History of Jainism

Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism in the current time cycle.

During the 6th century BCE, Mahāvīra became one of the most influential teachers of Jainism. Jains revere him as the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara of present cosmic age.[28] Though, Mahavira is sometimes mistakenly regarded as the founder, he appears in the tradition as one who, from the beginning, had followed a religion established long ago.[29]

Brass idol of Parshvanatha from the 8th century, Ethnological Museum of Berlin.

There is reasonable historical evidence that the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, the predecessor of Mahavira, lived somewhere in the 9th–7th century BCE.[18][30][31][32]

Statue of Rishabhanatha, the 1st Tirthankara of Jainism in current time cycle.

The Vedas mention the name Rishabha.[33] However, the context in the Rigveda, Atharvaveda and the Upanishads suggests that it means the bull, sometimes "any male animal" or "most excellent of any kind", or "a kind of medicinal plant".[34][note 1] Elsewhere it is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva (Rudra).[37] Later Hindu mythical texts such as the Bhagavata Purana include Rishabha Jina as an avatar of Vishnu.[38]

After the nirvana of Parshvanatha, his disciple Subhadatta became the head of the monks. Subhadatta was succeeded by Haridatta, Aryasamudra, Prabha and lastly Kesi.[39] Uttaradhyayana, a Svetambara text have records of a dialogue between Mahavira's disciple and Kesi; Kesi along with his community accepted Mahavira as a tirthankara and merged with him as a result.[40]

The Tirthankaras are believed in the Jain tradition to have attained omniscience, known as kevala gyana. After Mahavira, one of his disciples Sudharma Svami is said to have taken over the leadership.[41] He was the head of Jain community till 600 BCE.[42] After his death, Jambuswami, a disciple of Sudharma Svami became the head of the monks. He was the head till 463 BCE.[43] Sudharma Svami and Jambu Svami are also traditionally said to have attained keval jnana. It is said that no one after Jambu Svami has attained it till now.

Jainism is related to an extinct Indian religious tradition named Ājīvika. The later is mentioned in ancient texts of Buddhism and Jainism, and it is attributed to Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavira.[50]

The Jain Bhagavati Sutra refers to the Ajivika founder as Gosala Mankhaliputta ("son of Mankhali"). The text depicts Gosala as having been a disciple of Mahavira's for a period of six years, after which the two fell out and parted ways.[50] The Bhagavati Sutra mentions a debate, disagreement and then "coming to blows" between factions led by Mahavira and by Gosala.[50] Jainism also flourished under the Nanda Empire (424–321 BCE).[51] Both Ajivika and Jainism championed asceticism. This is an earliest documented schism between Mahavira and a likely disciple of his.[52]

The earliest archeological evidence is in the form of a naked headless torso discovered in 1937 near Patna (Bihar), which is called the "Lohanipur Torso". This has been dated by modern scholarship to about 2nd-century BCE. It is a highly polished stone artwork of precise human form, but it is unclear if it belongs to Jainism, Ajivikas or some other Indian religious ascetic tradition.[53][note 2] While it is not Buddhist, and is naked like the Jinas, it may also not be a Jain statue because it lacks the Jain iconography, and because similar high-quality Jain artworks are missing for many centuries. Further, Jain artworks that have been found from the same period in north India show quite different forms and symbols. It may belong to Ajivikas or another ancient Indian naked ascetic tradition, but ruling out that it may indeed reflect Jainism arts in 2nd-century BCE is also not possible.[53][55] Ancient naked terracotta statues discovered in the 1970s near Ayodhya are similar to the Lohanipur Torso, but terracotta arts are also missing in Jaina tradition and the Ayodhya terracotta statues too lack Jain iconography.[53][55]

Chandragupta Maurya built one of the largest empires in ancient India. According to Jain history, he then renounced it all, and became a Jain monk in 297 BCE.[56]

Chandragupta Maurya (322–298 BCE), the founder of the Mauryan Empire and grandfather of Ashoka, became a monk and disciple of Jain ascetic Bhadrabahu during later part of his life.[57] According to historians, Chandragupta story appears in various versions in Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts.[58] Broadly, Chandragupta was born in a humble family, abandoned, raised as a son by another family, then with the training and counsel of Chanakya of Arthashastra fame, Chandragupta either first gained power in the Nanda Empire then conquered the Punjab region, or vice versa, but ultimately built one of the largest empires in ancient India.[59][60][61] According to Jain history, late in his life, Chandragupta renounced the empire he built and handed over his power to his son, became a Jain monk, and headed to meditate and pursue spirituality in the Deccan region, under the Jain teacher Bhadrabahu at Shravanabelagola.[57] There state Jain texts, he died by fasting, a Jain ascetic method of ending one's life by choice (Sallenkana-Vrata).[59][62][60] Jain legends state that there was a twelve-year famine that triggered him to perform the fast, but this legend is only found in the Jain textual tradition.[63][64] The 3rd century BCE emperor Ashoka, in his pillar edicts, mentions several ancient Indian religious groups including the Niganthas (Jain).[65]

Inscription about Jain ascetic Bhadrabahu and emperor-turned-monk Chandragupta Maurya (Shravanabelagola, Karnataka). This inscription has been dated to 1129 CE, about 1,400 years after the event.[66]

The Maurya dynasty started by Chandragupta has had a historic role on Indian religions. Ashoka (273–232 BCE), the grandson of Chandragupta was inspired by Buddhist ideologies. There is a reference to Jains in the edicts of Ashoka where the duties of dhammamahatma (law-authorities) are dealt with.[65] The inscription reads:[65]

Piyadasi, who is loved by the gods spoke thus: My supervisors of law are dealing with many connected with mercy, also with those which concern the ascetics and those which concern the householders. They deal with the religious brotherhoods as well. I have made arrangements so that they will deal with the matter of Sangha (of the Buddhist community); similarly, I have made arrangements so they will deal with the Brahmans and also with the Ajivikas; I have also made arrangements that they deal with the Niganthas (Jainas); I have made arrangements so that they will deal with (all) the religious brotherhoods.

Ashoka's grandson Samprati (c. 224–215 BCE), is said to have converted into Jainism by a Jain monk named Suhasti according to the tradition. He lived in a place called Ujjain.[67] It is believed that he erected many Jain temples, and the temples whose origins are forgotten were often ascribed to him in later times.[67]

Emperor Kharavela of Mahameghavahana dynasty, was religiously tolerant, while being a patron of Jainism. Inscriptions found in Udayagiri mentions that he erected a statue of the Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara and made cave-dwellings for monks.[68] In first century CE, Acharya Bhutabali lead a group of Jain monks to the caves surrounding Madurai for spreading Jainism.[69]

According to the Ashokavadana, a non-Buddhist in Pundravardhana drew a picture showing the Buddha bowing at the feet of the Nirgrantha leader Jnatiputra. The term nirgrantha ("free from bonds") was originally used for a pre-Jaina ascetic order, but later came to be used for Jaina monks.[70] "Jnatiputra" is identified with Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. The legend states that on complaint from a Buddhist devotee, Ashoka issued an order to arrest the non-Buddhist artist, and subsequently, another order to kill all the Ajivikas in Pundravardhana. Around 18,000 followers of the Ajivika sect were executed as a result of this order.[71][72] Sometime later, another Nirgrantha follower in Pataliputra drew a similar picture. Ashoka burnt him and his entire family alive in their house.[72] He also announced an award of one dinara (silver coin) to anyone who brought him the head of a Nirgrantha heretic. According to Ashokavadana, as a result of this order, his own brother was mistaken for a heretic and killed by a cowherd.[71] Ashoka realised his mistake, and withdrew the order.[70]

According to von Glasenapp there is a story, whose historical accuracy is doubtful.[73] The story states that Gardabhilla (c. 19th century BCE), the king of Ujjain, abducted a nun who was the sister of a Jain monk named Kalaka. The brother sought the help of the Indo-Scythian ruler Saka Sahi. The Saka went to war with Gardabhilla, defeated him, and expelled the king of Ujjain.[74] The Sakas settled in the new lands, and "danced like bees" around the foot of monk Kalaka.[74] The story continues to the son of the vanquished king Gardabhilla who was Vikramaditya. He is claimed to have defeated the Sakas, expelled them, himself followed Jainism and gave ancient India the Vikrami calendar with the zero date of 57 or 58 BCE.[75] The story is unlikely true, because the expulsion of Sakas by Vikramaditya has no historical basis. Jains have not followed the Vikrami zero year and instead used Mahavira's moksha date as their zero year, and the use of the Vikrami calendar has been widespread in Hinduism.[76] According to Heinrich von Stietencron, Vikramaditya and Saka interaction occurred many centuries later.[77]

According to another Jain legend, the King Salivahana of the late 1st century CE was a patron of Jainism, as were many others in the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE. But, states von Glasenapp, the historicity of these stories are difficult to establish.[75]

Archeological evidence suggests that Mathura was an important Jain centre between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE. Inscriptions from the 1st and 2nd century CE shows that the schism of Digambara/Svetambara had already happened.[78]

King Harshavardhana of the 7th century, grew up in Shaivism following family, but he championed Jainism, Buddhism and all traditions of Hinduism.[79] King Ama of 8th-century converted to Jainism, and Jaina pilgrimage tradition was well established in his era.[80] Mularaja, the founder of Chalukya dynasty constructed a Jain temple, even though he was not a Jain.[81]

In the second half of the 1st century CE, Hindu kings sponsored and helped build major Jaina caves temples. For example, the Hindu Rashtra kuta dynasty started the early group of Jain temples,[82] and Yadava dynasty built many of the middle and later Jain group of temples at the Ellora Caves between 700 and 1000 CE.[83][84][85]

During the reign of king Bhima (1022–1064 CE), a Jain layman Vimala built many temples above Mount Abu. A famous Jain monk Hemachandra (born c. 1088 CE) was initiated at the age of eight by monk Devachandra. He was a prime figure; responsible for propagation of Jainism in Gujarat.[86]

• 
  Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal complex was built during the 9th century, possibly with sponsorship from the Rashtrakuta King Krishna II or the Kalyani Chalukyas.
• 
  Jain Tirthankara Mahavira with Yaksha Matanga and Yakshi Siddhaiki at Ellora Caves built by the Hindu Rashtrakutas.
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  Jainism-related cave monuments and statues carved into the rock face inside Siddhachal Caves, Gwalior Fort, an example of the art of the Hindu Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty.
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  Parshvanatha temple is a 10th-century Jain temple at Khajuraho complex. It is now dedicated to Parshvanatha, although it was probably built as a Rishabhanatha shrine during Hindu Chandela rule.
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  Ranakpur Jain temple was built in the 15th century with the support of the Hindu Rajput kingdom of Mewar.

Mahavira and Buddha are generally accepted as contemporaries (circa 5th century BCE).[87][88] Buddhist texts refer to Mahavira as Nigantha Nataputta.[89]

Buddhist scriptures record that during Prince Siddhartha's ascetic life (before he attained enlightenment and became Buddha) he undertook many fasts, penances, and austerities, mentioned in the Jain tradition. In Majjhima Nikaya, Buddha shares his experience:[90]

Thus far, Sariputta, did I go in my penance? I went without clothes. I licked my food from my hands. I took no food that was brought or meant especially for me. I accepted no invitation to a meal.

The Buddha tried ascetic methods found in Jainism, abandoned that path and taught the Middle Way instead.[91] Many suttas of Buddhism acknowledge the Jain influence. The Samaññaphala Sutta (D i.47), for example, states:

Nigantha Nataputta answered with fourfold restraint. Just as if a person, when asked about a mango, were to answer with a breadfruit; or, when asked about a breadfruit, were to answer with a mango: In the same way, when asked about a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, Nigantha Nataputta answered with fourfold restraint. The thought occurred to me: 'How can anyone like me think of disparaging a brahman or contemplative living in his realm?' Yet I [Buddha] neither delighted in Nigantha Nataputta's words nor did I protest against them. Neither delighting nor protesting, I was dissatisfied. Without expressing dissatisfaction, without accepting his teaching, without adopting it, I got up from my seat and left."[92]

The Buddha disagreed with the Mahavira's concept of soul or self (jiva). Similarly, he found the Jain theory of karma and rebirths incompatible and inflexible with his own ideas for these.[93]

Beyond the times of the Mahavira and the Buddha, the two ascetic Sramana religions competed for followers, as well merchant trade networks that sustained them.[94][95] Their mutual interaction, along with those of Hindu traditions have been significant, and in some cases the titles of the Buddhist and Jaina texts are the same or similar but present different doctrines.[96] Jainism had a tradition of itinerant mendicants with less emphasis on a monastery style living for monks. Buddhism, in contrast, emphasized sangha or monasteries. According to Akira Hirakawa, the monasteries were easier targets for destruction and elimination, and Buddhism almost vanished from the Indian subcontinent after the Muslim invasions. In contrast, the roaming mendicants and the Jain tradition survived during this period of religious violence and turmoil.[94]

Jainism and Hinduism influenced each other. Jain texts declare some of the Hindu gods as blood relatives of legendary tirthankara. Neminatha, the 22nd tirthankara for example is presented as a cousin of Krishna in Jain Puranas and other texts.[97][98] However, Jain scholars such as Haribhadra also wrote satires about Hindu gods, mocking them with novel outrageous stories where the gods misbehave and act unethically.[99][100] The Hindu gods are presented by some Jain writers as persecuting, tempting, afraid of, or serving a legendary Jina before he gains omniscience. In other stories, the Hindu deities such as Vishnu, or Rama and Sita come to pay respect to a Jina at a major Jain pilgrimage site such as Mount Satrunjaya.[101] The medieval Jain scholars rewrote the Hindu mythologies into Jain versions. According to Paul Dundas, these satires were aimed at the Jain lay householder community, were means to inculcate piety and subvert the religious teachings offered by their Hindu neighbors.[102] Such literary freedoms were not limited to Jain scholars. Buddhist and Hindu scholars engaged in creating similar satire, mythology and parody-filled fiction targeting the Jains and each other.[103] The emergence of major philosophical ideas within Hinduism impacted Jainism. According to a 1925 publication by von Glasenapp, around the 8th century CE, Śaṅkarācārya brought forward the doctrine of Advaita. The Vaishnavism and Shaivism also began to rise. This, states von Glasenapp, contributed to a decline of "Jaina church", particularly in South India.[104]

Shaivite poets like Sambandar, Appar (c. 7th century CE), Sundaramurti and Manikkavacakar introduced Jains to Shaivism. Under these influences, Jaina kings became Shaivite. Sambandar converted the contemporary Pandya king to Shaivism.[105] The rulers of Chola dynasty also supported Shaivism.

According to a Shaivite legend, an alleged massacre of 8,000 Jain monks happened in the 7th-century. This was claimed for the first time in an 11th-century Tamil language text of Nambiyandar Nambi on Sampantar.[106] According to this text, a 7th-century Shaivite saint defeated the Jain monks in a series of debates and contests on philosophy, and thereby converted a Jain Pandyan king, variously called "Koon Pandiyan" or "Sundara Pandyan" in the legend, to Shaivism. Subsequently, the king allegedly ordered the impalement of 8,000 Jains. This event is not mentioned in texts of Campantar, nor any other Hindu or Jain texts for four centuries.[107][108][109] After Nampi Antar's work, the story appears in many inconsistent versions. Scholars question whether this story is a fiction created in the 11th-century, or reflects an actual massacre.[110][111][112] K. A. Nilakanta Sastri states that the story is "little more than an unpleasant legend and cannot be treated as history".[113]

According to British era scholar von Glasenapp, during the 11th century, Basava, a minister to the Jaina king Bijjala II, converted numerous Jains to Lingayatism (an anti-brahmin sect[114]) that was hostile to Jains. According to legend, they destroyed various temples belonging to Jains and adapted them to their use.[105] A saint named Ekdanta Ramaya further propagated Lingayatism. He convinced Bijjala II to grant a land near Abdlur for a temple of Shiva.[115] Lingayatism gradually expanded. It was the state religion of Telugu and Kannada speaking territories like Wodeyar of Mysore and Ummatur (1399–1610), Nayaks of Keladi (1550–1763).[115] They were hostile to Jains. In 1683, they stamped linga symbol in the main basati of Jains in Halebid. Jains were forced to perform Shiva rites.[116]

According to von Glasenapp writing in the 1920s, it is said Hoysala King Bittideva (c. 1108–1152 CE) converted from Jainism and became a follower of Ramanuja, then ordered the Jains thrown in an oil mill and crushed if they did not convert.[117] According to more contemporary scholars such as T. K. Tukol, the rule of Bitti Deva did not persecute or force convert Jains. He converted, but his queen Shantaladevi remained a Jaina. She was the patron of art and built Jain temples.[118] Bittideva's general and prime minister Gangaraja, states Tukol, was "a Jaina who under the guidance of his Guru Subhachandra did many acts of piety and religion to advance the cause of Jainism".[118] Bittideva employed a female general who was a Jaina lady named Jakkiyabbe. His era saw temples being installed for all 24 Tirthankaras.[118]

The Vijayanagara Empire king Bukka Raya I, states von Glasenapp, ensured that both Vaishnava and Jaina traditions enjoyed same cultural and religious freedoms, and helped repair Jain temples.[117] Anandatirtha, a Hindu thinker, preached a dualistic theology, which attracted many Jains to convert to Hinduism.[117]

The Jain and Hindu communities have often been very close and mutually accepting. Some Hindu temples have included a Jain Tirthankara within its premises in a place of honor.[119][120] Similarly numerous temple complexes feature both Hindu and Jain monuments, with Badami cave temples and Khajuraho among some of the most well known.[121][122]

The Muslim invaders who conquered parts of Northern India, like Mahmud Ghazni (1001 CE) and Mohammad Ghori (1175 CE), oppressed the Jaina community.[123]

Jainism faced persecution during and after the Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent.[124] This period witnessed the destruction of Jain temples, their pilgrimage centers and other forms of persecution. There were significant supporters of Jainism, such as Emperor Akbar the Great (1542–1605) whose legendary religious tolerance, out of respect for Jains, ordered the release of caged birds and banned the killing of animals on the Jain festival of Paryusan.[125] After Akbar, Jains faced an intense period of Muslim persecution in the 17th century.[126]

Jain scholars of the Mughal era debated religious ideas with Muslim scholars.[127] Hiravijaya, in chapters thirteen and fourteen of Hirasaubhagya for example, presents the interaction and views of the two religions. The text mentions him stating to a Muslim sheikh, that "a creator god (called khuda) is impossible, one who presides over others, allots reward and punishment", instead it is karma that determines man's ultimate destiny. He asserts that the two religions are different, Islam involves violence, while Jainism is based on compassion.[127] Jain scholars were supportive of Akbar and Jain texts praise his religious tolerance.[127]

According to Paul Dundas, in and after the 12th century, Muslim destruction caused Jain scholars to revisit their theory of Ahimsa (non-violence). For example, Jinadatta Suri in the 12th century, wrote during a time of widespread destruction of Jain temples and blocking of Jaina pilgrimage by Muslim armies, that "anybody engaged in a religious activity who was forced to fight and kill somebody" in self-defense would not lose merit.[128] After the 12th-century, the temples, pilgrimage and naked ascetic tradition of Jainism suffered persecution during the Muslim rule, with the exception of Akbar whose religious tolerance and support for Jainism led to a temporary ban on animal killing during the Jain religious festival of Paryusan.[129]

Colonial era Christian missions wrote about Jainism, but typically stereotyping it as "a coldly austere religion of pure asceticism, with no 'heart', preoccupied only with not harming microorganisms". The discussion emphasized the ascetic extremes, rather than the values. They criticized the Jain theories on non-violence stating that this value is essentially equal to "doing nothing", because it entails not "hurting" other beings, but does not demand the "positive ethic of helping someone suffering".[130] According to Jeffrey Long, these missionary writings were a distortion of Jain theology because Jainism does teach, value and has a historic record of charity, and compassion is an essential value in Jainism for spiritual development.[130]

Some Christian writers critiqued Jainism for its cosmology, with extraordinary time scales and cyclic time periods. However, states Long, the genesis theories in Christianity and other religions suffer from equivalent issues and they present the world to have been created few thousand years ago, in a short period of time.[131] Similarly, historic Christian writers critiqued the lack of "saving grace" in Jainism. For example, Sinclair Stevenson wrote in 1915 that the "heart of Jainism was empty because it lacked the saving grace of Jesus".[132]

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