User:Indian Chronicles/Quotations and References

References and Quotations on Jainism from various scholarly sources

— Anish Shah

These references from Scholarly sources seek to establish the following:

• Jainism is one of the most ancient religion
• It is pre-vedic and pre-aryan religion
• There is some evidence that Jainism has links with Indus Valley Civilisation and Harappan civilisation.
• Major Indian philosophical concepts have their roots or origin in Jain philosophical concepts.

History of Jainism

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.

[My Note : For being a protestant religion or for that matter Hindu dissenters or an offshoot, it is necessary to establish the fact that Jainism was within the Vedic fold. Which cannot be established.]

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

Heinrich Zimmer (1969) Joseph Campbell ed. In: Philosophies of India, Princeton University Press NY, ISBN 0691017581

• Editor's note: Like Buddhism (cf. supra, p. i8, Editor's note), Jainism, Sankhya. and Yoga do not accept the authority of the Veda*, and are therefore reckoned as heterodox, i.e.. doctrines outside of the orthodox Brahman tradition of the Vedas, Upanisads, and Veda ma. It was Dr. Ziminer's contention that these heterodox systems represent the thinking of the non-Aryan peoples of India, who were overcome and despised by the Brahmans, but nevertheless could boast of extremely subtle traditions of their own. Dr. Zimmer regarded Jainism as the oldest of the non-Aryan group, in contrast to most Occidental authorities, who consider Mahavira, a con¬temporary of the Buddha, to have been its founder instead of, as the Jainas themselves (and Dr. Zimmer) claim, only the last of a long line of Jaina teachers. Dr. Zimmer believed that there is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes back to a remote antiquity, the antiquity in ques¬tion being that of the pre-Aryan, so-called Dravidian period, which has recently been dramatically illuminated by the discovery of a series of great Late Stone Age cities in the Indus Valley, dating from the third and perhaps even fourth millennium b.c. (cf. Ernest Mackay, The Indus Civilization, London, 1935; also Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, pp. 93ff.).
• Sankhya and Yoga represented a later, psychological sophistication of the principles preserved in Jainism, and prepared the ground for the forceful, anti-Brahman statement of the Buddha. Sankhya and Yoga be¬long together, as the theory and the practice of 3 single philosophy. Kapila, the reputed founder of Sankhya (cf. infra, pp. 38if), may have been a contemporary of the Upanisadic thinkers, and seems to have given his name to the city in which the Buddha was born, Kapilavastu.

In general, the non-Aryan, heterodox philosophies are not exclusive in the same sense that the Brahman philosophies are: for they are not reserved to members of the three upper castes.” Page 60

Renou

• Renou has stated "...the Jaina movement presents evidence that is of great interest, both for the historical and comparative study of religion in ancient India and for the history of religion in general. Based on profoundly Indian elements, it is at the same time a highly original creation, containing very ancient material, more ancient than that of Buddhism, and yet more highly refined and elaborated" (Renou 1953, 133).

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)

S. Radhakrishnan and C.A. Moore, A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, Princeton 1957 ISBN 0-691-01958-4. Pp 227-28, Chapter 8: Cārvāka

The materialistic theory (Cārvāka) is a bold attempt to rid the age of the oppression of the past and prepare the ground for the great constructive efforts of speculation. It is one of the three major heterodox theories -- the others being Buddhism and Jainism -- in that it did not draw its theories from the Veda and Upanishads and did not attempt to justify its teachings by reference to those basic orthodox texts.

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

D. R. Bhandarkar, 1989 “Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture” Asian Educational Services 118 pages ISBN 8120604571

• Chhandogya Upanishad (III 17.6) informs us that Krishna was a disciple of Ghora Agnirasa. It is scarcely reasonable to identify Ghora Agnirasa with Neminatha. But it is not unreasonable to hold that he was a disciple of both. Anyway his teacher Ghora Agnirasa seems to have belonged more to the sramana sect rather than Brhaman school of learning as he was opposed to vedic sacrifices. That Krsna was a follower of non-vedic culture is evidenced in Harivamsa where he opposes worship of Indra and yajna of Hymns as a tradition of Brhamans. He calls for worship of Mountains rather than worship of Indras and incurs wrath of Indra. Page 82

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

Taittiriya Aranyaka (Black Yajurveda) clearly describes – “ Vatarasana rsis were sramanas and celibates” TA 2.7 (who are described also in Rgveda 10.136)

Sonali Bhatt Marwaha (2006) Colors Of Truth: Religion, Self And Emotions: Perspectives Of Hinduism, Buddhism. Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Sikhism, And Contemporary Psychology Concept Publishing Company ISBN: 818069268X, 9788180692680 p. 97-98

• During the Vedic times there prevailed a stream of cultural thought that was quite independent of the Brahmanical or vedic system and, probably quite older than it. This system was the 'sramana system'. The word 'Sramana' is derived from srama to exert effort, but is mixed in meaning with sam a wanderer, recluse. This system was based on equality. According to it, a being is himself responsible for his own deeds. Salvation, therefore, can be obtained by anybody. The cycle of rebirth to which every individual was subjected was viewed as the cause and substratum of misery. The goal of every person was to evolve a way to escape from the cycle of rebirth. Each school of sramana preached its own way of salvation. However, they all agreed in one respect, namely, in discounting ritual means of emancipation and establishing a path of moral, mental, and spiritual development as the only means of escaping the misery of samsara. The Vedic cultural system differed from the sramana cultural system in three respects, viz. (a) attitude to society, (b) goal of life, and (c) outlook towards living creatures (Bhaskar, 1972).

There are two principal theories concerning the origin of this cult: according to one, it is more or less a protest against orthodox vedic cult, and according to the other, it is of independent origin. The majority of Jaina scholars no longer accept the first theory, though supported by Winternitz (1933), Rhys David (1936/1978), etc. The Sramana System is considered to be led by the Jaina, existed before the Brahmin cult and most of the leaders of different sects of that time were influenced by the Jaina dogmas. Thus, it appears that, Jaina ideas and practices must have been current at the time of Mahavira, and existed independently of him. Jainism is thus, believed to be a pre-vedic religion. Jainas are referred to in early Vedic literature by the name of Vratyas. Modern scholars appear to agree with the view that Jainism is the oldest of non-Aryan group and an independent and pre-Buddhist religion (Bhaskar, 1972).

The Jaina system exhibits archaic traits not found in other systems. Among these, we have the theory of the elementary particles (earth, water, fire, wind) possessing souls, and the names of dharma and adharma for the media of motion and stop. (The meaning for dharma and adharma is considerably different from the vedic meaning of these words). The former can be rubricated as animism, whereas in the latter there appears the conception of "invisible fluids, which by contact cause sin and merit', a conception coming near to primitive sorcery (Schubring, 1962).

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 si 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.

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

Also see : http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/cd_rom/

• 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
• The author puts Indo-Sramanical layer at around (600 BCE to 300 BCE), but however admits that it reflects resurfacing of pre-brahmanical traditions. Page 65.

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

References from Bal Patil in Jaya Gommatesa

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.
• Another scholar P.C. Roychoudhury states in his Jainism in Bihar (Patna, 1956,) (p 7) that, “Not much research is possible in the pre-historical age as to the role Bihar played in the history of Jainism. But some of the ancient Jain scriptures mention that Jainism had been preached in Magadha (Bihar) by Lord Rsabha at the end of Stone Age and the beginning of the Agricultural Age. In that remote period Magadha was separated from the rest of India by Gangasagara. The ancient history of Nepal bears this out”.
• As R.D. Ranade and S.K. Belvalkar state; “There is evidence to suppose that the philosophical speculations of the Upanisad period were very largely influenced by a set of wandering ascetics and teachers following their own quaint and mystic practices. As already explained, the Upanishadic impulse to give up all worldly ties and take to a life of homeless wanderings can be satisfactorily explained only by postulating an extraneous influence of this nature...” (p 400) History of Indian Philosophy, The Creative Period by S.K. Belvalkar and R.D. Ranade Year of Publication : 1997 ISBN : 8121507421
• This extract helps in satisfactorily understanding the distinctive nature and origin of Jain asceticism which was distinct from Brahmanic asceticism. This path of the sramanas inculcates complete nivratti (turning away completely from worldly life) and pravrajya (renunciation), enjoining total anagaratva (the state of homelessness) together with the vow of non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing and celibacy. The concept of “Trigupti or the total abstinence by mind (manas), body (kaya) and speech (vacha), further tends to sharpen the ascetic ideal to a point that casting one’s body by prolonged fast (sallekhana) is recommended in no other religious order. Among other distinctive practices of the Jain faith mention may be made of alochana or confession of sin’s and the daily ceremony of pratikramana or expiation of sins” Pp.20-21 M. N. Deshpande(Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India), The Background and Tradition , Ch-2 in The Jain Art and Architecture , Bharatiya Jnanapitha, Vol. I, 1974 M.N. Deshpande also states emphatically that “One thing is quite certain, that asceticism in India has a great antiquity and Jain ascetic practices as exemplified by ¹±abhadeva were strikingly different from the Brahminical tradition.” (Ibid, p 19)
• As noted by the eminent Russian scholar Dr. Natalya Guseva in her book Jainism, “If one juxtaposes the yogic posture on Indus seals with the fact that the most ancient philosophical work of the Jains, ‘The Book of Wisdom of Arhatas’ ascribed to Rsabha himself was also called Yoga (Benjamin Rowland, The Art and Architecture of India, Plate 81a) and also that this posture is the classical echelon of the posture of Tirthankara for 25 centuries (and possibly much longer); then all this brings back to our minds the thought that there is possibly an ancient connection between Jainism and the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is possible that the teaching of Yoga and this posture connected with it penetrated in the faiths of later period and the Buddha and many Hindu gods were portrayed in this posture.” (p 91-92)
• The non-Aryan origins of Jain culture are also confirmed by H.T. Colebrook. He observes in his Observation on the Sect of Jains that Greek authors of the third century BCE divided all philosophers into 2 groups: Sramanas and Brahmanas so greatly different from each other that they considered them as belonging to different races. From this Dr. Guseva concludes, “Only one interpretation can be given to this, and that is, in those times followers of Jainism were, in the main, representatives of the pre-Aryan population of the country. This means that there is basis to assert that the chief components of this non-Vedic religion were engendered by non-Aryan ethnic environment.” (p 24)
• The concept of Ahimsa is the Jain religious and ethical teaching. It is not found in the Vedas. This is shown by the eminent Indologist Prof. W. Norman Brown in his Tagore Memorial Lectures, 1964-65 published in the book Man in the Universe. His observations deserve to be quoted in the full; “Though the Upani±ads contain the first literary references to the idea of rebirth and to the notion that one’s actions (Karma) determine the conditions of one’s future existences, and though they arrive at the point of recognising that rebirth may occur not only in animal form but also in animal bodies, they tell us nothing about the precept of Ahimsa. Yet, that precept is later associated with the belief that a soul in its wanderings may inhabit both kinds of forms. Ancient Brahminical literature is conspicuously silent about Ahimsa. The early Vedic texts do not even record the noun Ahimsa - non-injury - nor know the ethical meaning which the noun later designates. The first occurrence of the word in Sanskrit literature is in the Upani±ads, but there it occurs only once (CU 3.17.4) and in a context that has nothing to do with transmigration. It is merely mentioned in a list of 5 virtues without any indication of its character. These 5 virtues are Tapa (austerity), Dµna (almsgiving), ¢rjava (rectitude), Ahimsa (non-injury) and Satya (truthfulness).

It is evident that these are prized virtues. But Ahimsa stands here isolated and unexplained. Nor is an explanation of Ahimsa deducible from other parts of Vedic literature. The ethical concept it embodies was entirely foreign to the thinking of the early Vedic Aryans, who recognized no kinship between human and animal creation, but rather ate meat and offered animals in the sacrifice to gods.” (p 53-54)

Therefore Prof. Brown concludes, “The double doctrine of Ahimsa and vegetarianism has never had full and unchallenged acceptance and practice among Hindus, and should not be considered to have arisen in the Brahminical order. It seems more probable that it originated in a non-Brahminical environment, was promoted in historic India by the Jains and the Buddhists, and was adopted by Brahminical Hinduism after it began to win its way in North India where Brahminical Hinduism was developed. (p 56)

The great contribution of Jain culture to this evolution in human ethics is handsomely recognized by Dr. Albert Schweitzer when he says, “The laying down of the commandment to not kill and to not damage is one of the greatest events in the spiritual history of mankind. Starting from its principle, founded on world and life denial, of abstention from action, ancient Indian thought-and this is a period when in other respects ethics have not progressed very far reaches the tremendous discovery that ethics know no bounds. So far as we know, this is for the first time clearly expressed by Jainism.” (‘Indian Thought and Its Development’).

Dr. Guseva categorically states that there are at least 8 features which distinguish Jainism from the Vedic religion which are so substantial that they do not afford any possibility of regarding Jainism as a sect of the Vedic religion

Antiquity of lineage of Tirthankaras

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

Williams R 1966”before Mahavira” Journal Royal Asiatic Soceity 2- 6

• Parsvas Predecessor (Neminatha) has some historicity. He is placed in Gujarat and Williams speculates on pre-Parsva Tradition in Gujarat.

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.

J.P. Mittal (2006) History of Ancient India: From 7300 BC to 4250 BC, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors ISBN: 9788126906154

• Risabha (7190 BC) was the founder of Sramana or Jainism. pg. 22

Antiquity of Teachings/ Scriptures

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.

A. L. Bhasham, “Jainism”, in R. G. Zaehner, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Living Faiths (Boston : Beacon Press, 1954) p. 262.

• For all subtlety with which many of its doctrines have been elaborated, the primitive heritage of Jainism is quite evident. It retains the characteristics of a stage in the evolution of Indian thought where no entity could be conceived of except on the analogy of solid matter and where everything which moved and every object showing some degree of organization was thought of as being alive.

Sonali Bhatt Marwaha (2006) Colors Of Truth: Religion, Self And Emotions: Perspectives Of Hinduism, Buddhism. Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Sikhism, And Contemporary Psychology Concept Publishing Company ISBN: 818069268X, 9788180692680 p.98

• The Jaina system exhibits archaic traits not found in other systems. Among these, we have the theory of the elementary particles (earth, water, fire, wind) possessing souls, and the names of dharma and adharma for the media of motion and stop. (The meaning for dharma and adharma is considerably different from the vedic meaning of these words). The former can be rubricated as animism, whereas in the latter there appears the conception of "invisible fluids, which by contact cause sin and merit', a conception coming near to primitive sorcery (Schubring, 1962).

Walther Schubring 1995 The Doctrine of the Jainas: Described after the Old Sources Motilal Banarsidass Publ ISBN 8120809335

• The Jain system, moreover, exhibits archaic traits not found in other systems. Among them we have theory of elementary particles (earth, water, fire, wind) possessing souls and the names of dharma and adharma for medium of motion and rest. Page 15

Alsdorf, Ludwig. Les études Jaina: état présent et tâches futures. Paris: Collège de France, 1965.

• Nothing really contradicts the idea that the doctrines contained in these most ancient Jaina texts [canons] go back to the time of Mahavira, and even there one does not get their roots. Alsdorf 1965 p 28

Encyclopaedia of Jainism/edited by Nagendra Kr. Singh. New Delhi, Anmol, 2001 VVS Saibaba Ch. Metaphysical doctrines of the heretics with special reference to the doctrine of self as presented in sutrakritanga.

• According to general opinion of scholars the whole Jaina agama literature may be dated roughly between 6th to 3rd century BCE. 4308

Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions By Christopher Chapple

• …Jaina texts, particularly the Acaranga Sutra, which having been composed in the fourth or third BCE predates early Hindu Dharmasastra….page 5

Introduction to Acaranga sutra by Hermann Jacobi.

• ...the date of the collection or, perhaps more correctly, the composition of the Jaina canon would fall somewhere about the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century B.C

Later History

D. R. Bhandarkar, 1989 “Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture” Asian Educational Services 118 pages ISBN 8120604571

• It seems that members of Maurya dynasty were vrishalas in this sense (non-brhamanicals). Thus Cnadragupt the founder was a Jaina, his grandson Asoka a buddhist; samprati again a jaina, and Salisuka again a Buddhist. None of them a Brahmanaists. In fact if we turn our attention to history of India prior to Sunga Dynasty, what do we find? We find Brhamanism received no Royal patronage at all. Sungas were preceeded by Mauryas, Mauryas by Nandas and Nandas by Nagas who were non-Brhamanical. Page 53

I have also pointed that prior to the rise of Sungas, the greater portion of India was held by Mauryas, Nandas, Nagas, and so forth who were adherents of one Sramana sect or another. Page 80

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

• Most kings of medieval South Indian dynasties of the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas were Jainas as were the early kings of Hoysalas (a dynasty founded with the help of a Jaina monk) and the Gangas the longest lived dynasty in the Indian history , of which the 3 kings were served by the general Chamundaraya. A few rulers of Vijayanagar empire in south India were Jainas.

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
• Vratyas of Yajurveda as frontrinners of sramana – page 53

D. R. Bhandarkar, 1989 “Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture” Asian Educational Services 118 pages ISBN 8120604571

• Ch. V of Manusmiriti contains 54 verses devoted to description at length of “Lawful and Forbidden food’ where minute details have been given in regard to what kind of bird and animal flesh could be eaten. But 12 verses following it dwell upon the merits of abstaining meat and are of later additions. This verses clearly show that Ahimsa dharma of sramana sect were producing an impression on the followers of Brhamanism and their law books. P 80-81

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

• The following observation of Sri A.L. Basham, in his `Post script' attached to the article of Dr.S. Radhakrishnan on Hinduism, are the most relevant. This observation shows the intensity of the impact which Sramana traditions have made to shape the composite culture of which we as a Indians can be legitimately proud. The following are his words :

"The most important religious heritage of India from her ancient past is the doctrine of transmigration (Samsara)."

"The evidence for the origin of this doctrine is very faint. It may have been borrowed from the non Brahmin and originally non Aryan elements in the Ganga valley, and may have gained currency only against considerable resistence from conservative elements. The names of Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka, Arugi and Gautama are connected with it in the traditions. How this secret doctrine spread and became universally accepted is quite unknown. We can only suggest that it was disseminated by wandering ascetics, outside the fraternities of sacrificial priests."

"A definite doctrine of transmigration appears for the first time in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad (vi.2, repeated with some amplification in Chandogya Upanisad, 3 10). The teaching here enunciated, which has certain primitive features such as do not occur in the developed doctrine of Samsara, is ascribed to the Ksatriya, Jaivali Pravahana, a chief of the tribe of Pancalas, who taught it to the Brahmin Aruni Gautama, also known as Uddalaka Aruni, apparently one of the most vigorous thinkers of the period (perhaps c.700 B.C.). Another passage in Brhadaranyak (III.2) tells how the great sage Yajnavalkya secretly taught to a questioner as a new and secret theory, the doctrine of karma, that the good and evil deeds of a man automatically influence his state of future lives."

"Transmigration must have encouraged the doctrine of Ahimsa, for the doctrine linked all living things together in a single complex system as all possessing souls."

"As a source of consolation, it (Doctrine of Karma) has done much to mould the Indian character and to shape the Indian way of life."

• These observations are sufficient to show the intensity of the impact which Sramana traditions have made to shape the composite culture of which we as Indians can be legitimately proud. page 11

Damien Keown 2005 Buddhist Ethics, Oxford University Press 147 pages ISBN 019280457X

• Ahimsa seems to have originated among the unorthodox renouncer (sramana) movements, in other words the non-brhamanical schools of Jainism and Buddhism. Page 14

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

Govind Chandra Pande (1957) Studies in the Origins of Buddhism. Allahabad: THE INDIAN PRESS, LTD

• The anti-ritualistic tendency within the Vedic fold is itself due to the impact of an asceticism which antedated the Vedas. Jainism represents a continuation of this pre-Vedic stream, from which Buddhism also springs, though deeply influenced by Vedic thought. P 317

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

After Upanishads and Bhagvad gita, the vedas were largely ignored. Often, they were ridiculed. Today they stand as quaint survivors of a lower form of religion, studied only by the scholars for their historical interests. p 44

Hinduism: Past and Present By Axel Michaels, Barbara Harshav, Published 2004 Princeton University Press ISBN:0691089523

• The legacy of vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedas or have completely different meaning. The religion of Vedas do not know ethicized migration of soul with retribution of acts (karma), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the salvation during ones lifetime (Jeevanmukti, moksa, Nirvana); the idea of the world as illusion (maya) must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator God emerges only in the later hymns of Rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of Gods and temples, the Puja Worship, Yoga, the pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of the cow, the doctrine of the stages of life (asrama) or knew them only at their inception. Page 38

• In Rgveda we do not yet find the doctrine of transmigration of soul or a fateful repeated retribution for acts committed. But from the end of the second epoch the idea arose that the kind of place in next world or the future location of the individual soul depends on the acts in the earthly life. At first it was hardly ethicized: the Good or the wise came to the world of the eternal Gods, the bad or the ignorant through the rain went back into the food chain and to a new life. With early Upanishads, (ca 800-600 BC), diverse and incoherent speculations about the transmigration of the soul appeared, which expanded into a ramified system in the legal texts and puranas. Only with these texts do we find the concept of the repeated transmigration linked with desires for deliverance from eternal cycle of rebirth, (in a possibility of re-embodiment as plants or animals) and a continuous ethicization of retribution of acts in the form of catalogues of new existences. P 156

Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali's Spiritual Path to Freedom By Christopher Chapple, Published by SUNY Press, 2008 ISBN 0791474755, 9780791474754

• Yoga has deep roots within the sramanical side of religiosity in India, meaning that yoga emphasizes interior experience, meditation renunciation and ethical alacrity in contrast with brahmanical traditions which speak more emphatically of ritual, the non dual nature of reality and full participation of mores and taboos of Hindu society. Yoga holds more affinity with Jainism and Buddhism than with its Vedanta and Bhakti cousins. Page ix

Yoga: The Indian Tradition. Edited by Ian Whicher and David Carpenter. London: Routledgecurzon, 2003. ISBN – 0-7007-1288-7

• Patanjali includes several sutras on the restraints or the yamas (namely …ahimsa…..aparigrah) of the eight limbed path of yoga that are listed in the acaranga sutra of Jainism (the earliest section of which may date from the third or fourth century BCE) thereby suggesting possible Jaina influence on the yoga tradition. Page 64

Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali's Spiritual Path to Freedom By Christopher Chapple, Published by SUNY Press, 2008 ISBN 0978-0-7914-7475-4

• Three teachings closely associated with Jainism appear in Yoga: the doctrine of karma described as colorful in both traditions; the telos of isolation(kevala in Jainism and Kaivalyam in yoga); and the practice of non-violence (ahimsa). In fact, the entire list of five yamas (II:30) is identical with the ethical percepts taught by Mahavira. P. 110

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

Dictionary of World Philosophy, by A. Pablo Iannone, Publisher Taylor & Francis, (2001) ISBN 0415179955, 9780415179959

• The earliest version of atomism can be found in Jainism, a school of Indian philosophy that arose around 800 BCE. Pp. 62 [1]

Influence on Shaivism

India: That is Sidd By P.S.K. Pandian , Allied Publishers, ISBN 8170235618

Chapter 4- Jainism a pre-vedic religion (Antiquity of Jainism)

• Jainism, along with Shaivism, was a Pre-Vedic religion. The history of Indian religious thought cannot be well understood without the knowledge of the history of Jain Tirthankaras. The first Tirthankara was Adinatha, also called Riahabadeva. There is abundant evidence to show that Rishabadeva was none else but Shiva. Both Digambaras and Svetambaras describe the bull as the congnizance of Adinatha. The vahana of Shiva also is recognised as bull. Rishabadeva obtained Kevalagnana while he was standing in meditation under a banyan tree. Shiva also was credited with meditating under a banyan tree in Mahendragiri on the Andhra Oriaaa border. Rishabadeva obtained Nirvana while sitting in meditation in Padmasana posture on a mountain called Kailasa. There is still a mountain called Kailasa on the foothills of Mahendragiri in Orissa state. Shiva also obtained Nirvana in the same place and that is why he is called Kailasanatha. There is a famous Shiva temple far Kailasanatha in Ellora. As U.F. Shah explains in his book Jaina Rupa Mandana", "Rsabha, with his beautiful jata (matted hair) over head and hair locks falling on shoulders, having the bull as his congnizance closely resembles the conception of Siva with the bull vehicle", Rishabadeva Shiva in nude form may be seen even today in one of the most ancient Shiva temples at Gudimallam, near Tirupathi, in Chittoor District. There is a bronze statue of Rishabadeva Siva available in Saraswathi Mahal library at Tanjore, Rishahadeva was the son of Nabi and Marudevi. Latest research reveals that Rishabadeva had a son called Dravid and the Dravida race derives its name from him. According to Prem Nanda Kumar, "The Jain legends profess that Dravida, one of the sons of the first Tirthankarat Rishabadeva was the originator of the Dravidians".2 The term "Dravida* is a prakrit word like "Dravya" meaning substance and "Dravyam meaning wealth etc. Similarly, Brahmi was the head of the aryikas of nuns of the order of Rishabadeva and Brahmi script is so called in memory of her.

• The second Thirthankara Ajitanatha was none else but Indra. The cognisance for both Ajitanatha and Indira is elephant That is why Indira is called Gajendra. Thiruvalluvar, the famous authour of Tnirukkural, a Sangam literature in Tamil called the first Tirthankara as "Adi Bhagavan1 in his first Kural He also refers to the second Thirthankara, Indira as "Akal Visumbular Koman" meaning "King of the godly world. Thiruvalluvar depicts both of them as great yogis. Another Sangam literature in Tamil which is acknowlegedly a Jain work, namely Silappathikaram refers to the popular festivals for Shiva and Indira. Shiva is also credited with having authored the four Jaina Agamas, namely Ankagama, Purva Agama, Bahusruti Agama and Parama Agama. Indira was described as the author of Aindiram, claimed to be a Jain work by Kavunthi Adigal, a Jaina Muni, playing an important role in Silappathikaram Page 101-2

Others

Source : http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=715

• In the entire Hindu mythology, be it Ramayana, Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita, or the Vedas, there is no mention of the word 'temple' anywhere. "There was never a concept of temple in Hinduism before. It was only when Jainism and Buddhism started gaining momentum in India with temple architecture, Hinduism also adopted the trend of building temples and making idols for worship. In Hinduism, worship of nature was predominant right from the ages of Ramayana and Mahabharata. They never had temples. It was only in the Gupta period, somewhere in the 4th – 6th century A.D, temples were built as place of worship for the Hindus" says Dr N Saraswati, Reader, Department of History, University of Mysore.

Deep Religious Pluralism David Ray Griffin 2005 Westminster John Knox Press ISBN:066422914X

• As a definition of Hinduism – rooted in the Hindutva ideology of V. D. Savarkar – is just inclusive enough to be so vague as to be useless from scholarly point of view. At the same time it is just exclusive enough to promote interreligious violence, marginalisation and hatred. I personally think it should be jettisoned. P. 152
• Identification of Hinduism (with the above definition of Hinduism) essentially amounts to a nationalistic assertion that India is the fountain of all primordial wisdom. Such an identification issues in a closed inclusivism, a restrictive understanding of truth, for fairly clear reason that it can, like all forms of nationalism, slide easily into an assertion that no other culture as ever done anything worthwhile, that India has much to teach the rest of the world but nothing to learn. P 152
• Also see non-inclusively of Hinduism - because non belief in Vedas were termed as nastikas i.e. heterodox or non-believers and implies that there is no salvation, moksa for the non-believers, similar to Christian view. 153

Chronological order of various court judgments on Jainism as a separate religion

1. 1927 - As early as 1927 Madras High Court in Gateppa v. Eramma and others reported in AIR 1927 Madras 228 held that "Jainism as a distinct religion was flourishing several centuries before Christ". Jainism rejects the authority of the Vedas which form the bedrock of Hinduism and denies the efficacy of the various ceremonies which Hindus consider essential.
2. 1939 - In Hirachand Gangji v. Rowji Sojpal reported in AIR 1939 Bombay 377, it was observed that "Jainism prevailed in this country long before Brahmanism came into existence and held that field, and it is wrong to think that the Jains were originally Hindus and were subsequently converted into Jainism."
3. 1951 - A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court consisting of Chief Justice Chagla and Justice Gajendragadkar in respect of Bombay Harijan Temple Entry Act, 1947 (C.A. 91 of 1951) held that Jains have an independent religious entity and are different from Hindus.
4. 1954 - In The Commissioner Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt reported in AIR 1954 SC 282 this Court observed that there are well known religions in India like Buddhism and Jainism which do not believe in God, in any Intelligent First Cause. The Court recognized that Jainism and Buddhism are equally two distinct religions professed in India in contrast with Vedic religion.
5. 1958 - In well known Kerala Education Bill's case, 1957 reported in AIR 1958 SC 956, this Court held that to claim the minority rights, the Community must be numerically a minority by reference to the entire population of the State or country where the law is applicable. In that way also, the Jain Community is eligible for the claim.
6. 1968 - In Commissioner of Wealth Tax, West Bengal v. Smt. Champa Kumari Singhi & Others reported in AIR 1968 Calcutta 74, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court observed that "Jains rejected the authority of the Vedas which forms the bedrock of Hinduism and denied the efficacy of various ceremonies which the Hindus consider essential. It will require too much of boldness to hold that the Jains, dissenters from Hinduism, are Hindus, even though they disown the authority of the Vedas".
7. 1976 - In Arya Samaj Education Trust, Delhi & Others v. The Director of Education, Delhi Administration, Delhi & Others reported in AIR 1976 Delhi 207, it was held as follows: "Not only the Constitution but also the Hindu Code and the Census Reports have recognized Jains to belong to a separate religion." In the said judgment, the Court referred to the observations of various scholars in this behalf. The Court quoted Heinrich Zimmer in "Philosophies of India" wherein he stated that "Jainism denies the authority of the Vedas and the orthodox traditions of Hinduism. Therefore, it is reckoned as a heterodox Indian religion". The Court also quoted J. N. Farquhar in "Modern Religious Movements in India" wherein he stated that "Jainism has been a rival of Hinduism from the beginning". In the said judgment, in conclusion, the Court held that "for the purpose of Article 30(1), the Jains are a minority based on religion in the Union Territory of Delhi".
8. 1993 - In A.M. Jain College v. Government of Tamil Nadu (1993) 1 MLJ 140, the Court observed that it is also an admitted fact that the Jain community in Madras, Tamil Nadu is a religious and linguistic minority.