What do Hinduism and Jainism have in common?

Dharma

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The Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription is from Indian Emperor Asoka in 258 BC, and found in Afghanistan. The inscription renders the word dharma in Sanskrit as eusebeia in Greek, suggesting dharma in ancient India meant spiritual maturity, devotion, piety, duty towards and reverence for human community.

The wheel in the centre of India's flag symbolises dharma.

Dharma (dharma, ; dhamma) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others.

Vedas

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The Vedas (,, वेदः) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India.

The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.

Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika) schools.

Major religious groups as a percentage of world population

Indian religions

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Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

"Priest King" of Indus Valley Civilisation

The so-called Pashupati seal, showing a seated and possibly ithyphallic figure, surrounded by animals.

Buddhist Monks performing traditional Sand mandala made from coloured sand

Saga Agastya, father of Tamil literature

Typical layout of Dravidian architecture which evolved from koyil as king's residence.

Krishna fighting the horse demon Keshi, 5th century, Gupta period.

A basalt statue of Lalita flanked by Gaṇeśa and Kārttikeya, Pala era.

The Golden Temple of Mahalakshmi at Vellore.

An aerial view of the Meenakshi Temple from the top of the southern gopuram, looking north. The temple was rebuilt by the Vijayanagar Empire.

Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple) is culturally the most significant place of worship for the Sikhs.

Mahamagam Festival is a holy festival celebrated once in twelve years in Tamil Nadu. Mahamagam Festival, which is held at Kumbakonam. This festival is also called as Kumbamela of South.

The largest religious gathering ever held on Earth, the 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela held in Prayag attracted around 70 million Hindus from around the world.

Map showing the prevalence of Abrahamic (pink) and Indian religions (yellow) in each country

A devotee facing the Ganga, reading a stack of holy books ("Chalisa" of various god) at the Kumbh Mela

A holy place for all religion - "Mazar of Pir Mubarak Gazi"

These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, are also classified as Eastern religions.

Moksha

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Gajendra Moksha (pictured) is a symbolic tale in Vaishnavism. The elephant Gajendra enters a lake where a crocodile (Huhu) clutches his leg and becomes his suffering. Despite his pain, Gajendra constantly remembers Vishnu, who then liberates him. Gajendra symbolically represents human beings, Huhu represents sins, and the lake is saṃsāra.

Mokṣha is a key concept in Yoga, where it is a state of “awakening”, liberation and freedom in this life.

Moksha (मोक्ष, ), also called vimoksha, vimukti and mukti, is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release.

Brahman

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In Hinduism, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.

A drop in the ocean: an analogy for Ātman merging into Brahman.

Swan (Hansa, हंस) is the symbol for Brahman-Atman in Hindu iconography.

Buddhism and Carvaka school of Hinduism deny that there exists anything called "a Self" (individual Atman or Brahman in the cosmic sense), while the orthodox schools of Hinduism, Jainism and Ajivikas hold that there exists "a Self".

Brahmin is a varna in Hinduism specialising in theory as priests, preservers and transmitters of sacred literature across generations.

Om

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Sound of a sacred spiritual symbol in Indic religions.

Om in Tamil script with a trishula at Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, Singapore; Om appears frequently as an icon in temples (mandirs) and spiritual retreats

A rangoli featuring Om surrounded by stylised peacocks; Om often features prominently in the religious art and iconography of Indic religions

Statue depicting Shiva as the Nataraja dancing in a posture resembling the Devangari ligature for Om; Joseph Campbell argued that the Nataraja statue represents Om as a symbol of the entirety of "consciousness, universe" and "the message that God is within a person and without"

Om appears frequently in Hindu texts and scriptures, notably appearing in the first verse of the Rigveda

Om is given many meanings and layers of symbolism in the Upanishads including "the sacred sound, the Yes!, the Vedas, the udgitha (song of the universe), the infinite, the all encompassing, the whole world, the truth, the ultimate reality, the finest essence, the cause of the universe, the essence of life, the Brahman, the Atman (Hinduism), the vehicle of deepest knowledge, and self-knowledge (atma jnana)".

A Pahari painting of Om (ओं), c. 1780-1800, decorated with deities: Shiva and Shakti (could be Vaishnavi or Siddhidatri); Vishnu and Lakshmi seated upon Shesha; Harihara (Vishnu-Shiva fusion deity); Brahma; and Dattatreya as a representation of the Trimurti (top-to-bottom, left-to-right)

Shri Yantra with Om (ௐ) at its center, Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore; yantras are frequently used as aids in Hindu meditation

The Hindu deity Ganesha is sometimes referred to as "" (Omkara is his form) and used as the symbol for Upanishadic concept of Brahman.

An illustration of Om from a Mahabharata manuscript, 1795, decorated with murtis of Surya, Brahma, and Vishnu to the left, Shakti (could be Maheshwari) on the chandrabindu point, and Shiva (holding a trishula) to the right

Om symbol with a trishula at Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada

Radha and Krishna intertwined with an Om and surrounded by scenes from their life

Painting illustrating the Jain Om symbol, from Jaipur, c. 1840

The mantra om mani padme hum written in Tibetan script on the petals of a sacred lotus around the syllable hrih at the center; Om is written on the top petal in white

Nio statues in Kyoto prefecture of Japan, are interpreted as saying the start (open mouth) and the end (closed mouth) of syllable "AUM"

It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Rigveda (padapatha) manuscript in Devanagari, early 19th century. The red horizontal and vertical lines mark low and high pitch changes for chanting.

Sanskrit

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Classical language of South Asia that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages.

A 17th-century birch bark manuscript of Pāṇini's grammar treatise from Kashmir

An early use of the word for "Sanskrit" in Late Brahmi script (also called Gupta script): Gupta ashoka sam.jpgGupta ashoka skrr.jpgGupta ashoka t.svg Saṃ-skṛ-ta
Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana, 532 CE.

Sanskrit's link to the Prakrit languages and other Indo-European languages

The Spitzer Manuscript is dated to about the 2nd century CE (above: folio 383 fragment). Discovered in the Kizil Caves, near the northern branch of the Central Asian Silk Route in northwest China, it is the oldest Sanskrit philosophical manuscript known so far.

A 5th-century Sanskrit inscription discovered in Java, Indonesia—one of the earliest in southeast Asia after the Mulavarman inscription discovered in Kutai, eastern Borneo. The Ciaruteun inscription combines two writing scripts and compares the king to the Hindu god Vishnu. It provides a terminus ad quem to the presence of Hinduism in the Indonesian islands. The oldest southeast Asian Sanskrit inscription—called the Vo Canh inscription—so far discovered is near Nha Trang, Vietnam, and it is dated to the late 2nd century to early 3rd century CE.

Sanskrit language's historical presence has been attested in many countries. The evidence includes manuscript pages and inscriptions discovered in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. These have been dated between 300 and 1800 CE.

One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit manuscript pages in Gupta script (c. 828 CE), discovered in Nepal

One of the oldest Hindu Sanskrit inscriptions, the broken pieces of this early-1st-century BCE Hathibada Brahmi Inscription were discovered in Rajasthan. It is a dedication to deities Vāsudeva-Samkarshana (Krishna-Balarama) and mentions a stone temple.

Sanskrit in modern Indian and other Brahmi scripts: May Śiva bless those who take delight in the language of the gods. (Kālidāsa)

One of the earliest known Sanskrit inscriptions in Tamil Grantha script at a rock-cut Hindu Trimurti temple (Mandakapattu, c. 615 CE)

The ancient Yūpa inscription (one of the earliest and oldest Sanskrit texts written in ancient Indonesia) dating back to the 4th century CE written by Brahmins under the rule of King Mulavarman of the Kutai Martadipura Kingdom located in eastern Borneo

Sanskrit festival at Pramati Hillview Academy, Mysore, India

Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism.

Ahimsa

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Ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings.

The 5th-century CE Tamil scholar Valluvar, in his Tirukkural, taught ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as personal virtues. The plaque in this statue of Valluvar at an animal sanctuary at Tiruvallur describes the Kural's teachings on ahimsa and non-killing, summing them up with the definition of veganism.

Gandhi promoted the principle of Ahimsa by applying it to politics.

The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolises the Jain Vow of Ahimsa. The word in the middle is Ahimsa. The wheel represents the dharmacakra which stands for the resolve to halt the cycle of reincarnation through relentless pursuit of truth and non-violence.

It is a key virtue in the Dhārmic religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

Indian Cultural Influence (Greater India)

History of India

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According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.

Dholavira, a city of Indus Valley Civilisation, with stepwell steps to reach the water level in artificially constructed reservoirs.

Archaeological remains of washroom drainage system at Lothal.

Sinauli "chariot", photograph of the Archaeological Survey of India.

An early 19th century manuscript in the Devanagari script of the Rigveda, originally transmitted orally with fidelity

Late Vedic era map showing the boundaries of Āryāvarta with Janapadas in northern India, beginning of Iron Age kingdoms in India – Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.

City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st-century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gate.

Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra.

The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful and vast kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

The Mauryan carved door of Lomas Rishi, one of the Barabar Caves, c. 250 BCE.

Silk Road and Spice trade, ancient trade routes that linked India with the Old World; carried goods and ideas between the ancient civilisations of the Old World and India. The land routes are red, and the water routes are blue.

Copper Plate Seal of Kamarupa Kings at Madan Kamdev ruins.

Kadamba shikara (tower) with Kalasa (pinnacle) on top, Doddagaddavalli.

Excavated ruins of Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist learning from 450 to 1193 CE.

Chola Empire under Rajendra Chola, c. 1030 CE.

The Delhi Sultanate reached its zenith under the Turko-Indian Tughlaq dynasty.

The Dasam Granth (above) was composed by Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.

18th century political formation in India.

The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499).

Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.

Mature Harappan Period, c. 2600 - 1900 BCE

Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest Indus cities. View of the site's Great Bath, showing the surrounding urban layout.

Three stamp seals and their impressions bearing Indus script characters alongside animals: "unicorn" (left), bull (center), and elephant (right); Guimet Museum

This urbanisation was accompanied by the rise of new ascetic movements in Greater Magadha, including Jainism and Buddhism, which opposed the growing influence of Brahmanism and the primacy of rituals, presided by Brahmin priests, that had come to be associated with Vedic religion, and gave rise to new religious concepts.

In response to the success of these movements, Vedic Brahmanism was synthesised with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to Hinduism.

Swastika

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Ancient religious symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis.