The Jaina

Summary

Douglas M. Thornton’s essay ‘The Jaina’ portrays Jainism as a vibrant and influential non‑Brahmanical community numbering around 1.4 million people in early twentieth‑century India. He notes that Jains are prominent in commerce and banking, which has allowed them to support charities such as animal hospitals and temples across the country. Thornton surveys the debate among European scholars regarding the antiquity of Jainism, observing that earlier researchers like Wilson regarded it as a late offshoot of Buddhism, whereas later scholars such as Oldenberg and Jacobi demonstrated that Jainism is an independent tradition with roots at least as old as Buddhism. Drawing on Jacobi’s analysis, he explains that the Jaina religion likely grew from earlier ascetic movements associated with Pārśvanātha (the twenty‑third Tīrthaṅkara) and was reformed rather than founded by Mahāvīra in the sixth century BCE. The article compares Mahāvīra with the Buddha, highlighting common traits—asceticism, renunciation and egalitarian preaching—but stressing that Jain teachings on non‑violence, pluralism and the soul’s eternal nature differ from Buddhist doctrines. Thornton outlines core Jain principles: the vow of ahiṃsā (absolute non‑injury to all beings), truthfulness, non‑stealing, chastity and non‑attachment; he notes the division into Digambara and Śvetāmbara sects and their differing views on monastic nudity and the attainment of liberation by women. The essay also touches on Jain cosmology, the cycle of birth and death governed by karma, and the goal of kevala‑jñāna (omniscience) leading to mokṣa. Thornton emphasises the richness of Jain literature and the importance of texts like the Kālpāsūtra while situating Jainism within the broader context of Indian intellectual history.