Jainism is one of the oldest religions of the world. The last great teacher was Lord Mahaveera who preached around 2,600 years ago. He was the 24th teacher and the other 23 teachers appeared over tens of thousands of years.
Lord Mahaveer was a prince who became a monk and undertook severe penance which led to his enlightenment. He then gave a sermon in which human beings as well as animals and angels came to listen. The two major sects in Jainism are the Shwetambar and Digambar. The Digamber Monks do not wear any clothes at all as part of their vow of non-possession.
Lord Mahaveera and Lord Buddha were around at the same time and were born in the present state of Bihar in India. There is no record of them meeting but both preached on similar lines with an emphasis on compassion and non-violence towards all living beings. Jainism talks about conquering not external enemies but internal enemies. There are 5 great vows that Jains are encouraged to take and they are Ahimsa(non violence), Satya(Truthfulness), Aparigra(to avoid being too materialistic and to not be too attached to worldly affairs). People get attached to their race or country or wealth not realising that at death you are not going to take anything with you. The last vow is of Brahmacharya or Celibacy as the ideal to be followed. There are also 3 golden rules of conduct. They are Ahimsa, Self control(Sanyam) and Penance(Tap). Right knowledge( Samyak Gnan), Right understanding of faith( Samyak Darshan) and Right conduct or character(Samyak Charitra) are the other golden principles to be followed by a Jain.
The greatest good a Jain can do is give someone protection from fear of death. It is called Abhaydaan. This is translated into avoiding harm to the smallest form of life to the biggest.
There is a famous story of a Prince Nemi who was to marry Princess Rajul. When Prince Nemi arrived for the wedding he heard the sound of distressed animals. He found out that they were to be killed for the marriage party. Prince Nemi cancelled the wedding and became a monk. Having heard that Prince Nemi decided not to marry and became a Jain monk. On hearing about Prince Nemi, Princess Rajul too became a Jain nun.
Jain monks cover their mouths to avoid swallowing any germs or insects. They never use any form of transport and walk from one city to the other. One idea behind this is to restrict their movements beyond what is absolutely necessary. It is the modern version of restricting your air miles! The Jain laity or householders known as Sravakas(Men) and Sravika(Women) have a duty to provide food and look after the needs of the monks and nuns.
This avoidance of harm even extends to the food we eat. Jains are strict Vegetarians and increasingly Vegans. Strict Jains also avoid Potatoes and other root vegetables as they carry bacteria. In everyday life this non-violence is practiced by going the extra mile to save life. For example if you have a bumble bee trapped in your room and you are in a hurry to get somewhere, would you open the windows and doors so that the insect finds its freedom. If you had mice in your house would you get something to poison them or would you get a humane trap which does not kill the mice and you can release it in some woods. Jains would not buy leather goods, or go to zoos and circuses where animals are suffering so as to entertain human beings.
We human beings crave for peace but we commit so much violence on animals. As I speak there will be tens of thousands of animals suffering in small cages and waiting to be slaughtered. We hunt animals. One example is that Partridges are kept in small cages so as to restrict their flying abilities. They are then released by hunting groups and shot as they struggle to get away. And there are trophy hunters who go to Africa to shoot and kill majestic animals like elephants or lions. They then pose with the dead animal. What they do not realise is that what they are doing for fun will rebound on them in the form of heavy Karma. ,
Jains run thousands of animal sanctuaries throughout India and often buy animals, going for slaughter. Jains are and have always been ecologically conscious. The idea is to use a minimum amount of the world’s resources. So wasting water and other precious resources and increasing your possessions is discouraged.
Mahatma Gandhi before he came to England in 1888 was taken by his mother to a Jain Monk who got him to take a vow not to eat meat, consume alcohol and indulge in sexual relationships. It was Gandhi’s vow of not eating meat which brought him in touch with many famous people of the time like George Bernard Shaw, Annie Besant and Madame Blavatsky. His nascent ideas of justice and freedom developed from there. Gandhi was later deeply influenced by a Jain visionary Srimad Rajchandra..
If you look at the biggest threat facing our planet today it is global warming. The world is on a precipice and the biggest cause of the state of the planet is meat consumption. Almost 80 billion animals are raised every year for meat. So this planet has to sustain 80 billion animals and around 9 billion human beings and this planet is just not big enough to sustain these numbers. On top of these trillions of fish are killed every year which in turn is destroying our rivers and oceans. We would need 2 planets but we have only one. The cutting of the rain forests of the Amazon, the methane gas released by billions of farm animals, the loss of woodlands, the spread of deserts all are contributing factors for the state of the planet. Almost 40%of the world’s fresh water resources is used up in raising animals for meat and almost 40% of cereals are fed to animals raised for meat. Instead of eating those cereals we feed them to animals and then eat them. Almost all the major killer diseases are associated with meat eating. So Jainism ‘s care and compassion towards all living beings and respect for all that nature provides is the solution the world needs today.
To put this concept of Ahimsa or non-violence in practice Jainism advocates an idea called Anekantwad. It means that truth can be arrived at from different angles. In practice this means that you respect another way of looking at things. Different religions and ideologies are different ways of looking at things and there is no need to fight for that. If we look at History we see that tens of millions of people have been killed by people claiming their religion is only right and that the others should not exist. Tens of millions of people died in the name of Communism, Capitalism and in the name of a superior race looking down on those who are perceived to be inferior. All this would have been avoided if the Jain idea of accommodating differences had been practiced.
Both Buddhism and Jainism as well as Sikhism and Hinduism believe in the concepts of Karma and Reincarnation..
We have all been born before many, many times. When all our Karmas are neutralised we get out of the cycles of births and deaths and attain salvation. It is possible to remember our past lives but it is not recommended except for highly advanced spiritual beings. There is the story of king Shreyans Kumar. His grandfather, the first Jain teacher Lord Rishabhdev who had become a monk travelled from one place to another without any food for 13 months. He had decided to break his fast only when a specific food item was offered to him. Eventually Lord Rishabdev entered the city of Hastinapura where his grandson offered him sugar cane juice which he accepted in the palm of his hands. At that moment prince Shreyans Kumar remembered his past lives. It is called ‘Matismaran’. This event is known as Akshay Tritiya and is the biggest Jain festival. Fasting is big in Jainism. Devotees fast anything from one day to a week to a month and even a year and on this day people break their fasts. Jains believe that the great teachers had huge bodies and lived for hundreds of thousands of years. It is believed that as this age known as Kaliyuga progresses people will get shorter and they will suffer from climatic conditions to the point where there will be famine and natural disasters. We should therefore aim to spiritualise our lives and burn our Karmas and avoid further births.
Buddhism went on to spread all over Asia but Jainism remained in India and at the moment Jains are less than .4% of India’s population. However their contribution to India’s economy is huge and they play a prominent role in Indian society. Some of the grandest temples in India are the Jain temples. Most of them are high up on mountains and one wonders what technology they had to be able to build the temples there. In the state of Gujarat in a place called Palitana there are 700 temples on the hills of Shatrunjaya. Pilgrims have to climb 3,700 steps preferably without taking any food or water. The intricate workmanship on the temple walls is fascinating.
Jainism today is a vibrant religion with a huge cultural heritage and though small in numbers its message is supremely relevant today. There are around 40 thousand Jains in the UK.
Nitin Mehta
20 July 2022
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