Introduction :

Jainism is one of oldest living religious of the world. Whose antiquity is traced to prehistoric times. When one hears about Jainism the first words that ring in one's mind are Ahimsa i.e. compassion. In thise jet age of nuclear and biological weapons, threatened by terrorism and silent wars, gripped by fear and insecurity, where violence is the increase, the potential for frustration looms larger than the promise of faith. It is indeed soothing that a refelection on Jaina Heritage comes as a breeze of fresh air. Jainism is a way of life practised. Preached and propagated by the Tirthankaras, whose immediate predecessor was Lord Parshva natha who lived 200 years before Lord Mahavira and is established as historical figure. References of Lord Rishabha deva, who is regraded as Adi Trithankar, the first enlightened one and the first saint, are found in the Harapa - Mohanjadaro excavations, besides in the Vedas and Puranas. Mahavira is not the founder of Jainsm as is generally understood, but he preached the same reality preached by Lord Rishabha deva and other Trithankars.

Gods of the Jains :

The Trithankars and other enlightened souls are the Gods of Jains called " Jina ", which means " The Victor " or " The Conqueror ", for they have conquered thier internal enemies of Anger, Conceit, Deceit, Greed, Delusion, Ignorance, Fear and not for winning any external battles of men and matter. Hence, logically it implies that Jains who are followers of Jina are those who desire and exert to conquer themselves. Jainism does not believe in a creator God and regards the world to be beginningless and endless. The Gods of the Jains are not mere idols but living ideals of peace and perfection. Jainism regards the plurity and divinity of souls and says that irrespective of caste, creed, colour and sex anybody and everybody can rise to perfection. The Gods of the Jains have terminated thier wordly sojourn become immortal and worthy of worship. Another set of 24 Trithankars of spiritual teachers will be born in the next ieon to keep the torch of knowledge burning and to keep the spiritual and cultural heritage of mankind alive is the law of nature which works automically Through the Namaskar Mahamantra millions of Jains remember thier ideals in life and in thier best capacities try to emulate them in order to free themselves from birth, death old age, disease and misery.

The Pathway of Emancipation :

All souls are potentially divine and any person irrespective of caste, creed Colour, and sex can practice Right Faith, three jewels of Jainism and realize emanicpation. Right Faith is faith in ones own self or in the supreme souls, the supreme master and rightousness. Right Knowledge is the knowledge of one's own self and reality. and Right conduct is being one's pure self pure or practising the exemplary code of condut of Non - Violence, Truth and Self restraint.

The Master :

The Acharayas, Upadhyayas and Sadhus i.e. the Spiritual heads of the Congregation the spiritual adepts and holy monks and nuns who practice the Five great vows of Ahimsa (Non - Violence), Satya ( Truth fulness ). Astheya (Non - stealing ), Brahmacharya (Celebacy) Apagrah (Non - Possession ) of Jaina laity. They do not possess a penny, are houseless and move by foot from one place to another preaching the holy path inspiring people of thier real spiritual duty.

Jaina way of Living :

As stated earlier the triple jewels of jainism constitute the pathway of emancipation and so Jaina ethics and Practice of the Right Conduct. It is not important what you do or how much you do, but how you do it is utmost importance whether it is charity, austerity, fasting, service, scriptural study, meditation etc. Jainism regrads the sanctity of all life and so non - Violence is the Supreme religion. The Jains believe that birth, death, old age. disease and miseries are caused by the Karmas accumulated by the souls in thier past existences and so all ritual of prayers, service, penance, charity etc. are carried out to annihilate the karmic conditioning and to terminate the wordly-sojourn for eternal bless and happiness, which is not anywhere outside but within ourselves.

Jaina Principles :

Ahimsa - Nonviolence. Anekantavada multifaceted view point and Aparigraha non - possession / non - violence does not mean non - injury alone, in its wider sense it means compassion towards one and all. Jainism says that in essence we are all one but this one underlying unity manifests in many diverse forms, and so Jainism advocates looking upon others as we look upon ourselves. Mahaveera said that worm you desire to hurt, abuse, kill insult or injure is your own self, and so non - violence is the highest virtue. When you can't give life to anyone you have no right to take thier life.

Anekantavada is regard for view points. Realuty is multi - faceted and should be looked at from different stand points. Anekantavada is non- violence in thought. Six blind men fight over thier understanding of an elephant to be right, but none is completely right, Anekatavada comes at hand enables them to understand that each is partially right. The conventional wars that are taking place around the globe have thier cause in the silent wars. Anekantavada inculcates a spirit of tolerance and enables us to live in harmony.

Aparigraha i.e. non - attachment and non - possession is the heart and soul of Jainism. Desires are unlimited as space and the wants increase with every gain. The wordly people believe that by fulfilling thier desires they can become happy, but happiness eludes them at every step. Real happiness is in contentment and non attachment. A person may possess nothing but still remain detached. Aparigarha is an matter as long as the boat is in water or we are in the world but when water entres the boat or we are materially inclined then it causes bondage, the fruit of which has to be reaped by none other than the doer. As you sow. So you reap sums up the Karma Theroy in a nut shell and so the tree A's viz Ahimsa, Anekanta, Aparigraha become indispensable more so in modern times.

Jaina Metaphysics :

The study of seven or nine reals (tattvas) constitues Jaina Metaphysics. All the reals are grouped as living (soul) and non - living (matter). The coming together of living and non - living cause the infinite miseries of birth, old age, disease, etc. and the root cause of this is ignorance and perverted attitude. The influx of non - living subtle karmic particles, have to be stopped and the already existing ones to be annihilated for the soul to have become deviod of bondage and realize emancipation. The infulx can be ausipcious or inauspicious, as the quality of the infulx so will be the conditioning in the worldly sojourn. This in a nut shell is the essence of Jaina Metaphysics.

Jaina Epistemology or Theroy of Knowledge :

Kevalajnana is unique of Jainism. All most all indian Philosophies accept the divinity of souls. The possibility and magnificence of Kevala Jnana as a possibility for perfected souls is a unique feature of Jainism. The Jaina theory of knowledge elucidates the five types of knowledge Mati, Jnana (Sensory perception), Srutajnana (Scriptural Knowledge), AvadhiJnana (clairvoyance), Manaparayaya Jnana (telepathy), Kevala Jnana (omniscience) of which the first two are indirectly acquried through the medium of the sense and the last three are immediate and direct in the sense acquried directly by the soul without medium of the sense. When the veils of ignorance or declusion are competely removed, the soul can know and perceive all the substance along with all thier modes of the past, present and future knowledge from anywhere outside but it is latent in the soul. detailed study of the theory of knowledge is embedded in the Jaina scriptural literature and in the post Agamic period the great Acharyas consistently developed it.

Jaina Festivals :

Jaina Festivals are primarily spiritualistic in nature rather than ritualistic. The paryusana Parva and the Dasa - Laksana parva celebrated for eight and ten days respectively in the fifth month of Bhadrapada (August - September) are celebrated for soul purification confession and forgiveness from all creatures. On the last days of the Paryusana Parva on the Samvatsai all sects perform the annual ceremony of confession and forgiveness. Deepavali for the jains marks the Vira - nirvana day and is celebrated with great spiritual fervour. The Uttaradhyayana Sutra, or the last sermon of Lord Mahavira is read by the devout Jains in all parts of the world. Akshya Tritya, marks first alms giving to a mendicant Lord Risabha Nahavir jayanthi marks the birth of Lord Mahavira besides the panch - Kalyanakas of the 24 Tirthankars is celebrated by the members of our four fold congragation.

Jain Community :

The Jaina Community is a loving community and is proud that no war has taken place in the globe in the name of this great faith although many Jaina householders have fought for many Jaina causes. It is a prosperous community mostly into trade, business, agriculture etc. numbering around 10 million scattered all over the globe. They run many charitable institutions and when compared to thier small number the charity they carry is proportionately large. they believe in selfessly giving, charity in the form of food, shelter, books clothes to the needy and spend crores in building temples, libraries, prayer halls. The women are given equal status and the caste - system is irrelevant in Jainism.

Jaina Places to Visit :

The world famous Dilwara temple of Mt. Abu and Rankapur in Rajasthan, the Sathrujaya, Taranga and Girnar temples in Gujarat, Sammestshikhar, Pavapur, Champapuri in Bihar Gommatesvara at Sravanabelgola, Modbidri in Karnataka and Hathigumpha caves in Orissa are some of the many places of visit, famous for thier art, architecture, miniature carvings and painting which draw scores of visitors, Indians and foreigners every year. The Jaina idols are unique in the sense that are neither with an escort or a weapon, but you see them in kayotsarga mudra i.e. meditation posture either in Padmasana or Kadgasana (i.e. sitting or standing postures).

Jaina Literature :

The Jaina literature is a rich storehouse of record of Indian heritage and culture. Besides religion, Philosophy, epistemology, ethics ample materials is available on many secular branches of learning like mathematics. astronomy, astrology, metallurgy, medicine etc. The vast Jaina literature was revealed in the essence by Lord Mahavire in Ardha Prakrit dialect from which sprang most of the modern Indian languages. Besides various shades of Prakrit was written in Sanskrit, Apabhramasa, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada etc. many western scholars have transalted a few Jaina works in English, German and other European languages. Many Indian kings and royal dynasties patronized Jainism and heralded an Augustan age all over Indian in literature, art and architecture.

Jaina music too is very popular among the Jains. The Tirthankar preached in Raga Malakosa and many strotras are wtitten in praise of the Trithankras which are sung with great devotion. A study of Jaina History reveals that it was the first Tirthankar Rishabhadeva taught the 72 arts and crafts to the princesses these include music, dance, pottery, archery etc. Rishabhadeva taught Mathematics to his daughter Sundari and the Brahmi inscription of today was taught by Rishabhadeva to his other daughter Brahmi. Bharatavarsha was the name given to India after the legendary son of Rishabhadeva Bharata Chakravarthy according to Jaina History.

Jain View of Environment and declaration of Nature :

Jainism recognizes the sanctity of all life forms and reveals that all are mutually interdependent for thier survival. It is not the survival of the fittest. Everybody's welfare is of utmost importance. Jaina views - that there is life in earth water, fire, air and plants and man should use the available natural resources discreetly to save himself of sin and extinction. Mahavira said all living beings desire to live, none wants to die, so a nirgratha or a monk in thought, word and deed does not kill, does not ask others to kill, does not approve of those kill. The householders too conduct thier duties with utmost care and do not take to trades like cutting of forests, dealing on leather, wax, animals etc. A Jaina always keeps away from hunting, taking intoxicating drinks and drugs, stealing, meat - eating, gambling etc. thus protecting the environment. Science tells us only today to save the forests, conserve fuel electricity, water etc. but Jainism had advocated these duties 2600 years ago and so the jains have been the fore - runners to protect the human and animals rights as well as to guard the environment.

Jaina Health Tips :

Health is wealth, the physical health of a person is directly or indirectly influenced by the mental health. Jainism says that behind all good health is spiritual health. If the spiritual health of a person is good then the mind and physique can function smoothly. Good health is an attitude of the mind and so the Jains always think positive and are optimistic in life. Suicide and crime rate in the Jaina community is very minimal. The very ardent Jains do not eat after sunset and before sunrise, beacuse in the absence of the sun's rays the microbes are very active and cause indigestion and many health hazards. The Jains boil the water to drink and aviod very spicy food. They undertake rigorous fasts throughout the year especially during the four months of the rainy season when vegetation is very active and violence becomes inevitable. They follow a life lead a life of simple living and high thinking. They leada life of contentment and self - restraint, there by finding ample time, opportunity and facility to carry out thier philanthropic and spiritual activities.

Jain Prayer :

O Lord ! I am friendly towards all, happy to see the virtuous, Compassionate towards the miserable and downtrodden and indifferent towards those who are against the right path.
I forgive one and all and beg forgiveness from one and all. I am friendly towards all creatures and cherish enmity towards none.

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