What are the contributions made by Jainism?
- Jainism
made the first serious attempt to mitigate the evils of the Vama order and the
ritualistic Vedic religion.
- The
early Jainas discarded Sanskrit language mainly patronized by the
Brahmanas.
- They
adopted Prakrit language
of the common people to preach their doctrines. Their religious literature
was written in Ardhamagadhi, and the texts were finally compiled in the
sixth century. A.D. in Gujarat at a place called Valabhi, a great centre of
education. The adoption of Prakrit by the Jainas helped the growth of this language and its literature.
- Many
regional languages developed out of Prakrit languages, particularly Shauraseni, out of which
grew the Marathi language.
- The
Jainas composed the earliest important works in Apabhramsha and
prepared its first grammar.
The Jaina literature contains epics, Puranas, novels and drama. A large portion of the Jaina writing is still in the form of manuscripts, which have not been published and which are found in the Jaina shrines of Gujarat and Rajasthan. In early medieval times the Jainas also made good use of Sanskrit and wrote many texts in it Last but not the least they contributed to the growth of Kannada, in which they wrote extensively. -
Initially, like the Buddhists, the Jainas were not image worshiper’s. Later they
began to worship Mahavira and
also the twenty-three tirthankaras. Beautiful and sometimes massive images
in stone were sculpted for this purpose, especially in Karnataka, Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
- Jaina
art in ancient times is not as rich as Buddhist art, but Jainism
contributed substantially to art and architecture in medieval times.
Syadvada
(Saptanvanginaya)
- All
our judgments are necessarily relative, conditional and eliminated. SYAT or relatively
speaking or viewed from a particular view point which is necessarily
related to other view point must precede all our judgments.
Absolute affirmation and absolute negation both are wrong. - All
judgments are conditional Saptabhanginaya means dialectic of the sevens
steps or the theory of seven field judgement
Jain
Councils
1) First council was held at Palaliputra by Sthulabahu compiled the 12 angas.
2) Second council was held at Valabhi in the 5th century A. D. under the leadership of Devaradsni Kshamasramana and 12 Angus and 12 Upangas was finally compiled here.
2) Second council was held at Valabhi in the 5th century A. D. under the leadership of Devaradsni Kshamasramana and 12 Angus and 12 Upangas was finally compiled here.