According to the Jains their religion is very old and the first Tirthankara was Rsabhadeva. Tirthankara is one who provides the slip to cross the world of Samsara. But modern historians do not regard the first twenty-two tirthankaras as historical persons. They think that most probably Parsvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, is the first historical person who flourised about 250 years before Mahavira. Mahavira was the twenty-fourth Tirthankara and was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha.

Parsvanatha was a prince but renounced the world and after 83 days deep meditation he attained the highest knowledge called kaivalya. He prescribed four prohibitions for his followers. These prohibitions were described as not to injure life, not to steal and not to possess any property. To these four prohibitions Mahavira added the fifth one and that was the vow of chastity. Parsvanatha is said to have instituted the practice of confession. It was he who required his monks to dispense with clothing.

Mahavira held that all inanimate objects have consciousness because they are endowed with soul. They can feel hurt by bad treatment. For this reason non-injury or ahimsa was carried to an extreme degree by him. According to the Uttaradhyayana sutra the essence of the wisdom of a wise man lies in this that he hurts no creatures and regard them, as one`s own-self is ahimsa or non-violence.

According to Jainism there is no God or creator and man`s liberation from suffering does not depend upon anything. According to the Uttaradhyayana sutra the self is the creator of happiness and suffering and also their destroyer. It is the self that is one`s friend or foe as it is engaged in doing good or is attached to the sensual objects, even when he sees the right path or truth. According to Jainism, God is only the highest. He is the fullest manifestation of all the powers that lie latent in the soul of man. Man`s nature is dual, having both material and spiritual existence and each containing both living and dead matter. Man is not perfect but he can attain perfection in his soul by his spiritual nature, and if he does so he becomes a liberated soul or Jain. Man alone is responsible for all that is good or bad in his life. The singular rigor or purity of Jain`s ethics may be directly attributed to the belief that man is totally responsible for himself, and partially responsible for others. It is applicable so far as it is essential for him to avoid doing any harm to others. By living a virtuous life of purity and asceticism man can escape from suffering. By a life of renunciation one can attain salvation. According to Jainism salvation can be obtained by freeing the soul from earthly bondage. By means of right faith or samyag darsana, right knowledge or samyag jnana and right action or samyag charita, one can be free from earthly bondage. These three are called the three jewels of Jainism as well.

The Jains have full faith in the theory of karma. According to them good or bad deeds of an individual have their effects on his rebirth and ultimate salvation. Detachment from the sensual world, rather than denial of it is the Jain`s goal. It is not possible to top the sounds that enter you ears, forms that come before your eyes, smells that come into your nose, tastes that you fell upon your palate, or else touch of objects upon your body. But according to the Acharangasutra one should renounce all attraction and repulsion towards them. For salvation one`s karma has to be carried off by observance of the five vows prescribed by Parsvanatha and Mahavira and by not eating at night. To achieve freedom from affections by karma one should restrain body, mind and speech or guptis. Jainism also prescribed external and internal austerities. The external austerities include humility or Vinaya, service, study or svadhyaya, meditation or dhyana and remaining motionless in all positions or vyutsarga. When the forces of passions and desires in the soul are eliminated, the soul regains its natural perfection. The soul attains infinite knowledge or jnana, infinite perception or darsana, power or virya and happiness or sukha. This is the state of liberation or moksa. Such a man becomes a perfect being or sidhha paramesti.

Jainism teaches that the world is eternal, self-existent and is composed of five constituent real substances and these are dharma or the medium of motion, adharma or the medium of rest, space or akasa, time or kala and particles of matter or pudgala.

According to Jainism there are nine substances, which every individual should know. These are soul or jiva, non-soul or ajiva, influx or asrava, the coming together of soul and karma or bandha, freedom from karma or samvara, the process of freeing the soul from the passions or nirjara, release or moksa, actions which cover the natural enlightened form of the soul or papa and actions which lead the soul towards salvation or punya.

Another important contributions of Jain philosophy are the theory of Anekanatavada, which recognizes the objectivity of the material universe. It implies that the universe is independent to the mind or consciousness. The mental or the subjective world consists of infinity of independent minds in their conditioned or free existence. There is not only diversity but each real is equally diversified.

Nayavada or the theory of standpoints is principally an analytical method of investigating a factual situation according to the purpose and level of equipment of the knower or jnatr. The particular standpoint investigated is one among a multitude of deferent viewpoints, which in their totality reflect the full situation.

Syadvada or saptabhangi is essentially a synthetically method designed to harmonize the different view points arrived at by nayavada. Such an analysis results in a wealth of partial truths, which can be harmonized into a coherent scheme of knowledge by the employment of the synthetical method of syadvada.

One who has faith in the principle of an ekantavada will have the spirit to discriminate between the right and the wrong in the opposite views and try to work for a greater synthesis. He will thus feel the necessity of self-control, the practice of ahimsa and also tolerance and appreciation of other`s point of view. These are some of the lessons from the teachings of Mahavira.

Thus Jain philosophy is more intellectual and scholastic than Buddhist philosophy. Bhadrabahu was the most remarkable of the early leaders of Jainism. He lived in the fourth century B.C. i.e. he was a cotemporary of Candragupa Maurya. It fell to him to take the initiative in the famous migration to the south when there was a famine in Magadha. When some of these emigrants returned to Magadha in 79 B.C. there was a split in the Jain Church. Those who returned from the south i.e. Digambaras were strict in religious observances while those in the north i.e. Svetambaras were relaxed in religious observances.

The Svetambara canon was revised and written down by a Council at Vaabhi in Gujarat in the middle of the fifth century A.D. The Digambara canon is said to have been codified in the second century A.D. but seems to be posterior to that of the Svetambaras. The northern group of Jains first spread to Orissa and then to Bengal. Later they reached Uttar Pradesh where the extraordinary rich finds at Mathura are evidence that the Jains flourished there at a very ancient date. Northern Gujarat became the principal centre of Jainism in Gujarat.

In the tenth century A.D. many sects arose among the northern Jainas i.e. Svetambaras. These are called gacchas. Their number is said to be 84. The Digambaras have only four ganas or sects. The practice of austerities is carried to great length. Physical asceticism is practiced by keeping the body in unnatural positions and especially by fasting, which may last as long as 522 days. Mental asceticism consists of progressive exercise in concentration, by which the higher state of consciousness that of kevalin may be attained. An extreme form of asceticism takes the form of committing suicide by abstaining from food. This is called samlekhana.

Jainism is a faith of great purity. Its first principle is that of ahimsa or the avoidance of causing injury to any animate or inanimate object. It is a system of ethical behaviour. One of its chief distinctions and perhaps its most meaningful accomplishment is that, though it places emphasis on personal salvation, this salvation can be accomplished only by social consideration for others.

The great message of Jainism is that an individual must become a man before he can think of heaven. Men`s heritage as man is far superior to any other riches in the world. Be a man first and last for the kingdom of God belongs to the son of Man. It is the same truth that is proclaimed in the unmistakable terms by the Upanishadic text, `Tat tvam asi`.

Jainism and Society
Jainism lays great stress on equality. Among the twelve Angas of Jaina scripture Samaiiya occupies the first place. Whenever a layman or an ascetic takes the vow of religious conduct, he utters the oath. `I undertake to observe, O, Lord, the attitude of equality.` `The attitude of equality has found expression in non-violence both in the domain of religious conduct and in that of philosophical though. All the Jain religious rites were formulated around non-violence. In the domain of philosophy, the attitude of non-absolutism or anekantavada is an expression of the principle of non-violence. This is why the Jains in ancient times advocated the occupation. They were against caste system on the basis of birth but later they accepted it on account of their close contact with the Hindus.