In jain tradition tattvarthasutra enjoys the same dignity as gita amongst the followers of vedic religion, bible amongst the christians and koran amongst the mohammadans. The life of the twentysecond tirthankar bhagwan neminath has been vividly described in this puran. Jainism jainism ritual practices and religious institutions. In the following pages you will find exceptionally good books on hinduism, buddhism, jainism, sikhism, saivism, tantrism, yoga, upanishads. Jainism has been a part of indian traditions and culture dating more than 25 centuries. The five bhavas acharya uma swami the jain community is not acquainted with the life story, as with the tattvarthasutra of uma swami, who attained great fame even with a very small volume of written work.
Rather, there are many religious texts the most wellknown of which are the agams that include transcriptions of the oral history provided to us by tirthankars and jain teachers, as well as scholarly commentary on the interpretation of the religion. Since gautama buddha, founder of buddhism, belonged to the same region of magadha as mahavira the 24th tirthankar of jainism, and because both were contemporaries, it was assumed erroneously that jainism was contemporary of buddhism or was an off. Jainism is one of the most ancient religions that originated in eastern india and it was founded around the 6th century. Pilgrimage pilgrimage in jainism temples on the shatrunjaya hills, gujurat an important jain site. Followers of jainism are called jains, a word derived from the sanskrit word jina victor referring to the path of victory in crossing over lifes stream of rebirths by destroying karma through an ethical and spiritual life. Jaina tradition teaches that a succession of 24 tirthankaras saints originated the religion. Mokshamarg means samyakdarshan, ghyan and charitra marg. The american people spend thousands of dollars to propagate the doctrines of the fall of man, the creation of the world out of nothing in six days by a personal god, vicarious atonement, absolution from sin by the shedding of innocent blood.
The texts containing the teachings of mahavira are called the agamas, and are the canonical literature the scriptures of. Shvetambara monks are allowed to retain a few possessions such as a robe, an alms bowl, a whisk broom, and a mukhavastrika a piece of cloth held over the mouth to protect against the ingestion of small insects, which are presented by a senior monk at the time of initiation. There are sixtysix chapters and twelve thousand shlokas in it. This religion advocates for the love towards other beings and the practice of nonviolence. The existing agam sutras are accepted as the authentic preaching of lord mahavir by the swetambar sects, but the digambar sect does not accept them as authentic. Only main points from each chapter is compiled below. The agam sutras show great reverence for all forms of life and strict codes of vegetarianism, asceticism, nonviolence, and opposition to war. Rishabhanatha also abhadeva, rishabhadeva, or abha is the first tirthankara ford maker of jainism. Antiquity of jainism professor mahavir saran jain lord mahavira is not the founder of jainism. Jainism, ajivika, and buddhism arose in the 6th cent.
Jaina studies is a relatively new and rapidly expanding field of inquiry for scholars of indian religion and philosophy. Jainism is an ancient religion practiced in india flugel 199. Another name given to this holy work is mokshashastra. Mencius also spelled mengzi or mengtzu, a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the four books which form the core of orthodox confucian thinking.
Holy book and place of worship of sikhism,jainism, buddhism. Besides being learned, virtuous and devoted to penance, she became the first sadhvi nun of the sadhvi sangh order of nuns founded by bhagwan mahavir and thereafter she enjoyed the honour of being the first sadhvipresident head of the order of nuns of 35000 sadhvis. The present book is one of the best and stimulating books ever written by scholars on jainism. Noninjury to all living beings is the only religion. Goats and soda a member of the ancient religion of jainism who is very sick or very old may opt to stop eating.
Right faith, right knowledge, right conduct forms the basic teachings in jainism thats why they are called the three jewels or ratnatraya of jainism. The lay and mendicant communities of the jain, however, have maintained an unbroken presence in india for more than 2,500 years and have influenced its culture throughout this time. They arranged for them to stay together in the sangha, an association of those who left their homes. The religious scriptures are not followed word to word. A glance at its contents will reveal the fact that glasenapp has covered almost all the salient features of jainism. Buddhism and jainism evince a shared belief in the existence of geographical regions beyond the parameters of bharatavarsha, access to which could not be gained by ordinary human beings.
The holy book of jainism is a collection of texts known as agam literature or the agam sutras. Jainism religion bhagwan mahavir jain symbol belief. It is considered to be much more than a book, it is deemed to be the living guru of the sikhs. Shah jain study center of north carolina raleigh 401 farmstead drive, cary nc 275115631 9194690956 and fax. In most of religions, there is one or more main scripture books. The strength of the book its thoroughness and density also may be a deterrent to the new reader. Fundamental beliefs of jainism the soul is bounded by karma from the beginning of time the principles governing the successions of life cycles birth, life, and death is karma. In hinduism you embrace a great diversity of different beliefs, a fact that can be easy confusing to western religions which are accustomed. Instead they have a collection of holy writings and scriptures. Our intention behind our actions of body, mind, and speech bind us with karma.
In india, they share this feature with the buddhists. List of books and articles about jainism online research. Acharya shree kundkund jivan life yatra journey was originally written in kannada by mb patil of sedval, translated into gujarati by prasham modi songhad. Holy days, festivals and rituals fasting is the very imporatant part of the jains tradition. Jainism is an eastern religion with origins in the indus river valley dating back to 3000 b. Bc as protests against the overdeveloped ritualism of hinduism, particularly its sacrificial cults, and the authority of the veda. Though it is one of the oldest traditions and religious philosophies in india, it is not considered part of mainstream religious teaching in the country, as hinduism has long been the standard of the south asia country.
Both the mahavira and the buddha felt that only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge. The jinas are considered more respectable than the gods. The book shows how buddhism and jainism share the basic concepts of karma, rebirth, and liberation with hinduism while giving them their own hue, and how they differ from the hindu tradition in their understanding of the role of the vedas, the caste system, and ritualism in. It is one of the four main religious goals of hinduism. Karakandu, a pratyekabuddha in both jainism and buddhism, is a rare personality that is shared between jainism and buddhism. The holy teachers are called the jina, and they are the epitome of.
The jain literature which was complied by ganadharas and srutkevlis is known as agam literature. Jainism ritual practices and religious institutions. Jain legends depict him as having lived millions of years ago. However, the holy books in hinduism are the basis on which we have evolved our culture and way of. Jainism differs from many religions in that there is no one scripture or holy book that is central to our faith.
In fact, the householders are supposed to evolve to the monkhood in the later stages of life as was the case with the hinduism in the vedic era. Good books can change your thinking and thinking can change your life. The religion of jainism can be traced to the emergence of 24 teachers who believed that the humans need to exist peacefully and love one another. To remain in this path, sadhak one who is trying to accomplish has to do these essential ceremonies continuously. Instead they have a body of holy writings or scriptures. Jainism lays heavy emphasis on nonviolence ahimsa and the believers of this religion, whether a monk or a householder, follow a very strict, well disciplined life. Within sikhism, the holy book is called the sri guru granth sahib.
The word jain is taken from the word jina, which means getting victory over thy self and the peripheral world. Hinduism, buddhism and jainism ncert the reference material for this post is ncert history text for class 6 our past 1. The rules made for the buddhist sangha were written down in a book called the vinaya pitaka. Unlike christianity or islam, it is a not a religion that is governed by the book. In 1974, on the auspicious 2500th anniversary of the nirvana of the last jain tirthankara, mahavira, the jain community at large collectively chose one image as an emblem to be the main identifying symbol for jainism.
Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. Agams are the jain texts which are based on the discourse. Teachings of jainism revolves around a comprehensive knowledge about the whole nature, universe as a whole, which is termed as keval jnana. Unlike monotheistic traditions, the jains do not have a unique holy book that characterises their faith. Jainism dont have any specific holy book like the bhagavad geeta,the quran or the bible.
Ideal way of doing swadhyay or listening to jain scripture pravachan wear clean clothes, wash your hands and feet and if you have eaten something make sure to gargle and clean your mouth. Hindus are in a similar position, even though they have the vedas, which can be considered the ultimate source of teaching. Jains are very caring over the environment, they wear masks over their faces to prevent inhaling of any small insects and they carry. In contrast to the sayings of confucius which are short and selfcontained, mencius consists of long dialogues with extensive prose. The holy books in hinduism are there only for guidance. Jainism for young persons 1985 e 24 kapashi, vinod jain samaj europe publications in search of the ultimate 1984 e 56 kapashi, vinod j. In jainism, yoga carries many meanings, and this book explores the definitions, nuances, and applications of the term in relation to jainism from early times to the present. The holy book of jainism is known as the kalpa sutra or sutras. Books on hinduism, buddhism, jainism,and spiritualism. He was the chief disciple of kundkund acharya and blessed this land in the last days of the. He was the first of twentyfour teachers in the present halfcycle of time in jain cosmology, and called a ford maker because his teachings helped one across the sea of interminable rebirths and deaths. Jain books, jain literature, jain shastras in english. The jains, a small religious group believing in an immortal soul, are indigenous to india, and affirm many of the ideas of their hindu counterparts, but are critical of other hindu doctrines. These texts are the holy scriptures of the jain religion.
Jains see these texts, which are the transcriptions of lord mahavirs sermons, as sacred documents. We have certain scriptures which are considered as very sacred. Mahasati female ascetic chandanbala occupies a unique place among the leading 16 satis of jain relegious history. The reason is very simple, this book consists of a biography of lord mahavira in detail, and the lives of the other prophets tirthankaras. Jains strongly beileve in ahimsa meaning nonviolence. The five pandvas acharya jinsen after padam puran, harivansh puran is the most widely read old historical treatise in the jain community. Ultimate goal of life is eternal release from karma. In jainism, moksha a karma free state is final goal, and to succeed, samayik is important mean. Yoga in jainism 1st edition christopher key chapple. Unlike most common monotheistic religions, jainism does not have one holy book that characterizes their faith. The oldest jain literature is in shauraseni and ardhamagadhi prakrit agamas, agamatulya, siddhanta texts, etc. Darshan takes you to close to the truth, ghyan makes one to understand the. Guru is a sanskrit word for teacher, and within sikhism it is the title given to the 10 spiritual leaders of sikhism dating from 1469 ad to 1708 ad as well as the sri guru granth.
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