Liber XVII · Jainism
Liber XVII
Jainism
Mahavira, the Tirthankaras and the path of non-violence.
Jainism is an ancient religion of India that teaches liberation of the soul through non-violence, self-discipline and right knowledge. Jains revere twenty-four Tirthankaras, 'ford-makers' who crossed the river of rebirth, the last of whom, Mahavira, was a contemporary of the Buddha in the sixth or fifth century BCE. This section covers the Tirthankaras, Jain teachings on the soul, karma and many-sidedness, the vows of ahimsa (non-violence), the Digambara and Shvetambara traditions, ascetic life and the ritual of fasting to death, Jain cosmology, and temples and pilgrimage.