A report on Jainism and Mahavira

The hand symbolizes Ahiṃsā, the wheel dharmachakra, the resolve to halt saṃsāra (transmigration).

Statue of Mahavira meditating in the lotus position at Shri Mahavirji, Rajasthan, India.

Classification of Saṃsāri Jīvas (transmigrating souls) in Jainism

Mahavira in Padmasana meditation posture

Lord Neminatha, Akota Bronzes (7th century)

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India at the time of Mahavira

Jain miniature painting of 24 tirthankaras, Jaipur, c. 1850

Jain temple painting explaining Anekantavada with Blind men and an elephant

The birth of Mahavira, from the Kalpa Sūtra (c.1375–1400 CE)

A Jain monk in meditation, wearing the characteristic white robe and face covering

Lord Mahavira's Jal Mandir (water temple) in Pawapuri, Bihar, India

Nishidhi stone, depicting the vow of sallekhana, 14th century, Karnataka

The "Charan Paduka" or foot impression of Mahavira at Jal Mandir

Praying at the feet of a statue of Bahubali

Folio from the Kalpa Sūtra, 15th century

Jain worship may include ritual offerings and recitals.

Celebrating Das Lakshana (Paryushana), Jain Center of America, New York City

Mahavira iconography is distinguished by a lion stamped (or carved) beneath his feet; a Shrivatsa is on his chest.

alt=See caption|Rock-cut sculpture of Mahavira in Samanar Hills, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

A symbol to represent the Jain community was chosen in 1975 as part of the commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira’s nirvana.

Rock-cut sculpture of Mahavira in Kalugumalai Jain Beds, 8th century

Rishabhdev, believed to have lived over 592.704×1018 years ago, is considered the traditional founder of Jainism.

alt=See caption|Tallest known image of the seated Mahavira, Patnaganj

The ruins of Gori Jain temples in Nagarparkar, Pakistan, a pilgrimage site before 1947.

alt=See caption|Four-sided sculpture of Mahavira in Kankali Tila, Mathura

alt=Two nude statues|Tirthankaras Rishabhanatha (left) and Mahavira, 11th century (British Museum)

alt=Mahavira, seated|Temple relief of Mahavira, 14th century (Seattle Asian Art Museum)

alt=See caption|Relief of Mahavira in Thirakoil, Tamil Nadu

16-foot, 2-inch stone statue of Mahavira in Ahinsa Sthal, Mehrauli, New Delhi{{sfn|Titze|1998|p=266}}|alt=Large outdoor statue of Mahavira, with a seated worshipper for scale

alt=See caption|Mahavira statue in Cave 32 of the Ellora Caves

Mahavira inside Ambapuram cave temple, 7th century

alt=Dharmachakra temple|Dharmachakra temple in Gajpanth

Saavira Kambada Basadi, Moodbidri, Karnataka

Mahavir Swami at Manilaxmi Tirth, Gujarat

Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara (supreme preacher) of Jainism.

- Mahavira

Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four Tirthankaras (supreme preachers of Dharma), with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago; the twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to 9th century BCE; and the twenty-fourth tirthankara, Mahavira around 600 BCE.

- Jainism

26 related topics with Alpha

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.

Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism.

Bimbisara

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Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika (Śreṇika) and Seniya (Seṇiya) in the Jain histories (c.

King Bimbisara visits the Bamboo Garden (Venuvana) in Rajagriha; artwork from Sanchi

Bimbisara's jail, where King Bimbisara was imprisoned, in Rajgir

Bimbisara with his royal cortege issuing from the city of Rajagriha to visit the Buddha

He frequently visited Samavasarana of Lord Mahavira seeking answers to his queries.

His second wife, Chellana, was a Licchavi princess from Vaishali and daughter of the Jain king Chetaka.

Mahāvīra did not use the word anekāntavada, but his teachings contain the seeds of the concept (painting from Rajasthan, ca. 1900)

Anekantavada

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Gandhi used the Jain concept of Anekantavada to explain his views.

(अनेकान्तवाद, "many-sidedness") is the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India.

The origins of anekāntavāda can be traced back to the teachings of Mahāvīra (599–527 BCE), the 24th Jain.

Avasarpiṇī

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Jaina units of time on a logarithmic scale

Avasarpiṇī is the descending half of the cosmic time cycle in Jainism and the one in which the world is said to be at present.

Duḥṣama-suṣamā (read as Dukhma-sukhma) – The fourth period was the age of religion, where renunciation, austerity and liberation were possible. The 63 Śalākāpuruṣas, or the illustrious persons who promote the Jain religion, regularly appear in this ara. The remaining 23 Tīrthaṅkars, including Lord Māhavīra, appeared in this ara.

Pawapuri where Mahavira attained Niravana

Diwali (Jainism)

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Diwali has a very special significance in Jainism.

It marks the anniversary of Nirvana (final release) or liberation of Mahavira's soul, the twenty fourth and last Jain Tirthankara of present cosmic age.

Paryushana

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Paryushana is the most important annual holy event for Jains and is usually celebrated in August or September in Hindu calendar Bhadrapad Month's Shukla Paksha.

During the eight-day festival, the Śvētāmbara Murtipujakas recite the Kalpa Sūtra, which includes a recitation of the section on the birth of Mahavira on the fifth day.

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.

Mahavira, the twenty-fourth and the last tirthankara, further strengthened the idea in the 6th century BCE.

Vardhaman Mahavir image at Keelakuyilkudi, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Mahavir Janma Kalyanak

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Sixteen auspicious dreams seen by the mother of all Tirthankara

Mahavir Janma Kalyanak is one of the most important religious festivals in Jainism.

It celebrates the birth of Mahavir, the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara of present Avasarpiṇī.

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.

The Indian tradition states that the Buddha and the Mahavira preferred the Prakrit language so that everyone could understand it.

Śramaṇa

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Śramaṇa (Sanskrit; Pali: samaṇa) means "one who labours, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose)" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic".

23rd Jain Tirthankar, Parshwanatha re-organized the shraman sangha in 9th century BCE.

The Śramaṇa tradition includes primarily Jainism, Buddhism, and others such as the Ājīvika.

5) śrāmana movement of Mahavira (Jainism): believed in fourfold restraint, avoid all evil (see more below).