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

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,

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