expert from wikipedia below for your reference agamas are texts of jainism based on the discourses of the tirthankara. This is a rare collection of jain scriptures on various topics. Since a name gives an identity and place to a child in this world, therefore, choosing the best yet an appropriate name is vital. There are six highly recommended books that together form an excellent literary introduction to jainism and the jain way of thinking. Later on in 3 rd and 4 th century, the name jain religion came into existence. Sep 10, 2009 pilgrimage pilgrimage in jainism temples on the shatrunjaya hills, gujurat an important jain site. Most jains practice the devotional activity called. Drawing on field research in northern gujarat and on the study of both ancient sanskrit and prakrit and modern vernacular jain religious literature, john cort provides a rounded portrait of the religion as it is practiced today. This is in a fully referenced, comprehensively indexed, questionanswer format with many examples helps to readily grasp even difficult concepts.
The texts had to be memorised since jain monks and nuns were not allowed to possess religious books as part of their vow of nonacquisition. Jainism is an indian religion that emphasizes complete nonviolence and asceticism. Contact us 715 bellemeade place, alpharetta, ga 0004, usa. Wear clean clothes, wash your hands and feet and if you have eaten something make sure to. Unlike most common monotheistic religions, jainism does not have one holy book that characterizes their faith. Unlike most other religions hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture and no commonly agreed set of teachings. He abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening. Vardhamana, better known as mahavira approximate age. An introduction, is a thoroughly researched overview of the jain tradition, a religion and set of philosophical constructs that have influenced indian thought for over 2500 years.
A title given to a jain religious teacher, usually one who is a head monk. The faith is named for the jinas, spiritual conquerors who have achieved liberation and perfection. Both arihants and siddhas are considered gods of jain religion. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. It upholds nonviolence as the supreme religion ahimsa paramo dharmah and has insisted upon its observance in thought, word, and deed at the individual as well as social levels. Pilgrimage plays an important part in jain life for digambaras and some svetambaras.
The journal of religion this book presents a detailed fieldworkbased study of the ancient indian religion of jainism. Drawing on field research in northern gujarat and on the study of both ancient sanskrit and prakrit and modern vernacular jain religious literature, john cort provides a rounded portrait of the religion. Jains trace their history through twentyfour tirthankara and revere rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara in the present timecycle. Jainism, indian religion teaching a path to spiritual purity and enlightenment through disciplined nonviolence ahimsa, literally noninjury to all living creatures overview. Best holy books 222 books meet your next favorite book. The definition of digambara is one who is naked or one who has the sky as his clothes. Good books can change your thinking and thinking can change your life. This page lists some jain festivals and holy days, including the birthday of mahavira and paryushana, which started as a monastic day of reflection. The jain literature which was complied by ganadharas and srutkevlis is known as agam literature. Known as the festival of forgiveness, samvatsari or samvatsara is celebrated by digambaras as the last day of the festival of paryushan, and the holiest day. These texts are the holy scriptures of the jain religion. This book is the first comprehensive study of jainism to be published in the west. All siddhas are perfected souls, living for ever in a blissful state in moksha. Followers of jainism are called jains, a word derived from the sanskrit word jina, meaning victor.
Men are the only ones allowed to become digambara monks. The following list of books incorporates a number of salient points of view, and they would be especially good for those not raised as jains. Even religious scriptures were considered possessions and therefore knowledge. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. The svetambaras, whose name means white clad, contend that monks and. The word jain is taken from the word jina, which means getting victory over thy self and the peripheral world. Paryushana is a major jain festival emphasizing ahimsa, reading of the scriptures, a focus on salvation, preservation of animal life, and symbolic cleansing.
Mar 17, 2015 jainism is an indian religion that emphasizes complete nonviolence and asceticism. Many classical texts are in sanskrit tatvartha sutra, puranas, koshas, shravakacharas, mathematics, nighantus etc. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the persons given name s to the link. Jainism is an eastern religion with origins in the indus river valley dating back to 3000 b. This sacred text is divided into two main sections, the old testament and the new testament which are then further divided into various books. Equality of all people rejection of caste system 4. Jain prateek chihna the official symbol of jainism is the jain prateek chihna. In principle jain holy places are sacred for all the jains. For these reasons hinduism is referred as way of life or a family of religions. Some artifacts found in the indus valley civilization have been suggested as a link to ancient jain culture, but this is highly speculative and a subjective interpretation. Followers of jainism are called jains, and there are about 4 million worldwide. Paradham, vallabh baug lane, tilak road, ghatkopar east, mumbai, maharashtra 400077, india.
Jainworld is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of jain tradition of wisdom, compassion, equality, brotherhood, universal wellbeing and spirituality. Wear clean clothes, wash your hands and feet and if you have eaten something make sure to gargle and clean your mouth. Jainism introduction yale forum on religion and ecology. Arihats are perfect human beings and preach the jain religion to the people during their remaining life. Popular jainism books meet your next favorite book. List of world religions and founders, religious books.
Hinduism, buddhism, jainism, sikhism, taoism, confucianism. Jainism religion bhagwan mahavir jain symbol belief. Scripture is the synonym of the holy text, which consists of religious dogmas, and assertions of an authentic authority apta purusa. The jain religion originated more than twentyfive hundred years ago in india. Jains see these texts, which are the transcriptions of lord mahavirs sermons, as sacred documents.
Jain tradition holds that mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century bce into a royal kshatriya jain family in presentday bihar, india. Agam literature consists of many texts, which are the sacred books of the jain religion. At kidpaw, we have a list of names with the origins of 7 religions, that is. There state jain texts, he died by fasting, a jain ascetic method of ending ones life by choice sallenkanavrata. The oldest jain literature is in shauraseni and ardhamagadhi prakrit agamas, agamatulya, siddhanta texts, etc. The other holy book for the jewish religion is the talmud which includes the mishnah, which means repetition or study and the gemara, which means addition or completion. Please pledge to do swadhyay for at least 510 minutes each day. Unlike monotheistic traditions, the jains do not have a unique holy book that.
This book presents a detailed fieldworkbased study of the ancient indian religion of jainism. How many holy books are sent by allah, and what are their names. Furthermore, the earliest buddhist texts discuss jainism in some detail. In this sect, it is recognized that you can not realize a higher power if you have anthing in your name.
It refers to the ascetic battle that, it is believed, jain renunciants monks and nuns must fight against the passions and bodily senses to gain enlightenment, or omniscience and purity of soul. Hence, the jain religion does not have one sacred book like the bible or. Religion and culture of the jains by jyoti prasad jain 1983, bharatiya jnanpith will provide an orderly and clear. The world of conquerors volume 1 natubhai shah, dr natubhai shah. It is based on the teachings of jesus christ who lived on the holy land 2000 years ago. Baby names from popular religions muslim, hindu, christian. Hence, the jain religion does not have one sacred book like the bible or koran, but it has many books compiled by several. Jainism is transtheistic, and jains trace their spiritual ideas and history through a succession of twentyfour leaders or tirthankaras. List of world religions and founders, religious books, place. Bible is the holy book which consists of old and new testaments. Hinduism is an indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practiced in the indian subcontinent and parts of southeast asia.
Religion, world religions, comparative religion just the facts on the worlds religions. The holy books of world religions sacred texts in world. Jain books, jain literature, jain shastras in english. He was the spiritual successor of 23rd tirthankara parshvanatha. The most illustrious of those few individuals who have achieved enlightenment. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis 6 note 4. The religion derives its name from the jinas conquerors, a title given to twentyfour great teachers tirthankaras or fordmakers, through. We have certain scriptures which are considered as very sacred. Muslim, christian, sikh, hindu, jain, parsi and buddhist names. The palitana temples are the holiest shrine for the svetambara murtipujaka sect. Hence, the jain religion does not have one sacred book like the bible or koran, but it has.
The word canon for the jain holy writings is increasingly felt to be inadequate, for it implies an unchanging body of texts sanctioned by a central authority. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language. Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching different philosophies and writing innumerable holy books. Jains approximate number of current global adherents. One of the oldest known religious texts is the kesh temple hymn of ancient sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 bce. The holy book of jainism is a collection of texts known as agam literature or the agam sutras. This booklet provides a brief summary of each agama with a few key sutras highlighted. The first of these was rishabhanatha, who according to. History and contemporary information provide evidence of competition and quarrels between the sects over the management of individual sites. The holy book of jainism is known as the kalpa sutra or sutras. The name jainism derives from the sanskrit verb ji, to conquer. Jainism emerged in 6thcentury bce india, the same time buddhism was developing. Jainism you should read enough of the materials presented in this section concerning the tradition of jainism in order to understand how this tradition displays the characteristics or elements that make a tradition one that would be termed a religion. Jain religion is unique in that, during its existence of over 5000 years, it has never compromised on the concept of nonviolence either in principle or practice.
Jain texts such as acaranga sutra and tattvarthasutra state that one must. Christians worship in churches and their spiritual leaders are called priests. This booklet provides a brief summary of each agama in gujarati. Anglicanism also include the 15 books of the apocrypha between the old testament and the new testament, for a total of 81 books. Pilgrimage pilgrimage in jainism temples on the shatrunjaya hills, gujurat an important jain site. The jinas are considered more respectable than the gods. Christianity is the worlds biggest religion, with about 2. The holy teachers are called the jina, and they are the epitome of teaching for all jains, especially the jina mahavira. The epic of gilgamesh from sumer, although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 2150 bce, and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures and themes.
In practice, some places are definitely of more importance to svetambaras than to digambaras and vice versa, and these are managed by institutions affiliated to one sect or the other. Instead they have a collection of holy writings and scriptures. The agam sutras show great reverence for all forms of life and strict codes of vegetarianism, asceticism, nonviolence, and opposition to war. The jainism has its own scriptures called agamas or srutas, which are directly derived from the tirthankaras. Scholars regard hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various indian. Mahavira, also known as vardhamana was the 24th tirthankara of jainism.
As society changed, the jews found that the torah needed to be updated from its original agricultural emphasis. The tradition presented in the materials below is one of the. Agams are the jain texts which are based on the discourse. Jains are very caring over the environment, they wear masks over their faces to prevent inhaling of any small insects and they carry. Jainism is one of the most ancient religions that originated in eastern india and it was founded around the 6th century. At present, the word jain religion denotes the complete tradition and teachings of thirthankars. For most of protestantism, this includes the 66 book canon the jewish tanakh of 24 books divided differently into 39 books and the universal 27 book new testament. Jainism traditionally known as jain dharma, is an ancient indian religion affirming substance. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. Religion continued jain morality vyavahara dharma conduct in accordance with the rules prescribed by arihants and accompanied always by compassion, love, sympathy etc. This agam describes the names, positions, and residences of devas angels who. Concise but accurate introduction to the key principles of jainism. Jaina canon, the sacred texts of jainism, a religion of india, whose authenticity is disputed between sects. Mahavir being the last of 24 thirthankars, a new pattern seemed to have set in and its followers there after called jains.
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