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Jainism emphasises that ratnatraya (triple gems of Jainism) — the right faith (Samyak Darshana), right knowledge (Samyak Gyana) and right conduct (Samyak Charitra) — constitutes the path to liberation. These are known as the triple gems (or jewels) of Jainism and hence also known as Ratnatraya
According to Jainism, purification of soul and liberation can be achieved through the path of three jewels: [1] [2] [3] Samyak darśana (Correct View), meaning faith, acceptance of the truth of soul (jīva); [4] Samyak jnana (Correct Knowledge), meaning undoubting knowledge of the tattvas; [5] and Samyak charitra (Correct Conduct), meaning behavior consistent with the Five vows. [5] Jain texts often add samyak tap (Correct Asceticism) as a fourth jewel, emphasizing belief in ascetic practices as the means to liberation (moksha). [6] The four jewels are called moksha marg. [2] According to Jain texts, the liberated pure soul (Siddha) goes up to the summit of universe ( Siddhashila ) and dwells there in eternal bliss. [7]
The very first sloka (aphorism) of the Sacred Jain text, Tattvartha sutra reads:
Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct (together) constitute the path to liberation.
— Tattvārthasūtra (1-1) [8]
Ācārya Pujyapada writes in Sarvārthasiddhi (translated by Prof. S. A. Jain):
Perfect release from all karmas is liberation. The path to liberation is the method by which it can be attained. The singular ‘path’ is used in order to indicate that all the three together constitute the path to liberation. This controverts the views that each of these singly constitutes a path. Hence it must be understood that these three— right faith, right knowledge and right conduct — together constitute the direct path to liberation. [9]
Acharya Umaswami has written in Tattvārthasūtra that Tattvarthasraddhanam Samyak-darshanam (1-2), [10] which means "Belief in substances ascertained as they are is right faith." [8]
These seven substances also called tattva are: [11] -
Many disciplines of knowledge are developed based on certain fundamental givens, or axioms. For example, Euclidean geometry is an axiomatic system, in which all theorems ("true statements given the axioms") are derived from a finite number of axioms. Special theory of relativity bases itself on one of the fundamental principles called "The Principle of Invariant Light Speed". It takes it as given that light in vacuum propagates with the constant speed in terms of any system of inertial coordinates, regardless of the state of motion of the light source. These seven fundamental concepts, provide the metaphysical structure of Jain philosophy. [12]
In the human state of existence, right faith acquired from destruction as well as from destruction-cum- subsidence. An intelligent conviction and profound faith in the essential nature of the soul, of matter, and of their mutual relationships, actions and reactions, is a necessary condition for launching upon the path of liberation. [13] Jainism declares that a person with the right faith will have spiritual calmness (Prasanna), desire for liberation from the endless birth-life-death cycles (Samvega), without any attachment or aversion to anything (Nirveda), kindness (Anukampa), and belief in the tattvas (fundamental principles) described just above (āstika).
As per the first Anga of Jainism, the Acharanga Sutra, and the Uttaradhyayana Sutra , knowing the soul at experiential level and the ability to know about the past lives (jatismaran gyan) are important characteristics of a person who has attained Samyak darshan, at 4th Gunasthana. Some of the main causes of jatismaran-jnana are:
Any of the above means may trigger the awareness of earlier births. This, in turn, reveals with certainty that what transmigrates from and to the said directions is none else but 'I' (the soul that is me). This awareness enhances the spontaneous feelings of right faith in dharma, samveg (yearning for liberation), and vairagya bhavana (detachment from the mundane) and induces the knowledge of separation of soul and body (bhed-gyan). [14]
Jain texts mention that knowledge is of five kinds – sensory knowledge, scriptural knowledge, clairvoyance, telepathy, and omniscience. [15] Out of these, sensory knowledge, scriptural knowledge and clairvoyance may also be erroneous knowledge. [16] Most of our knowledge is sensory-based (mati) and based on recorded knowledge developed by our ancestors in the form of books, articles, papers and other medium (sruta). Jain philosophers also include knowledge acquired directly without any medium. This is achieved by removing the karmic veil on the soul.
Right conduct is the application of the knowledge developed, so as to exercise control over our inner desires and reach a stage where there is no attachment or aversion.
Right conduct includes: [18]
| Head | Vow | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Five vows | 1. Ahiṃsā | Not to hurt any living being by actions and thoughts |
| 2. Satya | Not to lie or speak what is not commendable. [19] | |
| 3. Asteya | Not to take anything if not given. [20] | |
| 4. Brahmacharya | Chastity / Celibacy in action, words & thoughts | |
| 5. Aparigraha (Non-possession) | Detachment from material property. | |
| Guņa vratas [21] Merit vows | 6. digvrata | Restriction on movement with regard to directions. |
| 7. bhogopabhogaparimana | Vow of limiting consumable and non-consumable things | |
| 8. anartha-dandaviramana | Refraining from harmful occupations and activities (purposeless sins). | |
| Śikşā vratas [21] Disciplinary vows | 9. samayika | Vow to meditate and concentrate periodically. |
| 10.desavrata | Limiting movement to certain places for a fixed period of time. [22] | |
| 11.upvas | Fasting at regular intervals. | |
| 12.atihti samvibhag | Vow of offering food to the ascetic and needy people |
The interesting aspect is that on this path there is a place for every one from the beginner to the most advanced seekers. Further, it encompasses all aspects of human life, namely social, personal, economic and spiritual leading to integrated development of the individual.
Right view and right knowledge are inter-dependent. For instance, when the clouds disappear, both the heat and the light of the sun are manifested simultaneously. Similarly, when right faith is attained by the soul owing to the subsidence, destruction or destruction- cum-subsidence of faith-deluding karmas, right sensory knowledge and right scriptural knowledge are attained by the soul at the same time by the removal of wrong sensory and wrong scriptural knowledge. [9]
Right Knowledge must be accompanied by Right conduct which is necessary for the destruction of karmic bonds. [23] Without it there is no release from the cycle of transmigration, i.e., repeated births and deaths. Just like the light from millions of lamps is of no avail to a blind person, studying scriptures alone is of no use to a person who does not apply them.
Jainism acknowledges that the soul advances to its liberated stage in various steps, called Gunasthana. Jain literature describes these states in detail. The following provides a concise summary on the various statuses of soul on its journey to spiritual advancement.
5. The soul now begins to observe some of the rules of right conduct with a view to perfecting itself. With the discipline of introductory or minor vows, the soul starts on the process of climbing the spiritual ladder.
6. Major vows taken up with firm resolve to control passions. There may be failures due to lack of full control over passions or carelessness.
7. Intense practice of vows assisted in better self-control and virtually replaced carelessness with spiritual vigilance and vigor.
8. Closer to perfect self-control over actions, higher control over mind, thought and passions with the soul ready for reduction of the effects of conduct-deluding karma.
9. Higher control over removal of passions, and elimination of conduct-deluding karma begins.
10. Complete elimination of all passions except for subtle degree of attachment.
11. Suppressed passions and lingering conduct-deluding karma may rise to drag the soul to lower stages; fleeting experiences of equanimity.
12. This is the point of no return. All passions as well as conduct-deluding karma are eliminated. Permanent internal peace achieved. No new bondage from this point onwards.
13. All inimical karma destroyed. Omniscience achieved and Arihant stage reached. However the perfected soul is still trapped in the physical body (with right knowledge attained).
14. This is the last stage on the Path, and is followed by the soul's destruction of the aghātiā karmas. Those who pass this stage are called siddha and become fully established in Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct. [25]
In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the dharma. The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, which is a fordable passage across the sea of interminable births and deaths, the saṃsāra. According to Jains, a Tirthankara is an individual who has conquered the saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, on their own, and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthaṅkara attains Kevala Jnana (omniscience). Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow the new teacher from saṃsāra to moksha (liberation).
In Jainism, godliness is said to be the inherent quality of every soul. This quality, however, is subdued by the soul's association with karmic matter. All souls who have achieved the natural state of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite perception are regarded as God in Jainism. Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe but rather have souls called devas and devis who have reached heaven for their merits and deeds, who influence the universe for a fixed time until they themselves get reincarnated to achieve and continue the cycle of enlightenment. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and perfect soul, an immaterial entity cannot create or affect a material entity like the universe.
Tattvārthasūtra, meaning "On the Nature [artha] of Reality [tattva]" is an ancient Jain text written by Acharya Umaswami in Sanskrit, sometime between the 2nd- and 5th-century CE.
In Jainism, Kashaya are aspects of a person that can be gained during his or her worldly life. According to the Jaina religion as long as a person has Kashayas, they will not escape the cycle of life and death. There are four different kind of Kashayas, each being able to gain their own kinds of intensity.
Karma is the basic principle within an overarching psycho-cosmology in Jainism. Human moral actions form the basis of the transmigration of the soul. The soul is constrained to a cycle of rebirth, trapped within the temporal world, until it finally achieves liberation. Liberation is achieved by following a path of purification.
Jain meditation (dhyāna) has been the central practice of spirituality in Jainism along with the Three Jewels. Jainism holds that emancipation can only be achieved through meditation or Shukla Dhyana. According to Sagarmal Jain, it aims to reach and remain in a state of "pure-self awareness or knowership." Meditation is also seen as realizing the self, taking the soul to complete freedom, beyond any craving, aversion and/or attachment. The practitioner strives to be just a knower-seer (Gyata-Drashta). Jain meditation can be broadly categorized to the auspicious and inauspicious. The 20th century saw the development and spread of new modernist forms of Jain Dhyana, mainly by monks and laypersons of Śvētāmbara Jainism.
Samayasāra is a famous Jain text composed by Acharya Kundakunda in 439 verses. Its ten chapters discuss the nature of Jīva, its attachment to Karma and Moksha (liberation). Samayasāra expounds the Jain concepts like Karma, Asrava, Bandha (Bondage), Samvara (stoppage), Nirjara (shedding) and Moksha.
The Fourteen Purva translated as ancient or prior knowledge, are a large body of Jain scriptures that was preached by all Tirthankaras of Jainism encompassing the entire gamut of knowledge available in this universe. The persons having the knowledge of purvas were given an exalted status of Shrutakevali or "scripturally omniscient persons". Both the Jain traditions, Svetambara and Digambara hold that all the fourteen purvas have been lost. According to tradition, the Purvas were part of canonical literature and deposited in the third section of Drstivada. Knowledge of Purvas became fairly vulnerable after Mahavira's nirvana (liberation) and on account of effects of famine, such that, eventually only one person—Bhadrabahu Svami had a command over it. In accordance with the prophecy of Mahavira, the knowledge of Purvas died within 1,000 years of his nirvana and eventually, the whole of Drstivada disappeared as well.(Bhagvati Sutra 20.8) However, a detailed table of contents of the Drstivada and the Purvas has survived in the fourth Anga, Samavāyānga and Nandīsūtra. Furthermore, certain portions of Drstivada and Purvas is said to have survived in Satkhandāgama and Kasāyaprabhrta, especially the doctrine of Karma.
Nirjara is one of the seven fundamental principles, or Tattva in Jain philosophy, and refers to the shedding or removal of accumulated karmas from the atma (soul), essential for breaking free from samsara, the cycle of birth-death and rebirth, by achieving moksha, liberation.
Jain philosophy refers to the ancient Indian philosophical system found in Jainism. One of the main features of Jain philosophy is its dualistic metaphysics, which holds that there are two distinct categories of existence, the living, conscious or sentient being (jiva) and the non-living or material (ajiva).
Jain texts assign a wide range of meaning to the Sanskrit dharma or Prakrit dhamma. It is often translated as “religion” and as such, Jainism is called Jain Dharma by its adherents.
Sanskrit moksha or Prakrit mokkha refers to the liberation or salvation of a soul from saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death. It is a blissful state of existence of a soul, attained after the destruction of all karmic bonds. A liberated soul is said to have attained its true and pristine nature of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge and infinite perception. Such a soul is called siddha and is revered in Jainism.
Guṇasthāna are the fourteen stages of spiritual development and growth through which a soul gradually passes before it attains moksha (liberation). According to Jainism, it is a state of soul from a complete dependence on karma to the state of complete dissociation from it. Here the word virtue does not mean an ordinary moral quality, but it stands for the nature of soul — knowledge, belief and conduct.
Jain philosophy explains that seven tattva constitute reality. These are:—
The karmic process in Jainism is based on seven truths or fundamental principles (tattva) of Jainism which explain the human predicament. Out of those, four—influx (āsrava), bondage (bandha), stoppage (saṃvara) and release (nirjarā)—pertain to the karmic process. Karma gets bound to the soul on account of two processes:
Asrava is one of the tattva or the fundamental reality of the world as per the Jain philosophy. It refers to the influence of body and mind causing the soul to generate karma.
Dravyasaṃgraha is a 10th-century Jain text in Jain Sauraseni Prakrit by Acharya Nemicandra belonging to the Digambara Jain tradition. It is a composition of 58 gathas (verses) giving an exposition of the six dravyas (substances) that characterize the Jain view of the world: sentient (jīva), non-sentient (pudgala), principle of motion (dharma), principle of rest (adharma), space (ākāśa) and time (kāla). It is one of the most important Jain works and has gained widespread popularity. Dravyasaṃgraha has played an important role in Jain education and is often memorized because of its comprehensiveness as well as brevity.
Arihant is a jiva (soul) who has conquered inner passions such as attachment, anger, pride and greed. Having destroyed four inimical karmas, they realize pure self. Arihants are also called kevalins as they possess kevala jnana. An arihant is also called a jina ("victor"). At the end of their life, arihants destroy remaining karmas and attain moksha (liberation) and become siddhas. Arihantas have a body while siddhas are bodiless pure spirit. The Ṇamōkāra mantra, the fundamental prayer dedicated to Pañca-Parameṣṭhi, begins with Ṇamō arihantāṇaṁ, "obeisance to the arihants".
Umaswati, also spelled as Umasvati and known as Umaswami, was an Indian scholar, possibly between 2nd-century and 5th-century CE, known for his foundational writings on Jainism. He authored the Jain text Tattvartha Sutra. Umaswati's work was the first Sanskrit language text on Jain philosophy, and is the earliest extant comprehensive Jain philosophy text accepted as authoritative by all four Jain traditions. His text has the same importance in Jainism as Vedanta Sutras and Yogasutras have in Hinduism.
Jainism made its own unique contribution to this mainstream development of philosophy by occupying itself with the basic epistemological issues. According to Jains, knowledge is the essence of the soul. This knowledge is masked by the karmic particles. As the soul obtains knowledge through various means, it does not generate anything new. It only shreds off the knowledge-obscuring karmic particles. According to Jainism, consciousness is a primary attribute of Jīva (soul) and this consciousness manifests itself as darsana (perception) and jnana (knowledge).
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