research paper on jainism

Jainism: A Religion of Compassion and Non-violence

• First Online: 01 August 2023

Cite this chapter

• Kirti Tyagi 3 &
• Kamlesh Singh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4256-7809 4  

178 Accesses

Jainism is the sixth-largest religion in India and is referred to as the religion of non-violence. The present chapter focuses on understanding the application of Jain practices and principles in the context of positive psychology, mental health, and other psychological outcomes. First, we begin by briefly discussing Jain philosophy, its historical roots, divisional sects, and the demographic distribution of the community. Then we highlight some fundamental teachings and principles of Jainism and their contribution to spirituality, well-being, virtues, and perspective-taking. We then proceed to describe primary practices and principles of Jainism that contribute to positive psychology, emphasizing specifically on virtues and character strengths; and on well-being, peace education, pro-environmental attitudes, positive interpersonal relationships, positive mental health, and empirical evidence for Jain prekshā meditation. The chapter concludes by discussing the implications and significance of Jain practices and principles and the need for more empirical research.

“ Ahimsā Paramō Dharmā ( Non-violence is the Greatest Dharma )” Lord Mahāvīra ( Jain , 2007 , p. 13 )

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Tattvārthasūtra is a famous Jain holy text which elaborate on the principles of existence and karma philosophy (Jainpedia: The Jain Universe Online, n.d.).

The five Yamas are the first step of eightfold step of Patanjali’s Yogasūtra . These are the code of conducts which helps in the journey of self-realization (Dhand, 2002 , p. 355).

Kalpa Sūtra is Śvetāmbara Text and Tattvāratha is Digamabar Text.

Ten virtues: chastity, gentleness, non-possession, purity, forbearance, austerity, gentleness, truth, uprightness, restraint, and renunciation.

Tapa : six external and six internal austerities (for detail see Gada, 2015 , pp. 73–74).

Jains, like everyone else in India, celebrate Diwali. Except for the section where they also celebrated it as the day Mahāvīra attained mōksha , all other rituals are similar. In Hinduism, Diwali, commonly known as the “Festival of Lights”, is a significant holiday. The celebration commemorates the return of Lord Rāmā to Ayodhya.

Ten virtues (for details refer to Gada, 2015 , pp. 76–77),

Ai, A. L., Tice, T. N., Huang, B., Rodgers, W., & Bolling, S. F. (2008). Types of prayer, optimism, and well-being of middle-aged and older patients undergoing open-heart surgery. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 11 (1), 131–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670701324798

Article   Google Scholar  

Al Mushaqiri, M. R., Ishak, Z., & Ismail, W. M. (2020). Effectiveness of the peace education program on the social and emotional behaviour for pre-school in the sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Education, Psychology and Counseling , 5 (36), 211–225. https://doi.org/10.35631//ijepc.5360016

Ali Babai, A., Ghasemi, M., Tavakoli, H., & Yousefi, A. (2008). The Study of the Effects of Ramadan Fasting on the blood Biochemical Markers. Journal of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences , 1 (1), 21–26. https://doi.org/10.29252/jnkums.1.1.21

Al-Saidi, R. (2013). The effectiveness of enrichment activities in giving kindergarten children the concepts of peace (Doctoral Dessertation, Umm Al-Qura University).

Google Scholar  

Arens, A. K., Yeung, A. S., Nagengast, B., & Hasselhorn, M. (2013). Relationship between self-esteem and academic self-concept for German elementary and secondary school students. Educational Psychology, 33 , 443–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.11.001

Bagadia, D. (2016). Comparative study of spiritual practices in Jainism and Patanjala yoga (Doctoral dissertation, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University). Shodhganga: A reservoir of Indian theses. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/181523

Bala, R., Chander, R., & Mishra, J. P. N. (2017). Effect of Yoga–Preksha meditation on management of obesity in sportspersons. Yoga Mimamsa ,  49 (1), 20. https://www.ym-kdham.in/article.asp?issn=00440507;year=2017;volume=49;issue=1;spage=20;epage=23;aulast=Bala

Balbir, N. (n.d.). Jain universe . Jainpedia; The Jain Universe Online, Institute of Jainology. Retrieved May 2021, from https://jainpedia.org/themes/principles/jain-universe/

Bali, A., Kachwala, T., & Sivaramakrishnan, S. (2019). Aparigraha - is it good for organisations. International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 12 (3), 360. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijmcp.2019.100688

Berry, J. W., & Worthington, E. L. (2001). Forgivingness, relationship quality, stress while imagining relationship events, and physical and mental health. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48 , 447–455. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.48.4.447

Bhadraprabhu, V. (1986). Guidelines of Jainism (Original in Gujarati, translated by K. Ramappa). Mehsana: Sri Vishwa Kalyan Prakashan Trust, (1), 138–42.

Bhandari, N. (2011). Jainism: The eternal and universal path for enlightenment.  Ahmedabad: Research Institute of Scientific Secrets from Indian Oriental Scriptures . https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Narendra_Bhandari3/publication/228699341_Jainism_The_Eternal_and_Universal_path_for_Enlightenment/links/02e7e525cb0074933c000000.pdf

Bhatt, M. & Gaur, B. P. (2016). Role of Preksha Meditation in promoting mental health of elderly peop le. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2 , 8–17. http://ijsc.net/docs/issue6/role_of_preksha_meditation_in_promoting_mental_health_of_elderly_people.pdf

Biswas, P. (2015). Mahatma Gandhi’s views on peace education.  Education Journal ,  4 (1), 10–12. http://article.joedu.org/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.s.2015040101.13.pdf

Brooks, C. & Hajir, B. (2020). Peace education in formal schools: Why is it important and how can it be done? International Alert. https://www.international-alert.org/publications/peace-education-formal-schools-why-is-it-important-and-how-can-it-be-done/#:%7E:text=After%20all%2C%20formal%20schools%20not,decreased%20violence%20and%20dropout%20rates

Byock, I. (2004). The four things that matter most: A book about living . Atria Books. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6oa4AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&ots=aLlQ8ehsyv&sig=fyKT-VcXAUmVg8EC0WE_DJh6Bt4

Cheung, T. T. L., Gillebaart, M., Kroese, F., & De Ridder, D. (2014). Why are people with high self-control happier? The effect of trait self-control on happiness as mediated by regulatory focus. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (722), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00722

Cohrs, J. C., Christie, D. J., White, M. P., & Das, C. (2013). Contributions of positive psychology to peace: Toward global well-being and resilience. American Psychologist, 68 (7), 590–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032089

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Cope, S. (2006).  The wisdom of yoga: a seeker’s guide to extraordinary living . Bantam. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XhB0DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&ots=1LbDOkBZSU&sig=HoJ-6abUkAtmb5pWqMZzEBoehOk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Corboz, J., Siddiq, W., Hemat, O., Chirwa, E. D., & Jewkes, R. (2019). What works to prevent violence against children in Afghanistan? Findings of an interrupted time series evaluation of a school-based peace education and community social norms change intervention in Afghanistan. PLoS ONE, 14 (8), e0220614. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.022061

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Corner, P. D. (2009). Workplace spirituality and business ethics: Insights from an eastern spiritual tradition.  Journal of business ethics ,  85 (3), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9776-2

Cort, J. E. (2001).  Jains in the world: Religious values and ideology in India . Oxford University Press on Demand. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ip7mCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Cort,+John+E.+2001.+Jains+in+the+world:+Religious+values+and+ideology+in+India.+Kettering:+Oxford+University+Press+on+Demand.&ots=L9pa-A-3X_&sig=wUplujfFG_vkGqdMzwzRvY879G8

Craven, R. G., Seaton, M., & Yeung, A. S. (2015). Attitude to non-violence scale: Validity and practical use. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32 (13), 2018–2045. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515590785

Danesh, H. B. (2006). Towards an integrative theory of peace education. Journal of Peace Education, 3 (1), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400200500532151

Darvill, T. J., Johnson, R. C., & Danko, G. P. (1992). Personality correlates of public and private self-consciousness. Personality and Individual Differences, 13 (3), 383–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90120-e

De Ridder, D., & Gillebaart, M. (2017). Lessons learned from trait self-control in well-being: making the case for routines and initiation as important components of trait self-control. Health psychology review, 11 (1), 89–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2016.1266275

De Ridder, D. T., Lensvelt-Mulders, G., Finkenauer, C., Stok, F. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2012). Taking stock of self-control: A meta-analysis of how trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Review , 16 (1), 76–99. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1088868311418749

Dhand, A. (2002). The dharma of ethics, the ethics of dharma: Quizzing the ideals of Hinduism. Journal of Religious Ethics, 30 (3), 347–372. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9795.00113

Diener, E., Tay, L., & Myers, D. G. (2011). The religion paradox: If religion makes people happy, why are so many dropping out? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101 (6), 1278–1290. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024402

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319 (5870), 1687–1688. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150952

Ekman, E., & Ekman, P. (2013). Cultivating emotional balance: Structure, research, and implementation. In T. Singer & M. Bolz (Eds.), Compassion: Bridging practice and science (pp. 398–414). Max Planck Society. http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0004-A284-F

Elliott, G. C. (1980). Components of pacifism: Conceptualization and measurement.  Journal of conflict Resolution ,  24 (1), 27–54. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F002200278002400102

Enright, R. D., & Fitzgibbons, R. P. (2000). Helping clients forgive: An empirical guide for resolving anger and restoring hope. American Psychological Association . https://doi.org/10.1037/10381-000

Fergusson, L., Wells, G., & Kettle, D. (2017). The personal, social and environmental sustainability of Jainism in light of Maharishi Vedic science. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 20 (4), 1627–1649. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-9957-1

Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M. (2008). Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology ,  95 (5), 1045. https://doi.org/10.1037%2Fa0013262

Folkert, K. W., & Cort, J. E. (2017). Jainism. In A new handbook of living religions (3rd ed., pp. 340–368). Willey online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405166614

Gada, M. (2015). Jaina religion and psychiatry. Mens Sana Monographs, 13 (1), 70. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1229.153306

Gale, C., & Schröder, T. (2014). Experiences of self-practice/self-reflection in cognitive behavioural therapy: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 87 (4), 373–392. https://doi.org/10.1111/papt.12026

Gaur, B. P., & Gusain, V. S. (2017). Impact of preksha meditation on mental health of female executives of metro city.  International Journal of Yoga and Allied Science ,  6 (1), 5–12. http://indianyoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/v6-issue1-article1.pdf

Generations for Peace (2015). GFP Jordan Schools Programme Participatory Evaluation . Generations for Peace .  Retrieved April 2022, from  https://www.generationsforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GFP-JOR-Schools-Programme-2014-2015-PE-Report-Final.pdf

Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15 (3), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.bp.107.005264

Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53 (1), 6–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12043

Gohain, A. P. (2020). Learning peace: An overview of peace education for peace building from the perspective of Jainism.  PRĀCYĀ , 12 , 204–228. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dr-SwapanMal/publication/344774371_carvakanaye_pramanakhandanamandanavimarsah_Carvakanaye_pramanakhandanamandanavimarsah/links/5f8f080592851c14bcd82855/carvakanaye-pramanakhandanamandanavimarsah-Carvakanaye-pramanakhandanamandanavimarsah.pdf#page=225

Goury, I. K., & Khangarot, Y. S. (2019). Impact of Preksha meditation and yogic lifestyle on BMI in hypertensive patients. International Journal of Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences , 4 (2), 137–141. https://www.theyogicjournal.com/pdf/2019/vol4issue2/PartC/4-2-41-667.pdf

Hamilton, K., Fleig, L., Henderson, J., & Hagger, M. S. (2019). Being active in pregnancy: Theory-based factors associated with physical activity among pregnant women. Women and Health, 59 (2), 213–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2018.1452835

Harrington, R., & Loffredo, D. A. (2010). Insight, rumination, and self-reflection as predictors of well-being. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 145 (1), 39–57.

Harris, I. M. (1990). Principles of peace pedagogy. Peace and Change, 15 (3), 254–271. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0130.1990.tb00555.x

Harris, I. M. (2004). Evaluating peace education. Journal of Peace Education, 1 (1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1740020032000178276

Harris, I. M. (2007). Peace education in a violent culture.  Harvard Educational Review ,  77 (3), 350. https://search.proquest.com/openview/c0a526199b644c8e9e3c058ceb9848db/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41677

Harris, I. M., & Morrison, M. L. (2013).  Peace education . McFarland. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=NWsrAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Harris,+I.+M.,+%26+Morrison,+M.+L.+(2012).+Peace+education.+McFarland.&ots=alJekSFmoj&sig=1qIYeKGdemVz1gF9Z-oE651iXFQ

Hasan, Q., & Khan, S. R. (1983). Dimension of Gandian (nonviolent) personality.  Journal of Psychological Researches , 2 , 100–116. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-06665-001

Hebl, J. H., & Enright, R. D. (1993). Forgiveness as a psychotherapeutic goal with elderly females. Psychotherapy: Theory Research, Practice, Training, 30 , 658–667. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.30.4.658

Jacobi, H. (1895). Jaina Sutras, Part I (SBE22): Introduction . Sacred Books of East, 45. https://www.sacred-texts.com/jai/sbe22/sbe2202.htm

Jain, L., Dalal, T., & Jain, M. (2005).  Jain food: Compassionate and healthy cooking,-vegetarian cook book: A guide to compassionate, Healt . MJain. net. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tTAkDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=Jain+Food:+Compassionate+and+Healthy+Cooking,-Vegetarian+Cook+Book:+A+Guide+to+Compassionate&ots=K5A0X_N0o-&sig=0_lLuXDlFEChgxzAD4Dk_mcVzEU

Jain, Y. (2007).  Jain way of life (JWOL): A guide to compassionate, healthy and happy living . JAINA. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=I-Pn6ESzLLQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=Jain,+Y.+(2007).+Jain+Way+of+Life+(JWOL):+A+Guide+to+Compassionate,+Healthy+and+Happy+Living.+JAINA.&ots=npGp4xEeBn&sig=5Tj2FpFaff--yQYSGzBC0mp9Pqo

Jain, S. R. (2008). Introduction to Jainism: Non-violence is the highest religion. HereNow4U: Portal on Jainism and next Level Consciousness. Retrieved September 2021, from http://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=65944

Jain, V. (2014). Uttam kshama (supreme forgiveness): A Jain concept and practice for spiritual progress, social harmony and peace.  Social Consciousness in Jainism , 236–247. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Viney_Jain/publication/260286730_Uttam_Kshama_Supreme_Forgiveness_A_Jain_Concept_and_Practice_for_Spiritual_Progress_Social_Harmony_and_Peace/links/00b7d53082e09d45af000000.pdf

Jain, J. (2017). Preksha dhyana: A psychotherapeutic intervention.  Indian Journal of Positive Psychology ,  8 (2), 249–251. https://search.proquest.com/openview/11fb0af733507e145aae564ffe97ccce/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2032133

Jain, V., Jain, K., Sharma, S., Chaitanya, S., & Prajna, S. (2017). Yoga-Preksha-Dhyan practice as a cost-effective preventive strategy against aggressiveness in primary school children.  International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences ,  6 (2), 106–113. http://indianyoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/v6-issue2-article2.pdf

Jaini, P. S. (2006). Ecology, economics, and development in Jainism. In C. H. Chapple (Ed.), Jainism and ecology: Non-violence in the Web of Life (pp. 141–156). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. http://web.flu.cas.cz/scan/323553159.pdf

Jinpa, T. (2010). Compassion cultivation training (CCT): Instructor’s manual . Unpublished.

Joireman, J. A., Parrot, L., III., & Hammersla, J. (2002). Empathy and the self-absorption paradox: Support for the distinction between self-rumination and self-reflection. Self and Identity, 1 , 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/152988602317232803

Kool, V. (2013). Applications of Gandhian concepts in psychology and allied disciplines. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55 (6), 235. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.105541

Kool, V. K., & Sen, M. (1984). The nonviolence test.  Second Handbook of Psychological and Social Instruments , 48–55.

Kumar, R. (2011). Caressing emotional well-being: Preksha Dhayan as preventive and remedial tool.  Indian Journal of Education Research Experimentation and Innovation ,  1 (4). https://www.academia.edu/download/61551796/Kumar_-_2011_-_Caressing_Emotional_Well-Being_Preksha_Dhayan20191218-91178-iq0xn4.pdf

LaBouff, J. P., Rowatt, W. C., Johnson, M. K., Tsang, J. A., & Willerton, G. M. (2012). Humble persons are more helpful than less humble persons: Evidence from three studies. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7 (1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2011.626787

Lakshmi, R. R. R. (2021). Effect of Preksha meditation on resilience and aggressiveness of school children during covid-19 pandemic: A controlled study.  Children ,  10 (2), 136–143. http://indianyoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/v10-issue2-article6.pdf

Lawler, K. A., Younger, J. W., Piferi, R. L., Jobe, R. L., Edmondson, K. A., & Jones, W. H. (2005). The unique effects of forgiveness on health: An exploration of pathways. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28 (2), 157–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-005-3665-2

Leaviss, J., & Uttley, L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focused therapy: An early systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 45 (5), 927–945. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714002141

López, A., Sanderman, R., Ranchor, A. V., & Schroevers, M. J. (2018). Compassion for others and self-compassion: Levels, correlates, and relationship with psychological well-being. Mindfulness, 9 (1), 325–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0777-z

Lyke, J. A. (2009). Insight, but not self-reflection, is related to subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 46 (1), 66–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.09.010

MacBeth, A., & Gumley, A. (2012). Exploring compassion: A meta-analysis of the association between self-compassion and psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 32 , 545–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.06.003

Maheshwari, V., & Yadav, A. (2018). Effect of Yoga-Preksha meditation on adjustment among college going girls. International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences ,  7 (1), 45–51. http://indianyoga.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/v7-issue1-article8.pdf

Mayton, D. M., Nogle, K. S., Mack, J. L., Maxcy, R. T., Weeks, R. G., Hamilton, D. L. ... Nawata, A. (1998). Teenage nonviolence test: A new measure of nonviolence. In  annual meeting of the American psychological association, San Francisco .

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. (2011). Census of India: Religion PCA . Office of the registrar general and census commissioner, India Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved July 2021, from https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/Religion_PCA.html

Mohammadi, M. R., Larijani, B., Sanjari, M., & Jalili, R. B. (2001). Effects of Ramadan of anxiety and depression. Iranian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 3 (Supplement Congress on Health and Ramadan), 27–27. https://www.sid.ir/en/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?id=498471

Mongrain, M., Chin, J. M., & Shapira, L. B. (2011). Practicing compassion increases happiness and self-esteem. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12 , 963–981. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-010-9239-1

Moshiri, Z. (2001). Effect of Ramadan on depression in students of Islamic Azad University, Mahabad. Iran Journal of Endocrino Metabolism Book of the congress on Health and Ramadan. Endocrine and metabolism research center. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 49.

Mousavi, S. A., Seifi, M., Amiri Baghni, S., & Dolat, E. (2015). The effects of fasting on the level of happiness in the general population of Kermanshah, Iran.  Journal of Fasting and Health ,  3 (1), 29–34. http://eprints.mums.ac.ir/4377/1/JFH_Volume%203_Issue%201_Pages%2029-34.pdf

Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69 (1), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21923

Neff, K. D., Rude, S. S., & Kirkpatrick, K. L. (2007). An examination of self-compassion in relation to positive psychological functioning and personality traits. Journal of Research in Personality, 41 , 908–916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.08.002

Niamir-Fuller, M., Özdemir, I., & Brinkman, F. J. (2016). Environment, religion and culture in the context of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.  United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi . https://stg-wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/8696

Niemiec, R. M. (2012). VIA character strengths: Research and practice (the first 10 years). Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology , 11–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4611-4_2

Nikfarjam, M., Noormohammadi, M. R., Mardanpour Shahrekordi, E., Esmaeili Vardanjani, S. A., & HasanPour-Dehkordi, A. (2013). The effect of fasting on emotional intelligence in clergies in Shahrekord seminary.  Journal of Shahrekord Uuniversity of Medical Sciences ,  15 . http://eprints.skums.ac.ir/3766/

Oishi, S., & Diener, E. (2014). Residents of poor nations have a greater sense of meaning in life than residents of wealthy nations. Psychological Science , 25 , 422–430. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0956797613507286

Owen, A. L., & Videras, J. R. (2007). Culture and public goods: The case of religion and the voluntary provision of environmental quality. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 54 (2), 162–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2007.04.001

Orúzar, H., Miranda, R., Oriol, X., & Montserrat, C. (2019). Self-control and subjective-wellbeing of adolescents in residential care: The moderator role of experienced happiness and daily-life activities with caregivers. Children and Youth Services Review, 98 , 125–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.12.021

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2009). Character strengths: Research and practice. Journal of College and Character, 10 (4), np. https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1042

Peters, A. S., Rowat, W. C., & Johnson, M. K. (2011). Associations between dispositional humility and social relationship quality.  Psychology ,  2 (03), 155. https://file.scirp.org/pdf/PSYCH20110300013_36444267.pdf

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press/Washington, American Psychological Association. https://journals.sfu.ca/rpfs/index.php/rpfs/article/download/135/134

Peterson, C., Ruch, W., Beerman, U., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2007). Strengths of character, orientations to happiness, and life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 2 , 149–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760701228938

Pew Research Center. (2012). The Global Religious Landscape . Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. Retrieved July 2021, from https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-other/

Phillips, K., & Schaefer, K. L. (2019). Annihilation of desire in Jain ethics as a challenge to western, subjectivist notions of well-being. Science, Religion and Culture , 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.src/2019.6.1.67.76

Poggendorf-Kakar, K. (2014). Celebration of death: A Jain tradition of liberating the soul by fasting oneself to death (Santhara). In S. Kakar (Ed.), Death and dying . Penguin Books India PVT, Limited.

Power, E. A. (2018). Collective ritual and social support networks in rural South India. Proceedings of the Royal Society b: Biological Sciences, 285 (1879), 20180023. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0023

Article   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Pragya, S. R. (2015). Health and happiness in Jainism . HereNow4U: Portal on Jainism and next level consciousness. Retrieved July 2021, from http://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=96770

Pragya, S. U., Cordoba, G., Chui, J., Mehta, N. D., Johnson, P., Mehta, D. I., & Mehta, N. (2014). Can the cognitive parameters of college students with learning disabilities benefit from using Mahapraan, a breathing based Preksha meditation?.  Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC) ,  11 (4), 169–174. https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v11i4.8854

Prajna, S. A. (2018). Effect of Preksha meditation on menopausal syndrome. International Journal of Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences , 3 (1), 433–436. https://www.theyogicjournal.com/pdf/2018/vol3issue1/PartH/3-1-26-657.pdf

Reddy, S. D., Negi, L. T., Dodson-Lavelle, B., Ozawa-de Silva, B., Pace, T. W., Cole, S. P., … & Craighead, L. W. (2013). Cognitive-based compassion training: A promising prevention strategy for at-risk adolescents.  Journal of Child and Family Studies ,  22 (2), 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9571-7

Rye, M., Pargament, K. I., Ali, M., Beck, G., Dorff, E.,Hallisey, C., ... Williams, J. G. (2000). Religious perspectives on forgiveness. In M. E. McCullough, K. I. Pargament, & C. E. Thoresen (Eds.), Forgiveness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 17–40). Guilford. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bXZbpTaorg4C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Forgiveness:+Theory,+research,+and+practice&ots=m9_ExHuykU&sig=AJilqwDNekZ4PCWCgPArkaYm8eA

Sakade, N. (2009).  Peace education in practice? A case study of peace education in England  (Doctoral dissertation, University of Birmingham). http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/5217/

Sanchetee, P., Jain, A., & Agarwal, H. (2017). Preksha meditation and mental health in elderly. Journal of the Indian Academy of Geriatrics , 13 (3), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.35262/jiag.v13i3.131-138

Sedlmeier, P., Eberth, J., Schwarz, M., Zimmermann, D., Haarig, F., Jaeger, S., et al. (2012). The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138 ,1139–1171. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0028168

Seybold, K. S., Hill, P. C., Neumann, J. K., & Chi, D. S. (2001). Physiological and psychological correlates of forgiveness. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 20 , 250–259. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-09309-004

Shah, S. (1979). Who are the Jains? New Community, 7 (3), 369–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.1979.9975585

Shah, N. (2004).  Jainism: The world of conquerors . Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qLNQKGcDIhsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Shah,+N.+(2004).+Jainism:+the+world+of+conquerors+&ots=zsKaHt-qSW&sig=fi5qaYlUHXAlHmmjRvMcTgytcOk

Shah, P. K. (2009). Jainism – Religion of compassion and ecology (Jaina Education Series) (7th ed). JAINA Education Committee. Retrieved July 2021, from http://www.jcgb.org/images/files/pathshala/level_3/JES901E7_Jainism_2009_03_01_Final.pdf

Sharma, S., Jain, K., Sharma, A. K., Kalia, V., & Jain, V. (2020). Potential application of Yoga-Preksha-Meditation to prevent stress-induced anger in healthy adults-a pilot study.  International Journal of Medicine and Public Health ,  10 (4). https://doi.org/10.5530/ijmedph.2020.4.44

Sheth, N., & Sheth, S. (1992). Pratikraman . Jainism: Harvard University Pluralism Project . Retrieved July 2021, from http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/ritual/pratikraman.html

Shilapi, S. (2006). The environmental and ecological teachings of Tiṛthaṅkara Mahāvīra. In C. H. Chapple (Ed.), Jainism and ecology: Non-violence in the Web of Life (pp. 160–167). Motilal Banarsidass. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=abLZNdYxay8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&ots=zlylvFKVS&sig=am7ATDqcNReq6RcpQvzfcQabZG4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Shukla, A., & Zaidi, T. (2016). Impact of fasting on altruism and self-regulation among young Muslim females.  Indian Journal of Positive Psychology ,  7 (4), 439. https://search.proquest.com/openview/fffcb5072183e91263917ec4a95f38d9/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2032133

Singh, K., Jain, A., & Singh, D. (2014). Satsang: A culture specific effective practice for well-being. In H. Águeda Marujo, & L. Neto (Eds.), Positive nations and communities. Cross-cultural advancements in positive psychology (Vol. 6). Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6869-7_5

Singh, P., Tewari, S., Kesberg, R., Karl, J. A., Bulbulia, J., & Fischer, R. (2020). Time investments in rituals are associated with social bonding, affect and subjective health: A longitudinal study of Diwali in two Indian communities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375 (1805), 20190430. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0430

Singhvi, L. M. (2006). The Jain declaration on nature. In C. H. Chapple (Ed.), Jainism and ecology: Non-violence in the Web of Life (pp. 217–224). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. https://www.jainelibrary.org/elib_master/article/250000_article_english/jain_declaration_of_nature_269753_data.pdf

Smith, T. B., McCullough, M. E., & Poll, J. (2003). Religiousness and depression: Evidence for a main effect and the moderating influence of stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 129 , 614–636. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3055&context=facpub

Somasundaram, O., Murthy, A. T., & Raghavan, D. V. (2016). Jainism-Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice of Sallekhana.  Indian Journal of Psychiatry ,  58 (4), 471. https://doi.org/10.4103%2F0019-5545.196702

Stevenson, M. S. (1915).  The heart of Jainism (Vol. 5). Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25189388.pdf?casa_token=p8PkC12OEgkAAAAA:pV1kXN0SvaU_WFr4t14DmbxqRUXyjUC3c92ZDxAsiOz1GMp_cXZecxNPnXt4FwVY6YV1IQm05StzfTuxbD6OSPqV_0rFnqK43vx3PNzQcykw5Jc8IY

Synott, J. (2005). Peace education as an educational paradigm: Review of a changing field using an old measure. Journal of Peace Education, 2 (1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1740020052000341786

Tangney, J. P., Baumeister, R. F., & Boone, A. L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72 , 271–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00263.x

Tatia, N. (2006). The Jain worldview and ecology. In C. H. Chapple (Ed.), Jainism and ecology: Non-violence in the Web of Life (pp. 4–18). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=abLZNdYxay8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&ots=zlylvFKVS&sig=am7ATDqcNReq6RcpQvzfcQabZG4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Taylor, B., van Wieren, G., & Zaleha, B. (2016). The greening of religion hypothesis (part two): Assessing the data from Lynn White, Jr, to Pope Francis. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 10 (3), 306–378. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v10i3.29011

Tewari, S., Khan, S., Hopkins, N., Srinivasan, N., & Reicher, S. (2012). Participation in mass gatherings can benefit well-being: Longitudinal and control data from a North Indian Hindu Pilgrimage Event. PLoS ONE, 7 (10), e47291. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047291

Toussaint, L. L., Williams, D. R., Musick, M. A., & Everson-Rose, S. A. (2008). Why forgiveness may protect against depression: Hopelessness as an explanatory mechanism. Personality and Mental Health, 2 (2), 89–103. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.35

Toussaint, L., Williams, D., Musick, M., & Everson, S. (2001). Forgiveness and health: Age differences in a U.S. probability sample. Journal of Adult Development, 8 , 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011394629736

Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 76 , 284–304. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul_Trapnell/publication/13215604_Private_self-consciousness_and_the_fivefactor_model_of_personality_Distinguishing_rumination_from_reflection/links/5f28254b299bf134049cf5a6/Private-self-consciousness-and-the-five-factor-model-of-personality-Distinguishing-rumination-from-reflection.pdf

Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra (H. M. Johnson, Trans.; Vol. 1). (1931). [English]. Oriental Institute Baroda. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.282458/mode/2up

Tripathi, K. L. (2016). Concept of Aparigrah in Ashtaang yoga, a sustainability perspective. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, 42 (9), 483–485.

Udita, S. & Rao, M. P. (2014). Religious practices and mental health: with reference to Jainism . Academic Research International, 5 (4) . http://www.savap.org.pk/journals/ARInt./Vol.5(4)/2014(5.4-47).pdf

Vagh, M. G. (2019). Preksha meditation: The technique for purifying and knowing self. International Journal of Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences, 4 (1), 818–821. http://www.theyogicjournal.com/pdf/2019/vol4issue1/PartO/5-1-4-852.pdf

Valdez, M. L. A. (2014). Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of Ahimsa: implication on noted Filipino students’ values.  Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2 (1). https://www.academia.edu/download/61198821/Mahatma-Gandhis-Doctrine-of-Ahimsa20191112-69741-19iqrcv.pdf

Vallely A. (2020). Jainism. In D. Yaden, Y. Zhao, K. Peng, & A. Newberg (Eds.), Rituals and practices in world religions. religion, spirituality and health: A social scientific approach (Vol. 5). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27953-0_6

Vekemans, T. (2014). Double-clicking the Temple Bell. Devotional aspects of Jainism online.  Online-Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet ,  6 . https://doi.org/10.11588/rel.2014.0.17363

Wagner, L., Gander, F., Proyer, R. T., & Ruch, W. (2019). Character strengths and PERMA: Investigating the relationships of character strengths with a multidimensional framework of well-being. Applied Research in Quality of Life . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9695-z

Watkins, E., & Serpell, L. (2016). The psychological effects of short-term fasting in healthy women. Frontiers in Nutrition , 3 , 0. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2016.00027

Whittington, B. L., & Scher, S. J. (2010). Prayer and subjective well-being: An examination of six different types of prayer. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 20 , 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508610903146316

Wiltermuth, S. S., & Heath, C. (2009). Synchrony and cooperation. Psychological Science,20 , 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9280.2008.02253.x

Xu, W., Kumar, I. R., & Srinivasan, T. M. (2021a). Effects of Yama and Niyama on body energy systems: Evidence from electro photonic imaging–A randomised controlled trial. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 14 (7), 610–617.

Xu, W., Kumar, I. R., & Srinivasan, T. M. (2021b). Evaluation of impact of ethics of yoga in the psychological health of college students: A randomized control trial.  Indian Journal of Science and Technology ,  14 (12), 995–1005. https://sciresol.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/IJST/Articles/2021b/Issue-12/IJST-2021b-2001.pdf

You, S., & Yoo, J. E. (2016). Prayer and subjective well-being: The moderating role of religious support. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 38 (3), 301–315. https://doi.org/10.1163/15736121-12341328

Zare Bahram Abadi, M., Asgharnejad Farid, A. A., Bahari, F., & Chami, M. (2012). The Effect of Islamic fasting in quran on spiritual intelligence and happiness of fasting persons. Quran and Medicine , 1 (3), 66–70. https://Www.Sid.Ir/En/Journal/Viewpaper.Aspx?Id=315283

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India

Kirti Tyagi

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India

Kamlesh Singh

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirti Tyagi .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Gaurav Saxena

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Tyagi, K., Singh, K. (2023). Jainism: A Religion of Compassion and Non-violence. In: Singh, K., Saxena, G. (eds) Religious and Spiritual Practices in India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2397-7_9

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2397-7_9

Published : 01 August 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-99-2396-0

Online ISBN : 978-981-99-2397-7

eBook Packages : Religion and Philosophy Philosophy and Religion (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Open access
• Published: 14 November 2013

Theories of knowledge and the experience of being: Jainism’s ontology of kinship

• Anne Vallely 1  

International Journal of Dharma Studies volume  1 , Article number:  3 ( 2013 ) Cite this article

10k Accesses

2 Altmetric

Metrics details

This paper explores Jain epistemology and hermeneutics as derivative of an ontology of kinship or of ‘being with’. The distinctively Jain ‘way of being’ stems from an experiential reality of inhabiting a world that is concretely and patently inhabited by others. Methodologically, the paper draws on Um ā sw ā ti’s Tattvārtha Sūtra , as well as on ethnographic work on Jainism. The paper demonstrates that embodied perceptions of an animate cosmos are far more fundamental than any of its individual metaphysical claims for understanding the Jain relation to the world. It is argued that these embodied perceptions constitute the generative ground from which Jain philosophical and ethical reflections emerge. Jainism’s insistence on the concrete experience of being sentiently with others informs its ethical frameworks and epistemological insights, and serves as the foundational source for understanding life’s existential purpose. This paper concludes by arguing that the primary impetus for Jainism’s celebrated focus on nonviolence, as well as its extraordinary attention to the non-human, is not epistemological, but experiential.

Jain conceptual scaffolding reaches bewildering heights and plumbs unfathomable depths, with concepts building upon concepts, filling the intricacies of the lokāpuruşa in a manner oblivious to the heart’s desire for simplicity. Reality is presented as a perfectly logical and minutely detailed system, constituted by a bewildering array of sentient beings, some invisible, all catalogued according to senses, karma, time cycles and geographical space. Everything is given in superlatives: measurements are immense, distances are indecipherable, and numbers are beyond ordinary comprehension. We learn, for instance, that the continent of Bharata is 526 6/19ths yojanas wide, and that the inhabitants of another continent—the Videha—can live up to one pūrvakoţi , which is 8, 400,000 ( to the power of 2 ) × 10( to the power of 7 ) time units. This is the stuff of Jain philosophy, of the great 2nd century Ācārya Um ā sv ā ti whose treatise, the Tattvārtha Sūtra has come to be a classic, canonical text of Jain philosophical thought. But what are we to make of this finely detailed, minutely constructed epistemological labyrinth? What does it tell us about Jain ways-of-knowing (epistemology) and being in the world? Not much, I suggest. Outside of the few ācāryas for whom systematizing the workings of the cosmos is a form of sādhanā and thereby a karma-burning ( nirjarā activity, for most Jains, the impact of these bewildering abstractions can only be a deep sense of wonder—or perhaps dread. Mircea Eliade—writing on Hinduism—has suggested that such cosmological elaborations function to induce a desire for mokşa (Eliade ) 1987 ). At a minimum, they communicate to Jains a message that the world is neither random nor whimsical, but purposeful. But, while the powers of cosmic rationalization and systematization may be dazzling, I want to argue here that the genius of Jainism lies elsewhere. It is derived from the soil under our feet, the scents and sounds that engulf us, and the movement of our bodies through animate space.

In this paper I argue that Jainism has always recognized that epistemology is the handmaiden to experience. Though the Jain philosophical tradition is an ancient and esteemed one, with sophisticated and complex theories on the nature of reality and knowledge, the embodied and experiential way of relating to the world carries greater force. The Jain path is renowned for its physical rigor and concreteness: the naked Digambara muni bears witness to the fact that, for Jainism, truth is not achievable through intention alone. For all Jains, ahiṃsā is far more than a state of mind or orientation. Its effectiveness lies is in the degree to which it is fully inhabited, concretely actualized in the way one walks, talks, sits, eats etc. And the Jain predilection for observing and cataloguing the natural world likewise stems from this focused attention on embodied existence. The conceptual and abstract can never take on a life of its own, independent of its embodied, sensory beginnings. The sensing, experiencing body is at the center of Jain ways of being, and of Jain ways of knowing. This is the implicit message in Um ā sv ā ti’s canonical Tattvārtha Sūtra , and Nathmal Tatia, its esteemed translator, summarizes the sūtra’s message by saying that in Jainism “Insistence of life” is a superior moral value to “insistence of truth” because the nature of truth varies from thinker to thinker but life is an invariant constant that is dear to all” (Umāsvāti 1994 : xxi).

Emphasizing life over truth is to valorize embodied existence over and above the reflections on it. This calculated focus on lived existence itself—up close and on the ground—has led to an awareness in Jainism that life, most fundamentally, expresses itself relationally— with other sentient beings and with a meaningful world. Epistemologically, this had led to an awareness that perceptual engagement with other sensory beings is the foundation of all knowledge. Ontologically, it treats as given the existence of an independent domain of meaning that is received (not constructed). In terms of contemporary relevancy, it is hard to think of a set of notions with greater import. The dominant modern way conceiving of the human being represents a radical departure and rejection of these dimensions of life: we alone are meaning-makers in an otherwise mute world; cognitive beings who are condemned to imaginatively create the world in order to engage with it. Concerned only with the cognitive relationship to the world, the modern view disregards (or worse, flatly denies) the possibility of meaning inherent in the world itself as well as all knowledge that is immanent in experience. Jainism circumvents this tendency due to its embodied epistemology (that is, an epistemology that never strays far from ontology), and therefore is worth our close consideration. I want here to explore the two implications of the Jain way of being/knowing in greater detail.

Animate cosmos & the non-human other

Non human sentient life is at the very center of the Jain religious imagination – its cosmology, philosophical musings, ethics, and its notions of what it means to be a fully realized human being. For those new to the study of the Jain dharma, the tremendous focus on the non-human is often one of its most striking features. Ethical attention extends far beyond human-to-human engagements, and often seems (to the uninitiated) excessively focused on beings with little or no subjectivity at all (e.g., water- and soil-bodied beings, miniscule insects). Fascinatingly, despite its bio-centricity and its insistence on the inviolability of all life, Jainism unequivocally considers human beings as distinct from and superior to all other life forms, and in this way differs from much contemporary eco-philosophical discourse. Despite transgressing the bio-centric ethos so celebrated within most of contemporary environmental thought, as well insisting on the existence of an ontological gap between humans and nonhumans, Jainism recognizes the world in its entirety as purposeful, intelligent, and responsive. It is this fundamental awareness that has given rise to Jainism’s “grounded” epistemology, and which has informed the tradition’s celebrated tradition of nonviolence of the past nearly 3000 years. To put this another way, recognizing the world as animate and intentional, and capable of suffering, may be far more crucial a recognition than where one can be plotted along the anthropocentric-bio-centric ideological spectrum. Elsewhere, in a paper that deals more fully with the issue of the nonhuman, I have argued:

The distinctively Jain way of being stems from the experiential reality of inhabiting a world that is concretely and patently inhabited by others: It takes for granted the experience of life as always and unavoidably in a state of being with others. The animate and intelligent life that encompasses us, that perpetually bombards us, and leaves its innumerable impressions on us every moment of every day, is, for Jains, taken as given (Vallely 2014 ).

In another area of divergence from mainstream environmental thought, Jainism does not consider human plenitude or “fullness” (Taylor 2007 ) to be reachable through engagement or communion with other beings. Instead, it ultimately seeks distance from other beings, in what has been described as an “ethic of quarantine (Laidlaw 1995 )”. That we share our world with a myriad of life forms does not for Jains evoke rhapsodic wonderment, nor would it ever be experienced as a form of “cosmic liturgy” (Berry 2006 ). Instead, it is more likely experienced as a perilous and potentially suffocating reality. Indeed, for a tradition that emphasizes the need for detachment, being with others can be a treacherous affair. But Jainism also recognizes that being with others is the necessary condition for greatness. It is the very context of being with other life forms in the meaningful cosmos ( lokāpuruşa ) that necessitates mindfulness and gives rise to compassion, without which, enlightenment can never be achieved.

The meaningfulness of Lokāpuruşa

Jainism is renowned for its ascetic ideal and for its cultivation of a radical detachment from body and worldly pleasures in its pursuit of liberation. Because it identifies the soul’s entanglement in matter as the most fundamental existential problem (one shared by all beings), the religious path is conceived of as a heroic and rigorous process of dis-entanglement from all forms of matter, understood to be the source of bondage, pursued in the absence of any benevolent grace-bestowing “overseer” or God. Though guidance and inspiration are sought from others, most especially from the example of the Jinas, the religious path is ultimately conceived of as a necessarily solitary one. While Jinas (or Tīrthaṅkaras) — those human beings who have attained liberation and transmitted the true dharma for all to benefit from— are the recipients of worship, they exist only as exemplars of the ideal life and are neither involved with nor concerned about our worldly lives in any way. As Lawrence Babb writes in Absent Lord: “From the standpoint of transactional logic, the Tīrthaṅkara is absent. He responds to no prayers or petitions, and dispenses no saving grace” (Babb 1996 : 92). Because of this, the existence of Jainism’s devotional structures that center on the Jinas is often met (at least by students of the tradition) with puzzlement. Babb gives expression to this in the opening sentence of his book when he asks: “What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach, of any form of worship whatsoever”? (Babb 1996 :1).

Jain devotional practices have been viewed as inevitable accretions of the wider Hindu tradition. They have also, in Durkheimian fashion, been explained in terms of their powerful social functions for collective cohesion. In addition, they have been treated as rationalized activities that foster detachment, focus the mind, and remind Jains of their own divine potential. For instance, Babb describes how during pūjā , offerings are understood not as gifts given to the Jinas, but as gifts given up in emulation of them (Babb 1988 ), serving as pedagogical models for ideal practice.

While these explanations each contribute to our understanding of Jain ritual and devotional culture, I argue here that Jain devotional practices emerge out of something more basic: namely, their impetus arises from the pre-reflective experience of inhabiting an embodied, sensorial relationship to the world. That this world for Jains is neither a concrete manifestation of the divine, nor the purposeful creation of a “higher being”, does not diminish its potential for an existential response of gratitude or devotion. The world summons a response; our existence is a predicament in need of resolution, and the Jinas are those beings who show us the way. Though Jinas no longer participate in reciprocal exchange with devotees, they encapsulate the latter’s aspirations, and the goals of the Jain dharma itself. The trajectory of each Jina extends back through their many previous lives, providing devotees a longitudinal perspective on the nature of embodied existence. The Jinas enjoyed great boons and suffered profound despair, just as we all do and therefore to which we can relate. But more significantly, their lives reveal a powerful thread of narrative coherence, without which the ups and downs of existence might seem meaningless and chaotic. The Jinas therefore are beacons of calm and hope in the midst of turbulence and hardship; they embody the triumph of the path of nonviolence.

Jain devotion, therefore, can be characterized as an embodied response to the experience of a meaningful, autonomous, transpersonal lokapuruṣa (or cosmos). Despite its non-theistic “do it yourself” path, expressions of devotion and prayer naturally arise from the felt sense that one is being called to participate in a world that, though full of obstacles and potentially treacherous, invites participation.

The labyrinthine path through the quagmire of worldly existence—not unlike an intricate game of snakes & ladders—is a world charged with importance and urgency; our participation in it, while difficult, is also the grounds for our heroism. Worldly existence—condemned for being a place of bondage—is simultaneously treated by Jains as providing the precious means for release. Indeed the very structure and workings of the cosmos serve this function, providing souls the means to move ever upward toward eventual release. For instance, the Tattvārtha Sūtra (Umāsvāti 1994 ): 4.13-4.15, pp. 102–104 identifies the astrological planets as divine cosmic entities. As emitters of light and movers in predictable motion, they stand as beacons of consciousness and hence tutors of dharma. In an unpublished paper on Jain astrology, delivered at the DANAM meetings in 2008, Stephen Quinlan elucidates the central role planets play as guides to illuminate the mokşa marg . He writes:

By casting light on things and permitting temporal observation of the changes they undergo, the planets inform experience and enable the soul’s inherent rationality to express itself. By casting light upon the world and following measurable paths of predictable movement, dharma is revealed and the soul’s course charted. Without the planets as beacons to the soul, karmic gloom and ignorance cannot be dissipated… [And] while the original motive for the karmic bond remains outside of knowledge, the bond itself creates, however paradoxically, the conditions under which jīva comes to know itself and, as a result, its objective to release itself from karma and to express itself in its essential, liberated state ( Quinlan 2008 :1;3, Nd)

The world offers opportunities that serve the function of karmic release. The abundant temptations of sensual life, cursed for their allure, nevertheless present opportunities for detachment and karmic purification. And the indelible sufferings of sentient life, lamented with anguish and tears, stimulate deep compassion and spiritual progress. In Jainism, a world pregnant with potentiality opens itself up to us; it invites our participation and provides the grounds for the purposeful life.

Jains understand their lives in terms of “a calling” or response, and the devotional structures at work are simply expressions of life lived responsively to an independent realm of meaning. In brief, Jainism’s valorization of “life over truth” has meant that its myriad conceptualizations (its elaborate system of reflections on the nature of existence) do not eclipse the knowledge that is immanent in experience itself, that is, the basic felt impulse to respond devotionally to the world.

I highlight this dimension because in the contemporary period, the non-rational, non-discursive elements of human experience are marginalized, as is the notion of meaning existent outside of human consciousness. Contemporary critiques of religious experience and even of the discipline of religious studies (let alone theology) often judge and condemn the phenomena and field according to very narrow criteria. Much of the critiques of New Atheism, for instance, target what are considered absurd, non-empirical beliefs, on the assumption that rational thought might shed light on an area of dark, irrational and even dangerous ignorance that spawns religious fervor and practice. Jainism is interesting because its devotional apparatus thrives in the absence of any transactional relationship with a god. As is widely observed, Jains don’t worship in order to please gods, nor with the hope of getting something from gods in return. For the critics of religion, removing god (or some form of transactional entity) from the equation should effectively remove the raison d’être for religiosity itself. But of course, it does not within the Jaina context: Jains do worship, and fervently so a .

The Jain example suggests that devotional life in no sense necessitates the ontological existence of a God who creates, destroys and cares for us. When a cognitive relationship to the world reigns, experience is objectified in reflection before being validated, and when no rationale is found, its validity is undermined. Because in Jainism, due to its embodied epistemology (“life over truth”), the cognitive relationship to the world does not eclipse experience, so that we see life lived in response is not so much about belief systems or other rationalizations, but is a way of inhabiting a pre-given domain of meaning.

In conclusion, I have argued in this paper that the primary impetus for Jainism’s celebrated focus on nonviolence, as well as its support of a vital devotional life, is neither ideological nor epistemological. Instead, it is relational, insofar as it inheres in the far more fundamental experience of being sentiently with others. This paper argues that embodied perceptions of a meaningful animate cosmos constitute the generative ground from which Jain epistemology (as well as philosophical and ethical reflections) emerges.

a Paraphrased from the online BBC site ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/worship/worship_1.shtml , 2013) on Jainism.

Babb L: “Giving and giving Up: the eightfold worship among Svetambar Murtipujak Jains. J Anthropol Res 1988, 44 (No. 1):67–86. Spring

Google Scholar  

BBC online site. “Jain Worship” . http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/worship/worship_1.shtml

Babb L: Absent lord: ascetics and kings in a Jain ritual culture . Berkeley: University of California Press; 1996.

Berry T: A communion of subjects: animals in religion . New York, Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press; 2006:8.

Eliade M: The sacred and the profane: the nature of religion. Trans. Williard tank . San Diego: A Harvest Book, Harcourt Inc; 1987:107–109.

Laidlaw J: Riches and renunciation: religion, economy and society among the Jains . Oxford: Clarendon; 1995:153.

Quinlan S: Self-definition and astral representation: astrology as a means of karmic management among Jain householders and Renouncers. Paper delivered at American academy of religion meeting . 2008.

Taylor C: A Secular Age Harvard University Press, 2007 speaks of “fullness” in terms of an experiential mode of being, akin to plenitude or attunement, which human beings orient ourselves toward . Cambridge, Massachusetts and London England: Harvard University Press; 2007.

Umāsvāti: Trans.Nathmal Tatia. Tattvārtha Sūtra, (“That Which Is”) . New York: Harper Collins Publishers; 1994.

Vallely: Asian Perspectives on Animal Ethics . Edited by: Dalal Niel. Routledge; 2014. forthcoming

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Anne Vallely

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne Vallely .

Additional information

Competing interest.

The author declares that she has no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Vallely, A. Theories of knowledge and the experience of being: Jainism’s ontology of kinship. Int. J. Dharma Studies 1 , 3 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-8802-1-3

Download citation

Received : 14 October 2013

Accepted : 14 October 2013

Published : 14 November 2013

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-8802-1-3

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Ethical Reflection
• Primary Impetus
• Environmental Thought
• Role Planet
• Ascetic Ideal

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Journal Menu

• Religions Home
• Aims & Scope
• Editorial Board
• Instructions for Authors
• Special Issues
• Sections & Collections
• Article Processing Charge
• Indexing & Archiving
• Most Cited & Viewed
• Journal Statistics
• Journal History
• Journal Awards
• Editorial Office

Journal Browser

• arrow_forward_ios Forthcoming issue arrow_forward_ios Current issue
• Vol. 15 (2024)
• Vol. 14 (2023)
• Vol. 13 (2022)
• Vol. 12 (2021)
• Vol. 11 (2020)
• Vol. 10 (2019)
• Vol. 9 (2018)
• Vol. 8 (2017)
• Vol. 7 (2016)
• Vol. 6 (2015)
• Vol. 5 (2014)
• Vol. 4 (2013)
• Vol. 3 (2012)
• Vol. 2 (2011)
• Vol. 1 (2010)

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

Jainism Studies

• Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Benefits of publishing in a special issue.

• Published Papers

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2019) | Viewed by 47498

Share This Special Issue

Special issue editor.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to invite your participation in a special issue of Religions, entitled “New Directions in Jaina Studies”. Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) is an open-access online journal devoted to the scientific study of religion. Published by MDPI, its website is found at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/

Until quite recently, the academic study of Jainism (outside of India) was largely a solitary pursuit, undertaken by just a handful of scholars, and mainly focused on the translation of texts. Much has changed. Over the past twenty years, academic interest in the Jaina tradition has grown exponentially and has paralleled, in interesting ways, renewed efforts by Jains themselves to have their tradition recognized as a distinct and ancient expression of South Asian religiosity. Jainism’s influence on India’s long history is now better recognized and more avidly studied. The growing ecological crisis too, has likely contributed to the upsurge of interest in Jainism, as environmentalists and animal activists have found in its teachings a message of sanity for a world tinkering on madness. In 2009, the Jainism Studies Unit was established by the America Academy of Religion in recognition of the growth of the academic study of Jainism. Today Jainism is treated as an indispensable hermeneutic within South Asian Studies, disclosing new ways of seeing and being—often strikingly so. This volume is dedicated to examining some of these new ways. This volume on “new directions” in Jain Studies will contain some of best and most exciting contributions of emerging Jain scholars, and provide a glimpse of the breadth and scope of the emerging field.

Prof. Dr. Anne Vallely Guest Editor

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website . Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form . Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
• Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
• Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
• External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
• e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here .

Published Papers (9 papers)

Jainism - Its relevance to psychiatric practice; with special reference to the practice of Sallekhana

Ottilingam somasundaram.

Former Superintendent and Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

A. G. Tejus Murthy

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry, India

D. Vijaya Raghavan

2 Research Assistant, Schizophrenia Research Foundation, R/7A, North Main Road, Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Jainism is one of the oldest religions of India. Since the founding of the religion, Jainism has given prominence to Sallekhana , death by ritual fasting facing north, as exemplified in the deaths of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya. The controversy whether this religious form of starvation is related to suicide is debated since the time of the early Jain teachers. History is replete with instances where kings and warriors who have failed in their duty punish themselves for their sin and welcome death as expiation. Such starvation deaths are referred to as vadakirutthal (literally, facing north) and become quite prevalent during the Sangam age, probably copied from the Jain culture. The present-day thinking on Sallekhana needs to be considered here in more detail which should be brought to the knowledge of current-day psychiatrists. These ideas are relevant to psychiatric counseling of the ordinary people and would be very useful if included in the armamentarium of the mental health professionals.

INTRODUCTION

Jainism is one of the oldest religions of India, dating back to the 6 th century BCE. According to the 2011 Census, Jains constitute 0.4% of the total Indian population. Maharashtra has the maximum number of Jains (1.3%), followed by Rajasthan (1.2%), Delhi (1.1%), and Gujarat (1%). In South India, Karnataka has 0.72% Jains and Tamil Nadu has 0.12%. In spite of the small numbers, their present-day contribution to trade and culture is remarkable; their contribution to the welfare of the marginalized society by way of munificent charities, especially for the founding and upkeep of educational and health-care institutions, is well-known.

Some of the important chronological events in Jain history could be mentioned:

• Founder of the Jain religion Vardhamana Mahavira's life spanned from 540 to 468 BCE. He is the 24 th Tirthankara . Probably, the earlier ones are mythical. After attaining omniscience ( kaivalya ) in his 42 nd year, he preached his religion all over the country for 32 years
• During 322–298 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya accompanied by Bhadrabahu, the eighth master after the passing away of Mahavira, migrated to Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. Here, both of them undertook Sallekhana (death by ritual starvation) facing north (the direction from which the Tirthankaras preached). The meaning of Sallekhana can be translated as thinning of the passions and the body and lying on the sacred dharbai (kusha) grass
• A contingent of monks was sent to Madurai to spread Jainism under the leadership of Bhutabali (66–90 CE). They took abode in the caves of the eight hills surrounding Madurai
• Establishment of Dravida Sangam in Madurai by Vajranandi in 470 CE, to continue the work of the earlier teachers
• The rapid spread of Jainism in ancient Tamil Nadu was especially due to the royal patronage of the Pallava king Mahendravarman I of Kancheepuram (600–630 CE) and the Pandya king Kun-Pandyan (“ the hunchbacked Pandyan ”) of Madurai (670–710 CE). The profusion of the Jain and Buddhist monks wandering the precincts of the Tamil land is mentioned “painfully” by the great Saivite Nayanmars , Appar, and Sambandar in their Thevaram poems. After the royal conversion of Pandyan to Saivism by Sambandar (after curing his intolerable abdominal pain with the sacred ash), the unsuccessful defeated Jains were put to the stakes. This version is questioned by the later day saivites.

Jainism gives the following five doctrines for its followers:

• Ahiṃsa (nonviolence)
• Satya (truth)
• Asteya (not stealing)
• Brahmacharya (chastity for laypeople and celibacy for Jain monks and nuns)
• Aparigraha (nonpossessiveness).

Accordingly, it also extols the three jewels ( Triratna ): Right knowledge, faith, and action.

It is not just coincidence that Thirukkural considers these aspects extensively and appropriately. This has made some scholars opine that Saint Thiruvalluvar is a Jain.

Giving education, shelter, food, and curing illnesses are considered important and these qualities are reflected in the Jain tradition of encouraging education, medical, and protective dwellings for the common humanity. Chola epigraphs refer to anjuvaan pugazhidam (literally shelter for the fearful).[ 1 ]

Sallekhana – death by fasting (religious)

Since the founding of the religion, Jainism has given prominence to Sallekhana , death by ritual fasting facing north, as exemplified in the deaths of Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Maurya. The criteria which must be met to qualify for this practice are:

• Intolerable personal problems
• Incurable disease.

During this period, the subject should not desire for a better status in the next birth or a place in the heavenly abode but meditate only on Arugan (the Jain God).

There is also reference to this procedure in the 2 nd century CE Sangam literature Sirupanchamoolam . The poem pleads for compassion to be shown to persons undertaking this procedure.

The popular view among Western cultures about Jainism (and Buddhism) is that they are pessimistic in their outlook and fundamental philosophy. The mention of Jainism/Buddhism brings to the Western mind, thoughts of monks and nuns clad in robes, leading austere lives characterized by asceticism, undertaking extreme penances, shunning the pleasures of the worldly life, and turning away from it. All these appear like a nihilistic attitude toward the world. In this background, the practice of Sallekhana logically appears to be a suicide equivalent. However, the aim of this current article is to try to correct this misunderstanding of the fundamental spirit and basic tenet of these Eastern religions. These religions prescribe certain morals, ethics, and values which are very general desirable human virtues which are applicable to people of all walks of life, which include the maximum proportion of the population constituted by householders. Whereas, the more severe forms of asceticism, tough rituals, and so on were reserved only for the monks and nuns who formed a significant minority. Now coming to the accusation that Sallekhana is equivalent to suicide, we must note that the practice was not sanctioned easily to all and sundry. The person who desired to undertake this “fasting unto death” would be interrogated by learned men whom he would have to convince regarding his religious and self-transcendent motive for pursuing the same. Definitely, they would not have allowed any person to take his/her own life for any reason which they found clearly unworthy of the ritual.

This controversy whether this religious form of starvation is related to suicide is debated since the time of the early Jain teachers. The early Buddhist Tamil epic Kundalakesi (the date and the author are unknown and the work is available only in parts; scholars date it to the sometime in the first millennium CE) equates this practice to suicide. However, this idea is refuted forcibly in the Tamil Jain literature of the same period, Neelakesi , as to how the stalwarts of ahimsa , i.e., the Jains could approve death by suicide. The historical time frame and author of this incomplete Jain literature are also unknown.

The “Epic of the Anklet” ( Silappadikaram ), by the Jain prince-turned-Jaina ascetic, Ilango Adigal, refers to this ritual fasting by the Jain nun, Kaundi Adigal. The nun provided companionship to the unfortunate Kovalan and his wife Kannagi in their arduous journey from Puhar (the Chola capital) to the fateful city of Madurai, where Kovalan was unjustly executed, which infuriated Kannagi leading her to burn the city.

In the open space smeared with cow dung And covered over with pollen: Cowherds! No wrong Has Kovalan done. Only the king has erred. And I have lost her who was in my care. Have the king's parasol and sceptre fallen From the true path? With those words, She leaped into the fire in the dead of night. Enraged was Kaundi of the great penance. She calmed down when she heard of the death Of the king, renowned for his upright sceptre. And she moaned: Was this the fate of those Who were my companions? She vowed to starve Herself to death. So ended her life. Canto 27, Lines 85–97 [ 2 ]

Death by fasting (secular)

The above-mentioned deaths by starvation are also seen in the well-known Hindu epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana. Kings and warriors who have failed in their duty punish themselves for their sin and welcome death as an expiation.[ 3 ]

Such starvation deaths are referred to as vadakirutthal (literally facing north) and become quite prevalent during the Sangam age, probably copied from the Jain culture. Sangam anthologies such as Puranaanooru are replete with such poems[ 4 ] [ Table 1 ].

Instances of death by fasting in the Puranaanooru

It is of relevance to mention here that though Sallekhana and vadakirutthal are similar in many respects, vadakirutthal should be considered as a form of suicide and very different from Sallekhana .

The present-day thinking on Sallekhana needs to be considered here in more detail which should be brought to the knowledge of current-day psychiatrists. Now, we can proceed to pay attention to the research done in this regard by the present-day jurists, Jain philosophers, and scholars. This is extensively discussed by the Karnataka jurist Justice Tukol in his masterly survey of this Jain traditional practice.[ 5 ] Justice Tukol, in his seminal writing on Sallekhana : “ Sallekhana is not suicide,” has advanced his views regarding how this religious fasting is not equivalent to suicide of laypeople. He has listed this behavior from ancient times by the great religious teachers, both men and women.

Katherina Poggendorf-Kakar calls this practice as a Celebration of Death , a process of liberating the soul by fasting oneself to death. She describes that the practice is highly respected in the Jain tradition and is prevalent not only among Jain ascetics but also among its laity. Regarding the current-day prevalence of this practice in India, the author mentions that numbers around 200–600 Jains in India are fasting to death each year – reported in Indian newspaper articles, encyclopedias, and the Internet.[ 6 ]

Similar views are expressed in recent Jain tradition-related articles by Hotta Kazuyoshi[ 7 ] and Kokila.[ 8 ]

Sallekhana has been in news in recent times. On August 10, 2015, the Rajasthan High Court had passed the judgment that Sallekhana or Santhara is illegal and equal to suicide, and had directed that FIRs be filed against individuals undertaking this ritual death. However, this judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, following which the Apex Court stayed this judgment on the 31 st of the same month, stating that the equating of this practice to suicide and banning it was “unconstitutional.” Following this, an octogenarian Jain woman from Bikaner announced that she was undertaking the ritual fast and gave up her life.

The Jain community in Tamil Nadu had welcomed this decision. Following this, it was not very long before an 83-year old Jain woman from Tiruvannamalai District ended her life by this procedure.

Hence, in conclusion, in the context of the present day, we need not agree with Durkheim when he says Buddhism and Jainism are pessimistic religions.

It is also a matter which concerns us that some of the material on Sallekhana has not been discussed by the present-day Indian psychiatrists including suicidologists.

We would like to discuss in brief a few other significant aspects of Jainism. The strict vegetarianism of the followers of this religion is well known. The origins of this astute shunning of the eating of animals by these peoples can be found in the times of origin of this religion. The Vedic rituals of those days demanded the sacrifice of many domesticated animals. These people feared that the rampant mass killing of livestock would lead to severe reduction in their numbers leading to serious problems in continuing agricultural and animal husbandry which was the backbone of their civilization. Hence, they might have promoted vegetarianism.

Another notable aspect is the descriptions available regarding transgender individuals, transvestism, and related subjects in those times. There is a description of a pedi koothu , i.e., a dramatic performance by a hermaphrodite, in the classic text, Silappadikaram . It was an epic written by the Tamil Jain poet Ilango, who was a close friend of Sathanar (the Tamil Buddhist poet who wrote the epic Manimekalai ). This koothu is performed by the great dancer Madhavi, in the city of Puhar, in front of her lover Kovalan.[ 9 ]

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

FURTHER READING

• Sharma RS. India's Ancient Past. Oxford India Paperbacks. Twenty-First Impression; 2015
• Rao SK. Jainism in South India. Bangalore: Suramā Prakāshana; 2009
• Vengadasaamy MS. SamanamumThamizhum (Book in Tamil). Chennai: Poompuhar Pathippagam; 2009
• Vengadasaamy MS. Kalappirar Aatchiyil Thamizhagam. Chennai: Poompuhar Pathippagam; 2010
• Kaumaareeswari Sirupanchamoolam (Book in Tamil by Kaari Asaan, c. 2 nd Century CE) Saradha Pathippagam. Chennai; 2009
• Somasundaranar PV. Neelakesi. Chennai: Then India Siva Siddhantha Noorpathippu Kazhagam Ltd.; 1973.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Numismatics
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Legal System - Costs and Funding
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Restitution
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Social Issues in Business and Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Social Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Sustainability
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Disability Studies
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

14 Jainism and Buddhism

• Published: January 2007
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Jainism and Buddhism emerged as the most potent religious reform movements. Post-Vedic society was clearly divided into brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras. Each varna was assigned well-defined functions. The Jainas believed that Vardhamana Mahavira had twenty-three predecessors who were called tirthankaras . Jainism taught to not commit violence, not tell a lie, not steal, not hoard and observe continence. Mahavira organized an order of his followers in order to spread the teachings of Jainism. He preached his teachings in Prakrit. Gautama Buddha was a contemporary of Mahavira. He undertook long journeys and carried his message far and wide. He recommended an eightfold path ( ashtangika marga ) for the elimination of human misery. The rules and teachings of Buddha took full account of the new changes in the material life of the time and strengthened them ideologically. Buddhism created and developed a new awareness in the field of intellect and culture.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• Utility Menu

Pluralism Project Archive

Historic celebration marks 25th anniversary of jain temple in chicago — the indian panorama.

United States | CHICAGO, IL (TIP): The Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago (JSMC), Bartlett Illinois, celebrated a milestone – the 25th Anniversary of its temple, with

Source: Historic celebration marks 25th anniversary of Jain Temple in Chicago — The Indian Panorama

#NamaSlay, Or How Black Women Are Using Trap Yoga as a Mode of Spiritual Resistance | Religion Dispatches

Jains observe paryushan parva with fasting and meditation - world religion news.

THE JAIN FESTIVAL PARYUSHAN PARVA LASTS 8-10 DAYS. Aside from Diwali, one of the most important celebrations in the Jain religion is Paryushan Parva. In fact, the celebration is so vital that Jainism is tantamount and otherwise termed as Paryushan because the festival embodies the core principles and objectives of the religion. There are minor differences in observances among the various Jain communities and sects around the world but all focuses on spiritual upliftment, self purification, deeper understanding of religion and the pursuit of salvation.

Source: ...

Three-Faced Stone Reveals the Last Jain Temple in Telangana - World Religion News

Inscriptions tell the story of how a temple for the 24th Jain Thirthankara, Sri Vardhamana Mahaveera, was constructed 850 years ago. Located in the Karimnagar district in the Indian state of Telangana was an ancient three-faced stone. The stone remained hidden in the village without anyone recognizing its historic value. Until recently, when an elder in the village named Chepyala Madhusudhan Rao brought it to the attention of Dr. Dyaavanapalli Satyanarayana, a historian. Dr. Satyanarayana deciphered the inscriptions on the stone, and found it related to the history of Telangana...

Aid to dying: What Jainism – one of India’s oldest religions – teaches us - WorldWide Religious News

On June 9, a law allowing patients with terminal illnesses to end their lives with help from a physician came into effect in California, opening conversations about whether human life should be prolonged against the desire to die peacefully and with dignity. A similar yet different conversation has been taking place in India for the past several years, but in reverse. In one of India’s religious traditions, Jainism, those at the end of life can choose to embrace a final fast transition from one body to another. However, a recent court case has challenged the constitutionality of...

Anastasia Piliavsky

Anastasia Piliavsky began researching the Jain community in Greater Boston while a student at Boston University. Her research discussed...

Pravin K. Shah

Mr. Pravin K. Shah is an author and educator who is active member of the Jain community in the United States. He is currently the chairperson of the JAINA...

Dr. Yudit K. Greenberg and Dr. Arnold Wettstein

Dr. Yudit K. Greenberg and Dr. Arnold Wettstein became Pluralism Project affiliates in 1998 and engaged students in the study of the religious landscape...

Dr. Kathryn McClymond

Dr. Kathryn McClymond is professor in and chair of the department of religious studies at Georgia State University. She became a Pluralism Project...

Dr. Pankaj Jain

Dr. Pankaj Jain is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Texas. He is co-director of the Rural Sustainability...

Dr. Corrie Norman

Dr. Corrie Norman is the associate director of the religious studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was formerly an assistant professor of religion at Converse College in North Carolina. During her time at Converse, Dr. Norman became an affiliate of the Pluralism Project and engaged her students in "Gender, Food, and Meaning: Mapping Religious Diversity in Charlotte, NC," a two-part study of religious diversity in the city of Charlotte and of ritual and festival life of new immigrant religious communities.

... Read more about Corrie Norman

Dr. Stuart Chandler

A master of memory in india credits meditation for his brainy feats.

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/world/asia/prodigy-in-india-credits-feats-of-memory-to-meditation-and-jainism.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Indy's Festival of Faiths: A Journey to Connect in Faith (Photo)

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/indys-festival-faiths-journey-connect-faith

Jains nourish their spirituality through fasting

The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-632814--.html

• Afro-Caribbean (257)
• Atheism & Humanism (736)
• Bahá'í (869)
• Buddhism (5328)
• Christianity (10215)
• Civil Advocacy (46)
• Confucianism (89)
• Daoism (135)
• Hinduism (4288)
• Interfaith (9614)
• Islam (14263)
• Jainism (348)
• Judaism (4903)
• Native Traditions (639)
• New Religious Movements (253)
• Other Indigenous Traditions (116)
• Other Traditions (752)
• Paganism (1083)
• Shintō (79)
• Sikhism (3733)
• Unitarian Universalism (193)
• Zoroastrianism (211)

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

•  We're Hiring!
•  Help Center
• Most Cited Papers
• Most Downloaded Papers
• Newest Papers
• Last »
• Hinduism Follow Following
• Sanskrit language and literature Follow Following
• Puranas Follow Following
• Indian Philosophy Follow Following
• Buddhism Follow Following
• Sanskrit Follow Following
• South Asian Religions Follow Following
• Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor Follow Following
• Indian studies Follow Following
• South Asian Studies Follow Following

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• Academia.edu Journals
•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024