User:Indian Chronicles/Jain Sources

Antiquity of Jainism

Dr. Vilas Sangave (2001) In : Facets of Jainology: Selected Research Papers on Jain Society, Religion, and Culture . Popular Prakashan: Mumbai ISBN 8171548393

• Dr. Vilas Sangave in his address delivered on the basis of his paper “Jainism : the Oldest religion” at ‘Parliament of World religions- Centennial Celebrations, Chicago, 1993 says “ Further, Jainism is an Independent religion of India and This fact is now acknowledged at all levels. It is established beyond doubt that Jainism is a distinct religion of India and not on offshoot of either Hinduism or Buddhism. The Jain religion, philosophy, ethics, gods, temples, sacred places, scriptures, teachers, ascetics, vows, holy days festivals, and outlook on life and culture, with and emphasis on Ahimsa are not only distinct from their Hindu counterparts but also not accepted and followed by Hindus. Page 99-100
• “Further the jain communities is one of the very ancient communities of India. The existence of the Jain religion can not only be traced to the vedic period but even to the Indus valley period of the Indian History. The names of Jain Tirthankars are mentioned in the Vedas and there is evidence to show that the Indus valley people must be worshipping Rishabhdeva the first Tirthankar of the Jains along with the other deities. Thus Hoary antiquity is a special feature of the Jain community and it is pertinent to note that this feature is not present in other religious minorities in India.
• Apart from antiquity, the jain community enjoys the characteristic of unbroken continuity Few communities can claim such a long and continued existence” Page 3-4
• “But now it is generally accepted that Jainism is a distinct religion and that it is as old as, if not older than, the Vedic religion of the Hindus.” Page 14

Mary Pat Fisher (1997) In : Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths I.B.Tauris : London ISBN 1860641482

• “The extreme antiquity of Jainism as a non-vedic, indigenous Indian religion is well documented. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist scriptures refer to Jainism as an existing tradition which began long before Mahavira.” Page 115

Joel Diederik Beversluis (2000) In: Sourcebook of the World's Religions: An Interfaith Guide to Religion and Spirituality, New World Library : Novato, CA ISBN 1577311213

• Originating on the Indian sub-continent, Jainism is one of the oldest religion of its homeland and indeed the world having pre-historic origins before 3000 BCE, and before the propagation of Indo-Aryan culture….Page 81

J. L. Jaini, (1916) Jaina Law, Bhadrabahu Samhita, (Text with translation ) Arrah, Central jaina publishing House

• As to Jainas being Hindu dissenters, and, therefore governable by Hindu law, we are not told this date of secession [...] Jainism certainly has a longer history than is consistent with its being a creed of dissenters from Hinduism. P.12-13

P.S. Jaini, (1979), The Jaina Path to Purification, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, p. 169

• Jainas themselves have no memory of a time when they fell within the Vedic fold. Any theory that attempts to link the two traditions, moreover fails to appreciate rather unique and very non-vedic character of Jaina cosmology, soul theory, karmic doctrine and atheism.

Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 8120808150

• “Till very recently it was believed that Vedic Hinduism is really the oldest form of Indian religion. But, at the present time, it would not be correct to hold this view. Even at the time of Rgveda, there were at least the Dasas/Dasyus who racially differed much from the Aryans, and certainly much more in their religious theories and practices. The Dasas Dasyus were linga-worshippers and had a god different from Indra. They did not have animal-sacrifice and had observances quite different from those of the Vedic Aryans. Most probably proto-Shiva of Mohenjo-daro was one of their deities. It is not possible to know much at present about the Dasas Dasyus.But certainly,we find Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism as three religions which did not share the Vedic Aryan religion called Brahmanism which accepted the Vedas as the only religious scripture for it, and, keeping to the caste maintained the excellence and supremacy of the Brahmins over all other castes and people. The non-Vedic religions of Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism did not accept the Vedas as their holy books and did not have castes.” Page 17
• “There is no evidence to show that Jainsim and Buddhism ever subscribed to vedic sacrifices, vedic deities or caste. They are parallel or native religions of India and have contributed to much to the growth of even classical Hinduism of the present times.” Page 18
• “Jainism is a very old non-Vedic religion and some of its features go back to the times of Indus Valley Civilization. Like the Upanishads and Buddhism, Jainism was a kshatriya movement. It had its locus in a religion which was not yet touched by Brahmin cult. These regions East of Sadanira (modern Gandaka) were inhabited by non-Aryan tribes.

[..]

Jainism is not an offshoot of Vedic Brahminism. It belonged to the people who were essentially agriculturist, who valued bulls and cows. They therefore had simple living and could practice ahimsa and austerities. In contrast, the Vedic Aryans were essentially pastoral people and they were used to animal-sacrifice. Naturally the Aryan and non-Aryan people of India were always in conflict, and, so in their religious beliefs too they held opposite views. In the long run, the Vedic Aryans accepted all that was of importance in Jainism and Buddhism. The present Hinduism is a commingled stream of Aryan and non-Aryan cults. Keeping in mind the independent and parallel development of Jainism, we can proceed further.” Page 235

Harry Oldmeadow (2007) Light from the East: Eastern Wisdom for the Modern West, World Wisdom, Inc ISBN 1933316225

• Over time, apparent misunderstandings have arisen over the origins of Jainism and relationship with its sister religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. [..] There has been an ongoing debate between Jainism and Vedic Hinduism as to which revelation preceded the other. What is historically known is that there was a tradition along with vedic Hinduism known as sramana dharma. Essentially, the sramana tradition included it its fold, the Jain and Buddhist traditions, which disagreed with the eternality of the Vedas, the needs for ritual sacrifices and the supremacy of the Brahmins. Page 141

Dr. A. N. Upadhye , A Cultural History of India, Clarendon Press, Oxford

• As Dr. A. N. Upadhye remarked -- "The origins of Jainism go back to the pre-historic times. They are to be sought in the fertile valley of Ganga, where they flourished in the past, even before the advent of Aryans with their priestly religion, a society of recluses who laid much stress on individual exertion, on practice of a code of morality and devotion to austerities, as means of attaining religious Summum Bonum." , P. 100

Diwakar S. C., Glimpse of Jainism, Published by Shri Bharatvarshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha

• Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, ex-president of Indian Union, in his ‘India Philosophy’ had observed, "Jain tradition ascribes the origin of the system to Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara. There is no doubt that Jainism prevailed even before Vardhaman or Parsvanath. The Yajurveda mentions the name of three Tirthankaras-Rishabha, Ajitnath and Arshtanemi. The Bhagwat Puran endorses the view that Rishabhadeva was the founder of Jainism." (Vol. II, p. 286)

A history of the Jainas, Ashim Kumar Roy, New Delhi : Gitanjali Pub. House, 1984, ISBN : 11604851

• In the sixth century BC Buddhism had just been founded. The Vedic religion was almost getting extinct and Hinduism as we know it today was at a nebulous stage. Jainism at that time was not only a mature and living religion but also one claiming a hoary antiquity. All its tenets had fully developed by that time and these tenets have remained almost unchanged all these 2500 years. Jainism is thus the oldest living religion of India. Page 1

• The aversion to the killing of animals, the belief that all ascetics are holy people (and conversely that a person in order to be holy should be an ascetic), the theory of the transmigration of the soul, and that 'getting born in this world is itself a punishment' all these are parts of Hindu thinking. They seem to have been adopted without much change from Jainism and similar other religions which existed in India in the sixth century BC. (The evidence of the existence of such religions, though scanty, is available from the Buddhist and Jain texts.)

It would thus appear that Jainism, and many other religions existed from pre-Vedic times in northern India. Only Jainism remained practically unaffected by the impact of Vedism. The other religions which coalesced to form classical Hinduism, were affected by Vedism p 8-9

A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN 071009258X

• Jainism is another religion that is looked on by the scholars as a Hindu reform movement. But again the most cursory knowledge of this unique faith should aquaint the enquirer with the fact that its origin go back well before vedic hinduism. page 3

Mahavira was not the founder: There were Tirthankaras preceeding Mahavira

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Volume 7, Issue 3, 1979, "Who are the Jains" by Sneh Shah. pages 369-375

• In most textbooks of the world religions, Jainism is referred to as the religion started by Mahavira in India in Sixth Century BC. Jains do not accept this and gradually a number of Scholars have come to take the same line. Jains claim that their religion has no beginning and is eternal. Historians are now satisfied that it is probably one of the oldest religions in India, that it was started about 8000 years ago, and was flourishing before the coming of the Aryans. It is thus older than Hinduism and Buddhism....... Thus Mahavira was responsible not for starting a new religion, but for reforming an old established one and preaching it with greater vitality.

Varni, Jinendra; Ed. Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Translated Justice T.K. Tukol and Dr. K.K. Dixit (1993). Samaṇ Suttaṁ. New Delhi: Bhagwan Mahavir memorial Samiti.

• According to Justice T.K.Tutkol and Dr. K.K. Dixit – The tradition of Jainism from the point of view of its principles both on conduct and thought, goes very deep beyond comprehension. The Historians have so far fully recognized the truth that Tirthankara Mahavira was not the founder of the religion. He was preceded by many tirthankaras. He merely reiterated and rejuvenated that religion. It is correct that history has not been able to trace the origin of the Jaina religion; but historical evidence now available and the result of dispassionate researches in literature have established that Jainism is undoubtly an ancient religion. Pp. xii – xiii of introduction

A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN 071009258X

• Mahavira has been given credit as founder of Jainism. But he merely provided it with a new dynamism. Pg. 27
• The teachings of Parsva and Mahavira are the same, for Mahavira was faithful to the tradition. He never claimed to have founded a new doctrine. What he did was to achieve full enlightenment of which the tradition speaks. page 29

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward Craig 1998 Taylor & Francis ISBN:0415073103

• Despite similarities between Mahavira and Buddha, both in their biographies and in their rules for ascetics, Jainism is clearly an independent stream which has made its own valuable contributions to the development of Indian Philosophy. One significant difference between Mahavira and Buddha is that Mahavira was not a founder of a new movement, but rather a reformer of the teachings of his predecessor, Parsva. Page 33

T. U. Mehta, Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh (1993), The path of Arhat: a religious democracy, Pujya Sohanlal Smaraka Parsvanatha Sodhapitha

• It is reasonable to conclude that this great master, the first Tirthankara of the Jainas (Rsabha), must have flourished 5 to 6 thousand years ago, and became the principal exponent of Sramana tradition. In addition to Rsabhadeva we have historical references of 22nd Tirthankara Neminatha, a cousin of Srikrsna, Sri Parsvanatha, 23rd Tirthankara and Sri Mahavira, the 24th and the last Tirthankara only. page 12.

Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm (1958) Living schools of religion: (Religion in the twentieth century). Littlefield, Adams

• The first Tirthankara was Rishabha who was the real founder of Jainism. [[..]] Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara is supposed to have preceeded Parsva by some 5000 years. Contemporary researches have made it unnecessary to refute any doubt regarding existence of Jainism as an independent sect much earlier than either Hinduism or Buddhism. Pg 48

Clifford Sawhney (2005) The World's Greatest Seers and Philosophers Pustak Mahal, ISBN 8122308244, 9788122308242 pg 85

• Although there is a popular misconception that Mahavira was the founder of Jainism, this is not the whole truth. He was, in fact, the 24th and last Tirthankara (prophet) of Jainism, which is said to be a 5,000-year-old ascetic tradition, making it one of the oldest religions in the world. Mahavira based most of his doctrines on the teachings of Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, who was a 9th century BC teacher from Benares. It was Mahavira who ensured that all the earlier Jaina teachings and doctrines - including beliefs that were metaphysical, mythological and cosmologicat - were assimilated and codified into the Jaina religious order. Mahavira can therefore be considered the historical founder of Jainism, which was founded by the first Tirthankara, Rishabha.

Links to Indus Valley

Ivan Van Sertima (1988) African Presence in Early Asia, Transaction Publishers: New Jersey, ISBN 0887387179

• Two major spiritual influences governed the Indus Valley culture: the philosophy of Jainism and the science of yoga. Contemporary historians underestimate the age of both of these disciplines; Vardhanana Mahavir a contemporary of the Buddha who lived in the fifth century B.C., said to have founded Jainism while a grammarian named Patanjali is held to have written the first yoga sutras in the 2nd century B,C. Evidence unearthed at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa bears, testimony to a far greater antiquity. The genesis of these philosophies occurred during the days of the Indus Valley civilization.

Like a major artery, Jainism runs through the body of India's philosophical traditions- The Jaina philosophy was borne out of the people who were indigenous to the Indus Valley, and is not to be found in any of the other civilizations that were contemporary with Harappa. Therefore, we can infer it was not imported by any other people or race. Contrary to popular Knowledge, Mahavira was not the founder of the Jaina school of thought. Ironically Jainism acknowledges Mahavira as the last of its twenty-four Tirthankara's. or Saints; the earliest Tirthankara,, according to tradition lived in the dawn of time, when men were as giants, during a period so old cannot calculate even the geological date.

However old that may be, it certainly predates the Aryan conquest. Joseph Campbell, editor of the literary works of Heinrich Zimmer propounds the eminent historians ideas; "Dr. Zimmer regarded Jainism as the oldest of the non-Aryan group - - He believed that there is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes back to a remote antiquity, the antiquity in question being that of the pre-Aryans, so-called Dravidian [read: Harappan] period which has recently been dramatically illuminated by the discover of a series of great late stone age cities in the Indus Valley dating from the third and perhaps even the fourth millennium B.C. (Note thai Zinuner, like Du Bois, used the term Dravidian rather loosely.) I feel that the antiquity of which the Jaina tradition speaks far exceeds the Harappan civilization; in any case, it is safe to say that the Jaina philosophy existed during the Harappan age at least. Page 95/96

• Images in Harappan artwork corroborate the existence of Jainism in the Harappan civilization. One of the characteristics of the Jain a monks is that upon initiation they would become gymnosophist. Several of these nude religious images have been unearthed in terra cotta form; these constitute powerful evidence of the Jaina presence in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. A,L. Basham describes these images to be of "nude men with coiled hair; their posture, rigidly upright, with the legs slightly apart, and the arms held parallel to the sides of the body but not touching it, closely resembles the stance called by the Jaina's Kayotsarga in which meditating teachers are often portrayed in later times." Page 97

Christopher Key Chappel 1993, Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions SUNY Press ISBN 0791414973

• The seals of IVC, many of which can be examined closely at British Museum, measure approximately two inches by two inches, and depict a variety of scenes : a meditating proto-yogi or proto-siva; several depictions of adorned bulls; meditating figures surrounded by animals; and representation of women, both in seals and in numerous amulets. Page 6
• Several Scholars including Ramprasad Chandra, John Marshall, and Mircea Eliade, claim that current yogic practices stem from Indus Valley shamanistic rituals as indicated on these seals. However, Doris Srinivasan warns against associating them with later Hindu Culture. Page 6
• Both Meditative poses and apparent veneration for animals have been cited by Thomas McEvilley as evidence of proto yoga tradition in India akin to Jainism. In support of his claim, he refers to Indus seals where animals surround a person engaged in what he describes as mulabandhasana, a sitting yogic posture whereby ones heels are pressed against perineum with knees pressed firmly to the ground. Page 6
• This particular image, depicting a contemplative figure surrounded by a multitude of animals might suggest that all the animals depicted are sacred to this particular practioner. Consequently, these animals would be protected from harm. This might be the first indication of the practice of ahimsa. Page 7
• This particular scene is also described in the Acaranga sutra, the oldest text of Jaina canon. It is said to adorn the palanquin that Mahavira ascended in the fantastic and embellished tale that describes his renunciation. McEvilley offers various other evidence for a possible link between the IVC and the later institutional forms of Jainism. Seal 420, unearthed at Mohenjodaro portrays a person with 3 or possibly 4 faces. Jaina iconography frequently decpts its tirtahnkaras with four faces, symbolizing their missionary activities in all four directions. The figure portrayed in seal 420 as well as those depicted in seals 222 and 235 and in various other images, sits in the mulabandhasana mentioned above. According to Mcvilley the first literary mention of this pose is found in the Acaranga Sutra and later in Kalpa sutra in association with Mahaviras pose when he entered into the state of Kaivala, the pinnacle of Jaina spirituality. For McEvilley, the depiction of this pose in the Indus valley material and the later description in the Jaina texts perovide evidence of a strong link between the archaic and the institutional religion of India. Page 7
• One stamped amulet from Mohenjodaro depicts a figure in what McEvilley calls as mulabandhasana flanked by two devotees and two upright serpents; McEvilley notes that the Tirthankara Parsvanatha at the moment he passed into kaivala was protected on both sides by upright serpents. Parsvanatha has been verified as being living around the time of 850 BCE. Page 8
• Another seal depicts “seven persons in upright position with arms somewhat hanging somewhat stiffly and held slightly away from the sides of the body. Which McEvilley correlates with the Jaina Kayatsarga pose, the posture in which the very first Tirthankara, Rshabha, is said to have entered kevala. [..] While this can be interpreted in may ways, Richard Lannoy however does see Jaina influences on this seal : “That of a nude man represented as a repeat-motif in a rigidly upright position, legs slightly apart, arms held parallel to the sides of his body, which recurs as a Jaina tirthankara, repeated row upon row. Page 8
• Depictions of a bull appear repeatedly in the artifacts of the Indus Val¬ley, Lannoy, McEvilly, and Padmanabh Jaini all have suggested that the abundant use of the bull image in the Indus Valley civilization indicates a link with Rsabha, the first of the twenty four Tirthankaras, whose companion ani¬mal is the bull. Page 8
• In sumary, McEvilliy posits that six images indicate a proto-yoga tra¬dition akin to Jainism was present in the Indus Valley a meditating figure seated in what he calls mulabandhasana, a similar figure surrounded with an array of benevolent wild animals, a four-faced icon, a meditator flanked by two upright serpents, seven figures in what appears to be the kayotsarga pose, and the bull. Page 8
• Additionally, the RgVeda describes the odd practices of an ancient religious order wherein men with unshorn locks are described variously as naked, going where the gods have gone before, “intimate with the wind”, and "a sweet most delightful friend" {Rg Veda. X:136). The Atharvaveda devotes its fifteenth chapter to the Vratyas, a sect that includes among its practices stand¬ing erect in one spot for a full year, a practice mentioned in the Uttara Sutra a jaina text. These references to not cutting the hair, postures such as Mulabandhasana and standing motionless, nudity, and so forth, might be indicative of a proto-yogic religion related to later forms of Jainism.
• All these materials suggest that some form of religion involving meditation and veneration of animals flourished in the Indus Valley cities. Although it is not possible to conclude that these persons were practitioners of ahimsa as it exists in its present form, so the iconographic and thematic continuity stretching from the Indus Valley into classical and modern Jainism seems evident. Pp. 8 – 9

Thomas McEvilley (2002) The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies, Allworth Communications, Inc. 816 pages ISBN 1581152035

• Among many forms of Indian atomism, the occurrence of such contradictions is unique to Jainism and it seems to identify it as older than other forms. It is not just that Jainism seems to be pre-buddhist, In fact “ Jainas hold their religion and philosophy to be even older than Vedic thought” and it may be parts of it can be traced clear back to the IVC. Page 203
• (according to scholars ) The origins of Jain iconography reach back like the origins of Jainism itself to the remotest depth of unrecorded Indian past. In fact they may reach back past the Indus valley into the heart of Sumer. P. 250

Larson, Gerald James (1995) “India’s Agony over religion” SUNY Press ISBN 079142412X

• There is some evidence that Jain traditions may be even older than the Buddhist traditions, possibly going back to the time of the Indus valley civilization, and that Vardhamana rather than being a “founder” per se was, rather, simply a primary spokesman for much older tradition. Page 27

Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 8120811046

• The social origins of these mendicants called Sramana or muni are not clear. They could have been connected with Harappan civilization, which itself is enigmatic. Page 135

Patil, Bal In: Jaya Gommatesa, Hindi Granth Karyalay : Mumbai, 2006 ISBN : 81-88769-10-X

• Prof. Ram Prasad Chanda, who supervised Indus Valley Civilisation excavations, states in his article Mohen-jo-Daro: Sindh 5000 Years Ago in Modern Review (August, 1932) that, “Not only the seated deities on some of the Indus seals are in Yoga posture and bear witness to the prevalence of Yoga in the Indus Valley Civilisation in that remote age, the standing deities on the seals also show Kayotsarga (a standing or sitting posture of meditation) position. The Kayotsarga posture is peculiarly Jain. It is a posture not of sitting but of standing. In the Adi Purana Book XV III, the Kayotsarga posture is described in connection with the penance of Rsabha, also known as Vrsabha.”
• In his Indus Valley Civilisation and Hindu Culture, the eminent scholar P.R. Deshmukh says, “The first Jain T¤rtha¯kara belonged to Indus Valley Civilisation. The Indus Valley deities were nude. The Jains sustained that culture and worshipped nude T¤rtha¯karas.” Indus civilisation, Rigveda, and Hindu culture / Author: Deshmukh, P. R. Publisher: Nagpur : Saroj Prakashan, Date: 1982.

Jain Origin of Indian philosophical concepts

Note: There is a clear cut evidence that the Indian Philisophical concepts like Karma, Moksha, Ahimsa, Samsara, Yoga, Atomism etc originated in Jainism and were lated adopted in Hinduism. Following is the unambiguous testimony of the scholars:

Y. Masih (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ : Delhi, ISBN 8120808150

• “This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Indo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supreme postulate or article of faith.” Page 37
• “We know only this much that the doctrine of karma-samsara-jnana-mukti is first seen in the clearest form in the shramanic tradition. It is now even accepted by orthodox bhramins. This doctrine is not clearly spelled out in Rgvedas and not even in the oldest parts of Upanishads called chandogya and Brhadaranyaka.” Page 149
• “The four pillars of Jainism karma-samsara-jnana-mukti have been assimilated into Hinduism. The Pancamahavrata of Jainism (Satya, Ahimsa…) have been fully adopted by Hinduism though not with the same rigour.” Page 237-8

Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press : UK ISBN 0521438780

• The origin and doctrine of Karma and Samsara are obscure.These concepts were certainly circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renouncer traditions. Page 86
• Yet on the other hand, although there is no clear doctrine of transmigration in the vedic hymns, there is an idea of re-death i.e. person who has died in this world, might yet die again in the next. Page 86
• It is significant that early Brahnanism does not contain institution of renounciation akin to those of Buddhism or Jainism. There are certainly lineages of teachers going back many generations, but these are not monastic institutions.” Page 90
• In Brhadaranyaka Upanishad retributive action first appears to be a secret and little known doctrine. [..] By later Upanashids (Svetasvatara Upanashid 400 – 200 BCE) the doctrine is firmly established. Page 86

Bal Gangadhar Tilak in “Bombay Samachar”. Mumbai:10 Dec, 1904.

• In ancient times, innumerable animals were butchered in sacrifices. Evidence in support of this is found in various poetic compositions such as the Meghaduta. But the credit for the disappearance of this terrible massacre from the brahminical religion goes to Jainism. -Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Svami Vivekananda in Swami Vivekananda (1900) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3, Buddhistic India] (Lecture delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, on February 2, 1900) [also see: Dulichand Jain (1998) Thus Spake Lord Mahavir, Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai, ISBN 81-7120-825-8 Page 15]

• What could have saved Indian society from the ponderous burden of omnifarious ritualistic ceremonialism, with its animal and other sacrifices, which all but crushed the very life of it, except the Jain revolution which took its strong stand exclusively on chaste morals and philosophical truths? Jains were the first great ascetics and they did some great work. "Don't injure any and do good to all that you can, and that is all the morality and ethics, and that is all the work there is, and the rest is all nonsense." And then they went to work and elaborated this one principle all through, and it is a most wonderful ideal: how all that we call ethics they simply bring out from that one great principle of non-injury and doing good.

A history of the Jainas, Ashim Kumar Roy, New Delhi : Gitanjali Pub. House, 1984, ISBN : 11604851

• The aversion to the killing of animals, the belief that all ascetics are holy people (and conversely that a person in order to be holy should be an ascetic), the theory of the transmigration of the soul, and that 'getting born in this world is itself a punishment' all these are parts of Hindu thinking. They seem to have been adopted without much change from Jainism and similar other religions which existed in India in the sixth century BC. (The evidence of the existence of such religions, though scanty, is available from the Buddhist and Jain texts.)
• It would thus appear that Jainism, and many other religions existed from pre-Vedic times in northern India. Only Jainism remained practically unaffected by the impact of Vedism. The other religions which coalesced to form classical Hinduism, were affected by Vedism p 8-9

Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001 “Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies” Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN 8120817761

• The Upanishadic doctrines of Brahma and Atman can be consistently traced back to their original sources viz. Vedas and the Brahmanas. But the doctrine of transmiration (punarjanam), action (karma) and emancipation (moksa), the doctrines fundamental to the sramana religions and at a later stage to all Indian religions, do not follow with equal consistency from vedic tradition. Page 50
• Yajnavalkya’s reluctance and manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka (a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) can perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In view of the fact that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was derived from them. Page 51

Christopher Key Chappel 1993, Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions SUNY Press ISBN 0791414973

• This perception of the livingness of things resulted in the practice of ahimsa, an ethic requiring a respect for all living forms that shaped the day- to- day life of lay Jainas and the austere path followed by Jaina mendicants. This thorough respect for life, and its attendant lifestyle, profoundly influenced Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam within India and, to the extent that it helped to shape Buddhist practice, spread throughout Asia. Page 9

Louis Dumont ,Translated by Basia M Gulati 1980 Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its implications. University of Chicago Press 540 pages ISBN 0226169634

• In short while these ideas (of total absentation in behaviour and detachment for salvation) are functional in renunciation, they are contradictory in Manu. This contrast suggests a conclusion that vegetarianism forced itself into hindu society, having begun in the sects of the renouncers, amongst which are Jainism and Buddhism. [..] It remains true that that to all appearances it was renouncer who carried ahimsa right through to its practical consequences for diet, and gave it to Hindu Society as an example of a value higher than Brahmanical values of sacrifice.

Zydenbos, Robert J. (2006). Jainism Today and Its Future. München: Manya Verlag.

• In the view of so many basic differences between the two traditions, [Jain and Vedic] it is amazing that there are still people who speak of Jainism as a “heterodox sect of Hinduism” An Impartial study of the literary evidence, both Jaina and Brahamanical, leads to a conclusion that the latter offshoots of the vedic tradition have borrowed a lot from Jainism : the theory of karma and re-birth, the vegetarianism of the higher Hindu castes, perhaps also temple worship. Page 59
• The most intriguing is the fact that two early Upanishads, (the Brhadaranyaka and the Chandogya) mention that the theory of Karma and rebirth , this perhaps the most Indian of all religious idea, was first taught to the Brhamin priesthood by a non-brahmin : a king, a Ksatriya. Had this theory been a vedic and thus a Hindu origin, one would have expected it to have originated among the Brahmins, who were the religious authorities, the only persons who were allowed to teach and explain the Vedas. But the texts testify that the theory was first taught to the brhamins by a ksatriya, that is to say: by a member of the same social class in which the most prominent personalities of the Jaina and Buddhist history, Mahavira and Buddha were born. P.p 56-7
• Jainism is one of the oldest living religions of the world. Perhaps it is the oldest living religion that has served as a major civilizing force, giving birth to roughly 2,000 years of written literature, to wonders of art and architecture, and to a system of philosophy and ethics that gave inspiration to political giant like Mahatma Gandhi. Several Religious ideas that are today considered “typically Indian”, either originated in or were spread by Jaina teachers. This ought to be common knowledge, but as with many other things in the world, this is not the case. Page 11
• Students of Traditional Indian Yoga of Patanjali will recognize in the five Jaina vows an obvious parallel to the five yamas or the constraints which are part of the basic personal discipline of the yoga. It may only be a slight exaggeration to say that essentially, Jainism is a system of yogic thinking that has grown into a full fledged religion. And when one realizes that yoga was an unorthodox addition to Hindu thought, one may well wonder whether its source lies in the tradition which has brought forth Jainism. Page 66

Sharma, Arvinda (2001) A Jaina Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass Publ, ISBN 8120817605

• Jaina philosophy has been described as a “primitive” or “archaic” belonging to earlier period of Indian philosophizing and yet it contains an unambiguous elements of soteriological structure not found in many newer religions. Pp. 18-19 of introduction

Freidhelm, Hardy (1990) The Worlds Religions : The Religions of Asia, London Routeledge. P.57

• The animism in its philosophy, existence of one world system with liberation at the top of universe, and the karmic matter entangled with soul, pushing it into heavens, human world or hells reveals the archaism of the Jain teachings.

Govind Chandra Pande, (1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 8120811046

• Early Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to incorporate these ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the vedic thought implying a disparagement of the vedic ritualism and recognising the mendicancy as an ideal. Page 135

A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN 071009258X

• The Upanishads were like a breath of fresh air blowing through the stuffy corridors of power of the vedic brahminism. They were noticed by the Brahmin establishment because the yogis did not owe allegiance to any established religion or mode of thought. […]So although, the Upanishads came to be noticed by Brahmin establishment, they were very largely saying what may well have been current among other sramanic groups at that time. It can be said that this atheistic doctrine was evidently very acceptable to the authors of Upanishads, who made use of many of its concepts. Page 27
• Of their (Jainism) 5 Vows, non- violence is the strictest. This anticipates Patanjalis Yoga sutras which appear much later, where non-violence is the first of the Yamas or the restraints. 29
• Brahmins caused destruction of many Jain Temples in Delhi and Northern India using Ajaypala as their agent. Page 30
• This ethical doctrine [of karma] seems to have been fairly common amongst all the sramanic disciplines in pre-vedic times, but has come down to us in its clearest form with the Jains. 32
• Some of the mechanist idea of Jainism came in for heavy criticism from Buddhism. The buddhist teach that the intention not to do harm is sufficient and reject as materialistic errors the idea of imperishable crystal of life-monad and karmic influx. Both (Jainism and Buddhism) are atheistic, and both see the world as a place of suffering, aand in their separate ways prepare their followers to escape it. Western scholars, writing from a Christian background, have labeled them both as pessimistic. page 33
• The idea of re-incarnation, so central to the older sramanic creeds is still new to many people throughout the world. The Aryans of the Vedic age knew nothing of it. When the Brahmins began to accept it, they declared it as a secret doctrine. …

[…]

It will be seen from this short account of Jains, that they had fully developed the ideas of karma and reincarnation very early in history. The earliest Upanishads were probably strongly influenced by their teachings. Jainism the religion, Samkhya the philosophy and yoga the way to self discipline and enlightenment dominated the spiritual life of Indian during the Dravidian times. They were to be overshadowed for over thousand years by the lower form of religion that was foisted on the local inhabitants by the invading Aryans, but in the end it was Sramanic disiplines that triumphed. They did so by surviving in their own right and by their ideas being fully adopted by the Brahmins who steadily modified their own vedic religion…..35

• The idea of reincarnation, so central to the older sramanic creeds, is still new to many people around the world. The aryans of the vedic age knew nothing of it. When Brahmins began to accept it they declared it to be a secret doctrine. No doubt, they wished to keep it secret from common people, but the teachings were already promulgated by the Jains, the Samkhyas, and the yogis, and were really a common knowledge. page 35
• It will be sen from the short account of the Jains that they had fully developed the ideas of reincarnation and karma very early in the History. The earliest Upanashids were probably strongly influenced by their teachings. Yoga fully acknowledges its debt to Jainsim, and Jainism reciprocates by making the practice of yoga part and parcel of life. pg 35
• The principle jain idea of reincarnation and karma, and that the ultimate reality is outside the time scale were also borne out by experience in deep meditation. These Jain and samkhya ideas had to some extent been already synthesized and restated in early Upanishads. pg 44

A Comparative History of Ideas. By HAJIME. NAKAMURA. 2nd ed. New York: KPI, (1986) ISBN 81-208-1004-x

• In India, the concept of atom appeared for the first time in the Jain scriptures. Pp. 145

Outlines of Indian Philosophy. By M. HIRIYANNA. New York, The Macmillan Company, (1932) (ISBN 81-208-1099-9 Indian edition 1994 Kavyalaya publishers)

• The term anu, the Sanskrit equivalent of atom is found in the Upanishads but the atomic theory is foreign to the Vedanta. Of the remaining schools of Indian thought, it is, as we shall see, a characteristic feature of more than one, the Jaina form of it being probably the earliest. pp. 162