Related Terms • Buddhism • Hinduism

Definition: Jainism is a religion of India founded by Mahavira around the same time the Buddhism was founded, during the 6th century BCE (although term Jain does not appear until the Common Era). Like Buddhism, Jainism was a reform movement which arose as a reaction against contemporary ideas of gods and in the direction of relegating gods to lesser importance.

Thus, like Buddhism, Jainism argues that salvation must be achieved by the independent work of the person and without the help of any gods. Jainism does teach the existence of the soul, called jiva, which is by nature pure and seeks ultimate truth (kaivalya). Unfortunately, the karma which envelops the soul hinders this quest. Only a few Jains become monks, which requires a lot of work, but lay Jains still must follow several rules. The most important rule is non-injury, ahimsa. It is, in fact, an ideal ofr Jain monks to ritually starve themselves to death in an effort to harm absolutely nothing - no animals, no plants, and not even microbes.

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