The jain literature which was complied by ganadharas and srutkevlis is known as agam literature. One cannot describe how violent passages in holy books motivate violence in todays world without criticizing the books themselves. We are undoubtedly the largest online indian book shop available. The following list of books incorporates a number of salient points of view, and they would be especially good for those not raised as jains. Jul 03, 2011 jainism encourages an 8daylong or worse, unhealthy fasting during the holy time of the year. The existing agam sutras are accepted as the authentic preaching of lord mahavir by the swetambar sects, but the digambar sect does not accept. Commitment to nonviolence is unconditional and is based both on principle and on practicalhumanitarian considerations. He is the author of more than 100 publications including 12 books. There are plenty of difference between hinduism and jainism. Magadha was the center of jainism in the written history of india. Reincarnation is a central tenet of indian religions, namely jainism, buddhism, sikhism and hinduism, although there are hindu groups that do not believe in. They are humans who achieve enlightenment via asceticism. Along with hinduism and buddhism, jainism is one of the three most ancient indian religious traditions still in existence and an integral part of south asian religious belief and practice. The following is a list of some of the most influential spiritual books, many of which.
The majority of the most influential sacred texts in history were written in the ancient world. It treats of the akara, or conduct, which falls under the last of the four heads, or anuyogas, into which the sacred lore is divided, viz. Visitors shall be treated to a visual extravaganza of the fine art of sculpture involved in the making of beautifully sculpted idols, templates, etc. Ahimsa does not merely indicate absence of physical violence, but also indicates absence of desire to indulge in any sort of violence. Passages advocating violence and genocide in religious texts. The jain scriptures are the source books of jain ethics, yoga, religion, philosophy and mythology. Among these five vows, nonviolence ahimsa is the cardinal principle of jainism and hence it is known as the cornerstone of jainism. Hinduism download books, sacred, spiritual texts and pdf e. Keeping jainism, vegetarianism and purity as our pillars, we are committed to build a non violent, compassionate and healthy society that follows high ethics and values of indian culture which have been handed over to us over the centuries.
Jainworld is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of jain tradition of wisdom, compassion, equality, brotherhood, universal wellbeing and spirituality. These texts are the holy scriptures of the jain religion. Jainism, indian religion teaching a path to spiritual purity and enlightenment through disciplined nonviolence ahimsa, literally noninjury to all living creatures. Jain texts expound that there are ten life essentials or lifeprinciples, these are. But indias supreme court is weighing a ban on the practice because suicide is illegal by indian law. Jains in the world is a significant and welcome ethnography of contemporary jains in western india by the most prominent scholar of jainism in north america. The kalpa sutra is the holy book of the of jainism religion. Jain books, jain literature, jain shastras in english. Hence, the jain religion does not have one sacred book like the bible or koran, but it has many books complied by many followers. The hebrew scriptures, referred to by christians as the old testament, are called the tanakh, which is the hebrew acronym for the three different parts. Sep 02, 2015 a member of the ancient religion of jainism who is very sick or very old may opt to stop eating. Drawing from jainisms copious and influential narrative tradition, the author explores the inner. The principle of ahimsa non violence or noninjury is a fundamental tenet of jainism.
Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being. A guide for the perplexed guides for the perplexed. Jain marketplace is a marketplace app that offers premium quality jain, vegetarian and organic products. The householders dharma english translation of the sacred jain text, ratna karand sravakachara by champat rai jain part of the the sacred books of the jainas series.
As society changed, the jews found that the torah needed to be updated from its original agricultural emphasis. In jain theology, it does not matter how correct or defensible the violence may be, one must not kill or harm any being, and non violence is the highest religious duty. The hindus consider them to be the believers in the hinduism. A tally at the skeptics annotated bible counts 842 violent or cruel passages in the bible as compared to 333 in the quran. However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. Jains see these texts, which are the transcriptions of lord mahavirs sermons, as sacred. Many classical texts are in sanskrit tatvartha sutra, puranas. This book is a must for scholars of south asian religions and will provide scholars of hindu traditions fine grounding both in a central dialectic of jain thought and in contemporary jain. Violence is usually associated with causing harm to others.
Jain hand the palm of the hand signifies the assurance. Along with hinduism and buddhism, jainism is one of the three most ancient indian religious traditions still in existence and an. All jain temples and holy books must contain the swastika and ceremonies typically begin and end with creating a swastika mark several times with rice around the altar. Sruti pronounced shroothee are the holy books within hinduism that are considered to be divinely inspired, and thus infallible and authoritative. Jainism dont have any specific holy book like the bhagavad geeta,the quran or the bible. Older children can read by themselves while younger children will enjoy listening to the books being read aloud. But according to the jain philosophy, violence refers primarily to injuring ones own self behaviour which inhibits the souls own ability to attain moksha liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. The torah which is the first five books of the old testament or the pentateuch. Agams are the jain texts which are based on the discourses of the tirthankaras. We have been serving customers for over 70 years now for their various book requirements. Lord mahavira gave his first sermon on the vipula peak at rajgir. Life histories and inspiring works of great personalities of yester years along with narration and helping from agams, the. The texts containing the teachings of mahavira are called the agamas, and are the canonical literature the scriptures of svetambara jainism mahaviras disciples compiled his.
A member of the ancient religion of jainism who is very sick or very old may opt to stop eating. Followers of jainism are called jains, a word derived from the sanskrit word jina, meaning victor. Practice of nonviolence by jain householder shravaka jain. It holds that one must abandon all violent activity, and that without such a commitment to non violence all religious behavior is worthless. Rather, there are many religious texts the most wellknown of which are the agams that include transcriptions of the oral history provided to us by tirthankars and jain teachers, as well as scholarly commentary on the interpretation of the religion. There are six highly recommended books that together form an excellent literary introduction to jainism and the jain way of thinking. The other holy book for the jewish religion is the talmud which includes the mishnah, which means repetition or study and the gemara, which means addition or completion. Jainism is transtheistic, and jains trace their spiritual ideas and history through a succession of twentyfour leaders or tirthankaras. We have certain scriptures which are considered as very sacred.
The jain path of purification was, in addition to the previous work, one of the very first books of its kind to be authored by a jain for the education of those unfamiliar with the jain worldview and way of life. Jain has presented seminars both in the united states and abroad, on various topics including global marketing strategy, export strategy and global business negotiations. The tattvarthasutra is a famous book which summarizes jain teachings. Jainism is an eastern religion with origins in the indus river valley dating back to 3000 b. First, lets distinguish between two types of hindu literature.
The ideas and beliefs of the ancients tell us who they were at their very sense of being, what they believed and how they understood the world surrounding them. Books and online resources on jain studies are also on the rise. Contact us 715 bellemeade place, alpharetta, ga 0004, usa. There are more than 40 jain canonical books on shravakachara. The oldest jain literature is in shauraseni and ardhamagadhi prakrit agamas, agamatulya, siddhanta texts, etc. The word swastika came from the sanskrit word svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious belief that the nonphysical essence of a living being starts a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. The jain rules regarding a vegetarian diet seem like theyre made up on the spot. Many classical texts are in sanskrit tatvartha sutra, puranas, koshas, shravakacharas, mathematics, nighantus etc. Ahimsa in jainism in jainism, the understanding and implementation of ahimsa is more radical, scrupulous, and comprehensive than in any other religion.
Agams are the jain texts which are based on the discourse. The problems with jainism guest contributor friendly. The holy book of jainism is a collection of texts known as agam literature or the agam sutras. The word sruti comes from a sanskrit root meaning to hear, as it was believed that ancient seers heard or perceived these texts by direct revelation from a higher power. In western countries where significant jain communities live, there is evergreater interest in the study of jainism, resulting in various. But can jainism adopt a sociocentric environmentalism without compromising its own ascetic principles and spiritual tradition. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. The books are illustrated with colour photographs and pictures, and use simple language and ideas to help children understand. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata, and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation, etc. Ahimsa being central to the jain philosophy, jain acaryas have produced, through ages, quite elaborate and detailed doctrinal materials concerning its various aspects. Religion and culture of the jains by jyoti prasad jain 1983, bharatiya jnanpith will provide an orderly and clear. These are divided into two classes anga agamas or the original twelve books and angabahya agamas or the texts outside of the original twelve books. Apr 03, 20 the puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. A historical jain play about 2 brave brothers, akalanka who later became a great acharya and his younger brother nikalank who sacrificed his life for jain dharma from their youth.
Here, i will give only a brief introduction to the holy books of hinduism. Holy akaranga sutra the akaranga sutra, or, as it is sometimes called, the samayika, is the first of the eleven angas. Jain text, jain, truth, conduct, sallekhana, ahimsa, pratima, god. However, because violent passages in the bible, quran and other holy books continue to inspire violence, murder, mass murder, and genocide, we feel that criticism is warranted. The texts containing the teachings of mahavira are called the agamas, and are the canonical literature the scriptures of. This work was further supplemented in the seventh chapter of tattvarthasutra by the great jain saint umaswati. During the fast, you may only consume water thats been preboiled. Customer satisfaction in the true sense of the word thats the jain book agency or jba. This was the form of nonviolence that enabled gandhi and his followers to overthrow british rule in india, that ended racial segregation in the united states, that propelled the velvet revolution in what is now the czech. It is read in the eight day long festival called paryushan. There was a very lofty mountain named as kali in that forest of. Starting with bimbisar, the kings of the nanda dynasty and the early maurya dynasty were believers of jainism, according to the jain literature. The twentyfivehundredyearold tradition of jainism, which emphasizes nonviolence as the only true path leading to liberation, offers a worldview seemingly compatible with the goals of environmental activism. An article profiling a jain nun by morgan wilson in the houston chronicle shows just how absurd the faith can be.
Seminars and conferences discussing jain studies for which some people use the term jainology are becoming more frequent. The hindi version is in comic book style and is written by sandip kumar jain. Kalikund tirth there was a famous dense forest named kadambari full of wild and violent beasts of many species near situated by the city named campa. He serves as a consultant to different companies and governments worldwide. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. Jainism differs from many religions in that there is no one scripture or holy book that is central to our faith. The suffix kaeither forms a diminutive or intensifies the verbal meaning. The books are for children between the ages of around five to eleven. Jainism, indian religion teaching a path to spiritual purity and enlightenment through disciplined nonviolence ahimsa, literally noninjury to all living creatures overview. Paul dundas quotes acarya jinabhadra 7th century, who shows that the omnipresence of lifeforms in the universe need not totally inhibit normal behaviour of the ascetics. Jains see these texts, which are the transcriptions of lord mahavirs sermons, as sacred documents. It is composed of su meaning good, well and asti to be svasti thus means wellbeing. A guide for the perplexed is a clear and thorough account of this fascinating tradition, explaining many basic jain values, beliefs and practices in the same way they are taught to jains themselves, through the medium of sacred narratives. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas.
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