Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire, a geographically-extensive empire based in Magadha. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Magadha kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Ashoka the Great, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE. The nature of the political formation that existed in Chandragupta's time is not certain. The Mauryan empire was a loose-knit one with large autonomous regions within its limits.
Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early 6th century BCE into a royal Jain family of ancient India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which he attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained moksha (liberation) in the 6th century BCE, although the year varies by sect.
The Śvetāmbara is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. Śvetāmbara in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara or "sky-clad" Jains whose ascetic practitioners go nude. Śvetāmbaras do not believe that ascetics must practice nudity.
Hemachandra was a 12th century Indian Jain saint, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, grammarian, law theorist, historian, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and prosodist. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title kalikālasarvajña, "the knower of all knowledge in his times" and father of the Gujarati language.
Parshvanatha, or Pārśva and Pārasanātha, was the 23rd of 24 Tirthankaras of Jainism. He gained the title of Kalīkālkalpataru.
Ācārya Bhadrabāhu was, according to both the Śvetāmbara and Digambara sects of Jainism, the last Shruta Kevalin in Jainism.
Kunda kunda was a Digambara Jain monk and philosopher, who likely lived in the second century CE or later.
Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the Digambara and the Śvētāmbara. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the major principles of both are identical. Five mahāvratas, from Mahavira's teachings, are followed by all Jain ascetics. Historians believe that a united Jain sangha (community) existed before 367 BCE, about 160 years after the moksha (liberation) of Mahavira. The community then gradually divided into the major denominations.
Neminātha, also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi, is the twenty-second Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism in the present age. Neminatha lived 81,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi of the Yadu dynasty in the north Indian city of Sauripura. His birth date was the fifth day of Shravana Shukla of the Jain calendar. Krishna, who was the 9th and last Jain Vasudev, was his first cousin.
The Acharanga Sutra is the first of the twelve Angas, part of the agamas which were compiled based on the teachings of 24th Tirthankara Mahavira.
Jainism is a religion founded in ancient India. Jains trace their history through twenty-four tirthankara and revere Rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara. The last two tirthankara, the 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha and the 24th tirthankara Mahavira are considered historical figures. According to Jain texts, the 22nd tirthankara Neminatha lived about 5,000 years ago and was the cousin of Krishna.
A Pattavali, Sthaviravali or Theravali, is a record of a spiritual lineage of heads of monastic orders. They are thus spiritual genealogies. It is generally presumed that two successive names are teacher and pupil. The term is applicable for all Indian religions, but is generally used for Jain monastic orders.
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.
Jain literature refers to the literature of the Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical Jain Agamas, which are written in Ardhamagadhi, a Prakrit language. Various commentaries were written on these canonical texts by later Jain monks. Later works were also written in other languages, like Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit.
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.
Digambara is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being Śvetāmbara (white-clad). The Sanskrit word Digambara means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing nor wearing any clothes.
Jainism is an Indian religion which is traditionally believed to be propagated by twenty-four spiritual teachers known as tirthankara. Broadly, Jainism is divided into two major schools of thought, Digambara and Śvetāmbara. These are further divided into different sub-sects and traditions. While there are differences in practices, the core philosophy and main principles of each sect is the same.
Shrutakevalin a term used in Jainism for those ascetics who have complete knowledge of Jain Agamas. Shrutakevalin and Kevalin are equal from the perspective of knowledge, but Shrutajnana is Paroksha (indirect) whereas kevala jnana (omniscience) is pratyaksha (direct). Kevali can describe infinite part of the infinite knowledge that they possess. Shrutakevalins are learned of 14 Purvas.
Yogaśāstra is a 12th-century Sanskrit text by Hemachandra on Svetambara Jainism. It is a treatise on the "rules of conduct for laymen and ascetics", wherein "yoga" means "ratna-traya", i.e. right belief, right knowledge and right conduct for a Svetambara Jain. As a manual with an extensive auto-commentary called Svopajnavrtti, it was instrumental to the survival and growth of Svetambara tradition in western Indian states such as Gujarat and the spread of Sanskrit culture in Jainism.
