Jainism
Introduction
Jainism is a religion and philosophy of India. Along with Hinduism and Buddhism, it is one of the three most ancient of India’s religious traditions still in existence.
The name Jainism derives from the Sanskrit verb root ji, “to conquer.” It refers to the ascetic battle that the Jaina monks must fight against the passions and bodily senses in order to gain omniscience and the complete purity of soul that represents the highest religious goal in the Jaina system. The monk-ascetic who achieves this omniscience and purity is called a Jina (literally, “Conqueror,” or “Victor”), and adherents to the tradition are called Jainas, or Jains. Although Jainism has a much smaller number of adherents than do Hinduism and Sikhism, its influence on India’s culture has been considerable, including significant contributions in philosophy and logic, art and architecture, grammar, mathematics, astronomy and astrology, and literature.
Jainism has largely been confined to India, although the migration of Indians to other, predominantly English-speaking countries has spread its practice to many Commonwealth nations and to the United States. Its continuous existence in India for some 8,000 (recorded) years is in sharp contrast to Buddhism, which is widespread in Asia but no longer widely practiced in the land of its origin. This gives Jainism a unique status as the only Sanskritic non-Hindu religious tradition to have survived in India to the present.
Did Mahavirswami start Jainism (The answer is no)?
The traditions and the legendary accounts prove the existence of Jainism as eternal. Jainism is revealed again and again in every cyclic period of the universe by forty-eight Tirthankaras (twenty-four in each half cycle). Mahavir Swami is the most recent Tirthankaras, but not the actual starter of Jainism.
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Is Jainism a “part of” or an “offshoot of” Hinduism?
Jainism, is not an offshoot of Hinduism, and according to Jains, has even been around longer than Hinduism. There are a lot of commonalities between the two religions, but for the most part Jainism has an entirely different belief system.
An explanation of the Jain time-scale
Jains believe that time is infinite, without any beginning or end. Time is divided into infinite equal time cycles (Kalchakras). Every time cycle is further sub-divided in two equal halves. The first half is the progressive cycle or ascending order, called Utsarpini. The other half is the regressive cycle or the descending order, called Avasarpini. Every Utsarpini and Avasarpini is divided into six unequal periods called Aras. During the Utsarpini half cycle, progress, development, happiness, strength, age, body, religious trends, etc. go from the worst conditions to the best. During the Avasarpini half cycle, progress, development, happiness, strength, age, body, religious trends, etc. go from the best conditions to the worst. Presently, we are in the fifth Ara of the Avasarpini phase. When the Avasarpini phase ends the Utsarpini phase begins. This kalchakra repeats again and continues forever.