Class 7| Jainism: Complete Ancient Indian History for UPSC CSE/IAS 2026-27

Hello and welcome hard-working aspirants. Today we are going to study about Jainism. It's a very important topic in ancient India Every year we have been seeing there are questions related to Jainism and Buddhism When we talk about UPSC exams and other state PCS exams also, so let's get started with the class So today we'll be seeing all the 24th ithankaras the place of their nirvana. What are the symbols? Okay, the animal symbol which is referred to each of them along with that this slide that you're seeing guys this is very important where we'll be seeing the three jewels or the Ratnatraya or the three Ratnas of Jainism and along with that we'll see five woes Okay, and we will also be seeing the concept of the Mahavrata and the Anuvrata Okay, but before we get going guys a quick info for all of you men's answer writing Foundational boot camp 2025. 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Well Let's see one by one first and foremost the social factor the rigid caste system and dominance of Brahmins that we have seen in the letter Vedic period you'll see rituals Being very costly for everybody else than the caste system prevailing a lot You'll see the Varna's hierarchy will be there The Brahmins will be at the top most and they will not want others to take place there Kshatriyas in particular will be resented with this priestly authority okay, and both Mahavira and Buddha the founder of the Jainism and the Buddhism respectively are from the Kshatriya class Okay, so this becomes the social factor next factor is the religious factor again The letter Vedic religion was very complex. Then you have the Sanskrit Language which in in itself is told to be a complex language It was not the language of the common people and along with that you'll see this sacrifices and the rituals Okay, you're sacrificing animals the cattles are being sacrificed that will not be liked by the common people common people will feel very desalinated with this and there was a growing dissatisfaction with the ritualism blind faith and the superstition that's Increasing and what was the economic factor you have a rise of a new class that is a merchant class Who are these merchant class? These are the Vaishyas Okay, now they will also not like this for two reasons firstly they are coming the third Okay after the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas. Okay, but they are the ones upon whom the economy is dependent The trade is dependent. They are the ones because of whom the kingdom is fulfilling its aspirations So why the merchants will lag behind? So these merchants will also try to help the religions like the Jainism and Buddhism to grow so that They follow non-violence and traders office like that. There should not be any war like right now We are having the war like situation. It's not good for the economy Nobody related to economy want to have it because then there will be a rise of inflation Okay, so that is why this merchant class will also support them Now the foundation of Jainism Jainism traces its origin to a line of 24 Tirthankaras Okay, they talk about the 24 Tirthankaras though We only know the name of Mahavira, but Mahavira was the 24th one Mahavira Vardhaman Mahavira was the 24th one before Mahavira. We have 23 others Tirthankaras are referred as those who have attained perfect knowledge and what is that perfect knowledge that enlightenment called It is called the Kevalaya. Okay, it is called the Kevalaya Now this Kevalaya Gyan or the enlightenment if is achieved by a Jain monk then at that time he is said to be that he has got the Liberation okay, and he can also guide others the very same thing The teachings from the basis of Jain scriptures the first Tirthankara Also known as Rishabh Nath or the Rishabh Dev or the Adinath is mentioned in ancient texts and the last Mahavira is the most Historically recognized. Okay, so you should remember that. Let's see the Jain Tirthankaras The Tirthankaras are referred as Ford makers or the spiritual teachers who have conquered the cycle of birth and death Okay, the cycle of birth and death that is the Sansara this world that we are living in. Okay So what is there, you know people take birth and if someone has taken birth he is supposed to die also So if someone has to get rid of this cycle of taking rebirth and then you know Again dying and then rebirth then he has to achieve What this Tirthankaras have achieved okay and shown the path to liberation that is the Moksha or the Nirvana Okay Now each Tirthankara attains perfect knowledge the Kevalaya Gyan and organizes the Jain community That is the Sangha first he himself will achieve that Gyan Okay that knowledge and then he will preach to the others in the Jain community They are not gods but enlightened beings who serve as role models and guide the ethical and spiritual living Okay, so they are not considered the gods But they are the enlightened being who have got the Kevalaya Gyan. This Tirthankara is associated with a unique symbol and color and their Life stories are detailed in Jain texts like Kalpa Sutra Okay, let's see the Jain Tirthankaras one by one. The first and foremost is Rishabh Dev or Adinath He has a symbol of a bull Place of Nirvana is Astapath Okay The second one is Ajitnath His symbol is elephant and the place of Nirvana is Sikharji The third one Sambhonath the symbol is horse and the place of Nirvana again Sikharji Then fourth one Avinandanji symbol is monkey and the place of Nirvana Sikharji. Now one most important thing I'm going to tell you about all the 24 Tirthankaras, but You might not have to Remember all the 24 Tirthankaras, but it is very important for you to please remember this first and second Okay, please remember it and there will be others also, which I'll let you know Then the next the fifth one is Sumatinath That is the symbol is goose and the place of Nirvana is Sikharji And then you have the Padmaprabha symbol is lotus and the place of Nirvana here is Sikharji again Then you have the Suparsvanath symbol is swastika and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again Chandraprabha crescent moon and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again Then guys the next you'll see the Suvidhanathji The symbol is crocodile and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again Then you have the Sitalnathji Kalpavritya is the symbol and place of Nirvana Sikharji again Sreyasnathji the symbol is rhinoceros and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again and Vasupujaji symbol is buffalo And place of Nirvana is Champapuri The 13th one is the Vimalnathji symbol symbol is boar place of Nirvana Sikharji Then you have the Anantnathji a symbol is porcupine and the place of Nirvana is Sikharji Dharamnathji symbol is Vajra and the place of Nirvana is Same Samyit Sikharji again Shantinathji symbol is deer and the place of Nirvana is Sikharji again The next guys you see is Kuntunathji the symbol is goat and the place of Nirvana Samyit Sikharji Then Arhannathji the symbol is fish and the place of Nirvana Sikharji Mallinathji please remember this one why I'll tell you symbol is Kalsa and the place of Nirvana Sikharji 20 again We have the Muni Suratji the symbol is turtoise and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again And guys if you can see the colors are also depicted the colors are also depicted, okay Next the 21 Naminathji Okay Symbol is blue water lily and the place of Nirvana Sikharji again Then you have Arishtanemiji symbol is Sankha and the place of Nirvana Girnar Parswanathji the symbol is snake and the place of Nirvana Sikharji and the last but not the least 24th one Mahabirji Swami Symbol is lion but place of Nirvana is Pavapuri Please remember this up to most important remember this at most important also try to remember this too Okay, so I have told you to remember this for first two and Mallinath why Mallinath because She is the only female Tirthankara, okay, but again she is not recognized by both the sex Yes, there are two sects in Jainism. One is Digambaras and one is Svitambaras Talk about that the 19th or the Mallinath is a female Tirthankara, but the Digambaras don't talk about it Okay here guys again You can see it in detail all the name of the Tirthankaras are given here All the symbols are given here and the place of Nirvana is also given here You can see the color the color which is depicted to them is also shown In this pic. So it will be very easy if you get this Okay into the form of PDF and for getting that you have to join our telegram channel With the name Sikara Academy, you can go join there and you can get this PDF for free. Anyways, let's get going. So Mahabir Regarded as the 24th Tirthankara and the historical key historical figure in Jainism Okay, first and foremost, let's talk some things related to Mahabir Okay, Mahabir belongs to a Kshatriya clan that we know along with that Sorry guys the wife's name of Mahabir is Yasodhara and Coincidentally the Buddha's wife name was also Yasodhara. There is a daughter of Mahabir and the name of the daughter is Anja Okay, so around 510 BC Mahabir will you know suddenly decide that he will Renounce the worldly life. Okay, and after 12 years that is in 498 498 BC Mahabir will attain the Kavalya or the enlightenment. Okay after almost 12 years of penance Okay, he will be attaining that and now he will be given two more names. Okay Mahabir as the first name before Mahabir his name was Vardhaman Please remember that Before Mahabir his name was Vardhaman and where was he born? He was born in Kundal Gram He was born in Kundal Gram Please remember this born in Kundal Gram in Vaisali Bihar and For his enlightenment where he will be getting the enlightenment. He will get the enlightenment in a place in Bihar Okay, the name is Jrim Bhika Gram Okay, where it is it is in Jharkhand So this is the place where he will get the enlightenment Okay, and lastly he will die where at Pawapuri in Rajgiri Bihar Okay, Pawapuri Rajgiri Bihar is where he finally will attain the Mahanirvana Okay, or he will leave the body now Important teachings in Jainism. This is the most important slide that you should remember. Okay, let's get started So Jainism talks about three jewels or three Ratna or the Ratna tree. First it talks about the right faith Okay, you should have the faith in the teachings of Mahavira Whatever the teachings are there of Mahavira, you should have the right faith for it Then it talks about the right knowledge. What is the right knowledge the knowledge? About the teachings or the principles of Jainism like a few examples I'll give like what do the Jainis think about God? Well, they say that there is no God and if even if there is God God is well below Than the Tirthankaras. Okay, then what about the creator is the world created by a creator? What they think about it? No, they say there is no creator The creation is the creator in itself There is no separate creator and what about the soul what they think about the soul? They say that soul is present in everything that we can see even in the stones Okay, or anything. It's not just that thing Which is breathing is having the soul rather the stones are also having soul. So that is the You can say the limit that they are believing for the soul So these all are the part of the right knowledge and then the next part is right conduct What is the right conduct for that? You have to see this five bows. Okay, what are the five bows here? The first is non-violence ahimsa Second is satya or the truthfulness third is astey or non-stealing You should not steal anything fourth is our paragraha. You should not collect a lot many things We should not collect four phones five phones four cars five cars. One is enough And lastly brahmacharya or the chastity. So there will be a proper way to live your life and you should not indulge in Sexual things. Okay, that is the brahmacharya now I told you that there is a concept known as anuvrata and a concept known as Mahavrata, what is this anuvrata and Mahavrata? well First let's talk about the Mahavrata. So when You are a monk when you are a Jain monk at that time. You need to have Mahavrata Mahavrata means the great wars the great wars Means what like ahimsa you have to follow it 100% you cannot have any sort of discount in it Truthfulness, it should be 100% astey non-stealing. It should be 100% our paragraha You should not even have the clothes. You should not have anything of this world brahmacharya You cannot indulge into any sort of physical relationships and all those things So you have to very strict 100% you have to follow it that is the Mahavrata or the great wars it is taken by whom it is taken by the Jain monks But next comes anuvrata. What is anuvrata? See maha means great anu means small Small wars Vrata means the wars small wars. It is for this for the people. It is for the common people supposedly Now there is a person who is doing some business or something and there he has to lie So because he is not a Jain monk But a follower was common citizen a common person at that thing what he can do He can cheat a bit five ten percent. Okay, so he has to take a small vote but slowly and gradually He has to correct that that lie that he's saying that also with the time he has to give away Same goes for the other parts also So basically what's the difference between the Mahavrata and the anuvrata that for the Mahavrata for the Jain monks? There is no discount. You have to follow it as it is and for the anuvrata or the small wars There can be some discount Okay, now karma is seen as material substance binding the soul. The soul is bound through the karma Okay, and this Jain is also believed that whatever you have done in your previous birth Because of that only you are having this birth Okay So they believed in this karma philosophy and liberation or the moksha the nirvana is achieved by purifying the soul through ethical living and ascetic practices So Jainis are believing in penance Okay What it means it means suffering you have to make your body suffer Then only you are going to get the liberation. Okay, you cannot just be like if I tell you Don't cut the hair. They pluck the hair. They pluck the beards Okay, number two, not only the onion and garlic are not allowed but along with that they cannot eat the potatoes They cannot eat the beetroot They cannot eat the carrot because it's a root vegetable and when you take it out the full plant is coming out You are killing the plant. So that is why they are not eating it along with that when you are pulling it out There might be microorganisms earthworms that they are getting killed. So that is why you are not even allowed to do the farming You are not allowed to do many things where there can be any sort of violence only trading Only being the merchant only the business was allowed for the Jainis to do Okay, so that is why you can say in a way it is a very strict religion. You cannot eat after the sunset Okay, you cannot have Any material worldly things with you? So those are the things that are the part of Jainism and that is also a reason you will see why Jainism could not flourish That very much what Buddhism flourish, okay, because it's a very strict religion Then you will see there are many branches to it. You have the terrapanthi branch Okay, you have a sthanakvasi branch, you have Srimad Rajachandra branch and then Svetambara Murtipujak branch and then Digambara branch then you will have the terrapanthi, then the Kanjipanthi, Yapanya Okay, and all these branches are there. Okay, these are important. Please remember them Let's see the major schools in Jainism. Jainism is divided into two parts One is Digambara that is the Bhadrabahu and second is Svetambara that is the Sthulbadra Okay, what is the difference between them? Very simple. First, let's see. What's the meaning of ambara? Most of you know might know that ambara means the sky And you're not wrong. You're right. But ambara also means cloth so When we are saying Svetambara, Svet means white So what are we talking about? We are talking about white cloth and When here also ambara means what? Cloth and Dig. Dig means what? Dig means the sign. The sign means directions Are you sir understood this one white cloth? I'm getting he's wearing a white cloth But here direction is the cloth means what? It means that he is not going to wear any clothes. His clothes are the directions. The directions are whose cloth? He is a Digambara. Okay, these are the persons who have followed Bhadrabahu And these are the persons who have followed Sthulbadra. Sthulbadra was Someone who stayed in the North India and Bhadrabahu Was the person who moved towards the South India because there was a famine Okay, because there was a famine these individuals moved towards the South India and when they returned back They found that the teachings of the Svetambaras have gone totally different and the teachings of Digambara according to the Svetambara has gone different and that's why they called for division of this Jaina Sex so one believed in nudity or not wearing any clothes That's a Digambara and the other believed in wearing white clothes. Okay. Now this monk Have a belief about women. What is the belief? Belief women cannot attain liberation in their current life Okay, who are believing this? Digambaras are believing this. Okay But what about the Svetambaras? They believe women can attain liberation Okay, they can attain liberation. Now second most important point is these Individuals they preserve original Jain scriptures, which are called as the Agamas. Agamas Okay, but here what has happened they are saying the scriptures were lost after the famine So they rely on secondary texts and the oral teachings and what and the oral teachings Whatever has been said by Mahavira and other Jain Teerthankaras and it has been carried on. Okay the sects here in the Digambara We have the Moola Sangha. We have the Bishpanti, we have the Terapanti and the sects here in the Svetambara We have the Stanakvasi that reject idol worship. We have Murti Pujaka that Follow the idol worship and then we also have the Terapanti. Okay. So this is the difference between the Digambara and the Svetambaras So the split happened when it occurred somewhere around the 1st and 5th century Common Era mainly over the differences in monastic discipline and interpretation of texts and we have also seen that Digambara argued that true renunciation requires complete Abandonment of possessions including clothes also. Svetambaras allow simple white robes They say that it's not very important that you have to give away the clothes also This is you can see guys the Jain Religion divided into Svetambara and Digambara then Digambara again got divided into Bishpanti and Terapanti Then you can see Svetambara here getting divided into Stanakvasi, Mandir Margi, then you have the Vyasa Sampradaya Then you have the Terapanti and then there are the five others which it had been divided into Now, let's see the scriptures Svetambara's bridge of the Jain Agamas Okay, this Jain scriptures are called as Agamas and hold regular counsel to maintain them Digambara has believed in the oral teaching that we have already seen Popular practices in Jainism what are they? Strict vegetarianism. Okay, because they believed in non-violence. So they are strictly vegetarians, okay Now along with that we'll see and they avoid harm to any living being that's why even while talking You'll see they will cover their mouth because they don't want the organism the micro organism in the environment to get into their mouth and get killed. Rituals include temple worship, fasting, meditation and participation in festivals like Pariyushana, this is very famous Lay persons follow ethical goals at a less intense level than monks and nuns. This I told you it means the Anuvrata Okay, now, let's see the next The key differences between the Digambara and Svetambara. Clothing, obviously Digambara's don't wear it Svetambara they wear white and simple garments. Female monastics women wear unstitched white saris cannot attain liberation. In Digambara Women are wearing clothes. Okay, and that is why it is said that you cannot women cannot be nude They cannot leave their clothes That is why they will not be able to become the monks and that is