Comparing Jainism And Mahavira's Ten Commandments

In ancient East India in 550 BCE, Mahavira, the founder of a religious community called Jainism, was born. He was one of 24 Jinas who obtained enlightenment by freeing their souls of karma through following certain principles of living and refraining from participating in all worldly pleasures. Jains believe that while living, Mahavira wondered naked and mute through India for twelve years. During his journey he was abused and went through hardships that brought him to the new found beliefs of Jainism. It was after this journey that Mahavira took on disciples and began teaching. He was the last great teacher living of the 24 who existed and “in 467 BCE he committed the act of Sallekhana, which is fasting to death.” The purpose of this

paper is to describe the religious community of Jainism’s beliefs, five principles of living, and how they achieve moksha though asceticism.
Jainism is a religion centralized in India. It is based almost entirely on Mahavira’s teachings. His teachings were written down in scripture and are the ultimate guide for Jains. The scripture contains exactly what the Jains should believe and the principles they should live by. Jains lifelong goal is to reach salvation. The only way to achieve this is by following the laws and principles taught by Mahivira, strictly. When salvation is reached it means that the soul is perfected and is free of all karma. A Jain believer must accept the nine basic fundamental concepts in the scripture and their beliefs should stem from them. These nine principles are called Tativas. The Jains must have full knowledge of these in order to grow spiritually. “The proper understanding of this subject brings about right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge (samyak jnana), and right conduct to an individual.” They must have knowledge of the soul (Jiva), non-living substances (Ajiva), Influx of karma (Asrava), Bondage of karma (Bandha), Virtue (Punya), Sin (Paap), Stoppage of the influx of karma (Samvara), and Exhaustion of the accumulated karma (Nirjara.) In the scripture these topics are defined and explained. When a Jain fully understands these tativas and follows them, they will eventually achieve the final tativa, which is liberation of the soul. The Jains believe that every living thing is stuck in a cycle of rebirths because of the accumulation of karma from each life. In order for one to free themselves from this cycle a Jain must obscure knowledge, perception, truth, and ability.
According to Bruce Robinson the Jains believe that the universe exists as a series of layers, both heavens and hells and that it has no beginning and will have no ending.
There are 7 layers of the universe according to Jain. The first layer is located at the top of the universe; this is where the liberated souls live, that is, the Jains who have achieved liberation, it is called The Supreme Abod. The layer below that layer is called the Upper World and this is believed to be where the celestial beings live. The third layer is called the Middle World, this is where the earth as we know it and the rest of the universe reside. Next we have the Nether World. This layer has seven hells with different levels of misery and punishment. The very bottom layer, The Nigota, is where the lowest forms of life live. The sixth layer is called Universe Space and is made up of clouds that surround the upper world. The final layer is The Space Beyond. It is an infinite volume of non-existence.

In the scripture there are five principals of living or vows in which a Jain must follow.

These five principles are: non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-possession. To get a better understanding of how important these vows are to Jains, one can compare them to the Christian bible’s Ten Commandments. These vows are similar to the Ten Commandments in that they are “rules” that must be followed as much as possible to be a true believer or follower of the Jain religion. However it is much different than the Ten Commandments because in Christianity it is understood that it is impossible to never commit a sin. Jainism, on the other hand, is a lot stricter and a Jain must stay faithful to the rules and not commit sin in order to reach salivation. The first vow, non-violence, is according to known as the cornerstone of Jainism. This vow is stressed throughout the scripture. One must not hit, injure, or hurt another any living creature in anyway. “According to Jainism all living beings, irrespective of their size, shape, or different spiritual developments are equal.” This means that a human is no better or any higher than an animal, insect, plant, or any living thing. Non-violence means absolutely any type of violence is forbidden; thinking of harming someone or verbally abusing someone counts as violence. The second vow, truth, is not easily followed. For one to truly be honest in every aspect, one has to conquer certain things such as (...greed, fear, anger,

jealousy, ego, and frivolity...) , though being completely honest is important, “one should remain silent if the truth causes pain, hurt, anger, or death of any living being.” One cannot only refrain from telling a lie but also cannot be involved in or encourage a lie in anyway. Non-stealing, the third vow, is what the name implies. One should not take another living things property without consent or by immoral methods. Even if something is worthless or unclaimed, it should not be taken, and even receiving help of anything more than the minimum of what is needed is considered stealing in Jainism. The fourth vow is “Total abstinence from sensual pleasure and the pleasure of all five senses.” This means one cannot only refrain from sensual pleasure physically but also must refrain from mentally thinking of sensual pleasures. Sensual pleasure is an indulgence that is easy to participate in if one is not conditioned and trained not to do so like most strict Jainism followers are. The fifth and final vow, non- possession, is much like total abstinence in that it is probably one of the harder vows to practice. Non-possession requires one to only have the bare minimum of what is needed to live and nothing more. Jains believe that the more you have, the more likely you are to commit a sin. This is because you may be tempted to commit a sin in order to maintain what you have. The less you have, the less likely you are to want more, or to commit a sin to keep what you have.
A Jain must strictly correctly and follow all of these principles and vows in order to achieve Moksha.

Moksha is (…liberation from an endless succession of lives through reincarnation.) There are two groups of Jains, the Digambaras and the Shvetambaras. Digambaras are considered the most devote Jains. They are monks who go as far as rejecting clothing and staying naked, even when in public. The Shyetambaras monks wear white robes. “There are great differences in the way of life of Digambara and Svetambara mendicants. But in general, Jain monks and nuns live a hard life, with no or few worldly possessions. Although they are separated from their birth family they regard the whole world as their family.” These monks devote their life to Jainism in hopes that their souls will reach salivation. Their diet, clothing, and daily activities reflect their religion. The strict rules and principles of the Jain religion leaves no time for anything else. The monks and nuns have strong self-discipline and devotion to their religion. Every rules, principle, and vow they follow is circled around the only goal of Jainism, achieving Moksha. It seems that the only way for one to be able to stay devoted to the Jain religion is by being born into it and learning the scripture and conditioning themselves through self-displine their whole

lives.
Jainism is centralized in India and started with the 24 Jinas. The last and final Jina, Mahavirah, who was born around 550 BCE, made the largest impact on the religious community of Jainism. Mahavirah led a life of example for Jains and spent his life teaching his disciples. His biggest accomplishment in the Jain religion was writing his powerful teachings and principals down in scripture. This scripture has been the ultimate guide for Jains for centuries. The scripture contains the principles of living, the 5 Great Vows and is a guide to achieving Moksha, which is the lifelong goal of the Jains. Although Jainism is a very strict religion, most Jains are born into the religion and are conditioned their whole lives on how to properly follow the vows of Jainism. The monks and nuns of the religion are highly devoted followers and will even go as far as rejecting clothing and living naked to have as few possessions as possible. The Jains live a hard life focused solely on Jainism but they do it in hope of achieving Moksha and becoming liberated.