Criticism of Jainism

A religion founded in India, Jainism teaches that nonviolence against all creatures is the path to enlightenment. The name Jainism comes from ji, the Sanskrit verb meaning “to conquer.” This refers to a follower’s fight to conquer physical senses and passions on the journey to enlightenment. Those who achieve enlightenment are Jina, which means “conqueror.” Although migrants have carried Jainism to mostly English-speaking countries, the vast majority of its four to six million followers live in India.

Several Jain practices have been criticized and even resulted in attempts to outlaw them. Bal diksha, for example, is the practice of inducting minors into monastic orders. Children’s rights activists have intervened in some cases. Another practice, called Sallekhana, is a religious vow taken by older adults or followers who are terminally ill to gradually consume less food and water. This practice is called fasting unto death. Some sects have varying views on the authority of women in Jainism, such as the belief that they cannot achieve liberation unless they are reborn as men.

Background

Jainism dates to between the seventh and fifth centuries BCE. It originated in the Ganges River basin in eastern India in roughly the same area and time as Buddhism. These and other religions arose as a refutation of the Brahmanic schools—Hindu religious institutions known for their Vedic rituals. The Rishi, the highest caste that included seers, performed the rituals and sacrifices and also interpreted the meaning of the Vedas, ancient Hindu texts. Jainism instead focused on self-denial and rejected many of the trappings of rituals. Its goal was to take action and gain spiritual insight to break out of the cycle of repeated rebirth, or samsara.

Jains do not recognize a single individual as the founder of the faith. An early and influential teacher possibly from the seventh century BCE is Parshvanatha, or Parshva. He founded a community that renounced earthly concerns in favor of salvation. Jains believe that Parshva was the twenty-third Tirthankara, or one who leads the way across the stream of rebirths to salvation of the current age. Jains see the world as a river of suffering. The Tirthankara, or ford finders, find a way across it and seek to help others follow the path.

The twenty-fourth and final Tirthankara was Vardhamana, called the Great Hero or Mahavira, who was born about the sixth century. He is believed to have been active at the time of the Buddha, according to Jain scriptures. Mahavira was the son of a chieftain who turned his back on his life as a prince when he was thirty years old. He chose asceticism, a life without indulgences, and was severely self-disciplined. He lived this way, mostly alone, for more than twelve years. He chose eleven Brahmans who converted to become his disciples, or Ganadharas. Two of these, Indrabhuti Gautama and Sudharman, are believed to have founded the Jain monastic community.

Mahavira changed the significance of the Vedas in that he placed greater emphasis on logic. The Vedas are called the Eternal Order or the Eternal Path. Hindus believe these scriptures have always existed, and sages in deeply meditative states have gathered and shared them. They are believed to be the oldest religious works in the world. By placing less emphasis on the texts, Mahavira undermined the authority of the Brahmans.

Mahavira also provided new interpretations of the texts, which changed views in Indian philosophy. Among his most controversial views is his claim about reincarnation, or samsara. Most Indians believed that animals, humans, and gods had souls. Mahavira taught that everything is made up of Jiva, or living intelligence, that is trapped in matter. A stone, for example, contains a living soul that can only sense pain; a piece of iron is thrust into the fire and beaten repeatedly as it is shaped. He believed that almost everything is alive and all are divided into categories:

• Beings with five senses, such as humans and major animals
• Beings with four senses that are unable to hear, including many insects such as flies and butterflies
• Beings with three senses that are unable to hear or see, such as moths and ants
• Beings with two senses that are able only to taste and touch, such as worms and shellfish
• Beings with one sense, that of touch, including plants, microscopic creatures, fire, water, and wind
• Beings with five senses fall into four classes: Infernal beings, who are souls or jivas living in hell; higher non-human animals above insects; human beings; and heavenly beings, the happiest jiva form
• Beings with one sense (touch) fall into five categories: Earth-bodied, such as sand and metal; water-bodied, such as rain and fog; fire-bodied, including fire and lightning; air-bodied, such as wind and gas; and plant-bodied, including trees and flowers

Mahavira is said to have died about 527 BCE. At that time, thirty-six thousand nuns and fourteen thousand monks comprised the community. Most disagreements among the community were easily overcome, although a dispute over forms of dress for monks and nuns was not easily resolved. According to legend, the Shvetambara or White-Robed sect favored white robes for both monks and nuns. The Digambara or Sky-Clad sect believed that a monk should be naked while nuns should be robed. The two groups further disagreed about whether a soul can attain moksha, or liberation, from a female body. The Digambaras said this was not possible. Although these stories have been handed down, they were written centuries after the schism occurred and are unlikely to be true. Instead, scholars believe that the schism took place after councils were held to preserve Jain scriptures. The Digambara sect was not represented at the last recorded Jain council, held about 456 CE. The Shvetambara canon was codified, but the Digambara community refused to accept it, and the sides remained at odds. A significant difference between the sects concerns women and enlightenment. The Shvetambaras say that the nineteenth Tirthankara, Malli, was a woman, which proves that women can attain full enlightenment. The Digambara sect maintains that a woman must be reborn in a man’s body before attaining full enlightenment.

Jainism meanwhile was spreading westward. During the Gupta dynasty, from 320 to about 600 CE, most of the Jain community moved to central and western India. This became the new center of Jainism.

Overview

Bal diksha is a practice that has gained attention outside of India. This is the practice of inducting minors into the ranks of nuns and monks. According to Jain scripture, anyone older than eight may take diksha, although some Jain leaders refuse to accept anyone younger than eighteen. Activists and child rights advocates say allowing children to take diksha, which requires breaking all ties to one’s family, is abusive. Between 1955 and the 2020s, many groups attempted to persuade legislators to outlaw the practice with four bills struck down by India’s Parliament. In 2013, six people, including a Jain monk, were accused of forging government documents to legitimize bal diksha practices in young children, but the Gujarat High Court dismissed the charges in 2022. Parents of some young children and Jain community members continued insisting through the 2020s that the children choose the practice voluntarily. However, critics questioned whether children possessed the capacity to make such life-altering choices. They argue that this perspective overlooks the potential for parental, community, or religious pressures to influence young children’s choices, even unintentionally. The practice continued in the 2020s, with a wealthy Indian diamond merchant’s nine-year-old daughter, Devanshi Sanghvi, becoming a Jain nun in 2023. The same year, thirteen-year-old Keli Punamiya became the nineteenth member of her family to take bal diksha.

Many disagree with the practice of Sallekhana, or fasting unto death, which to a Jain ascetic is an important vow. They view it as taking charge of one’s death when normal life is no longer possible. They regard Sallekhana as a nonviolent approach to death and another way of rejecting the pleasures of the material world.

Some Hindus have taken issue with the Jain theory of karma. Hindus believe that karma is a metaphysical connection between actions and intentions and the body. They believe that the gods can free them of this burden. Jains see karma as a substance, literal particles that flow into them. Karmas are created by all thoughts and actions, and accumulate through lifetimes. They can be negative or positive. Jains believe that karma is bound to souls, and pollutes them, affecting their purity. Those souls encumbered with karma must repeat the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth endlessly. Negative karma will cause the soul to be reborn in a lowly creature with fewer senses. Good karmas allow for rebirth as a god or human. To achieve the goal of Jain, which is to free the soul from this cycle, the soul must be freed of karma. The work required to attain this goal must be performed by the individual. Jains do not seek the assistance of the gods to cleanse themselves of karma. Hindus believe that once the soul is freed from the cycle of reincarnation, it merges with God in paradise. Jains believe that the soul retains its individuality in paradise and exists in its achieved perfection forever. These souls are god-like but do not interact in any way with humans. Jains believe these liberated jivas offer inspiration to humans.

According to a Buddhist text, the Buddha objected to austerities, a practice central to Jainism. The Buddha believed that people should not conduct themselves in either extreme indulgence or austerity. He taught his followers to instead choose a path in the middle. Jains believe that they can free the soul of karmas by practicing asceticism or austerities.

The types of austerities used by lay Jains and mendicants, or the nuns and monks who must rely on the kindness of others to survive, vary. Austerities are often tied to food and fasting. Religious austerities create bodily heat, which is called tapas. This heat helps to purify the soul by burning off the karma that pollutes it. Religious ascetic practices may be physical or external or mental or internal. External austerities for laity and mendicants include fasting or limiting the quantity of food—stopping before feeling full. They may also reject particularly delicious foods. Laity may choose to subject themselves to some physical discomfort, while the equivalent for a nun or monk is to live in an isolated place. An internal austerity for a layperson might be service to mendicants, while the equivalent austerity for a mendicant is serving senior monks or the teacher. Both laity and mendicants can also study, confess, and meditate, among other internal austerities. All austerities must be performed for the right reasons and with the proper calm attitude; performing an austerity for the wrong reason, such as to gain admiration from others, brings negative karmas.

Jains, Buddhists, and Hindus have long disagreed on the nature of reality. Jains believe in Anekāntavāda, or no-one-perspective-ism. They advocate for taking many views that benefit the understanding of satya, or the one underlying truth, even if some of these positions seem contradictory or inconsistent with other views. The story of the five blind men and the elephant comes from Jain mythology and illustrates Anekāntavāda. Five blind men have never seen an elephant. An elephant is brought to their village one day, and the men approach it. The man standing by the trunk says an elephant is like a thick tree branch. The man by the tail says it is like a rope. The man by the side of the animal says it is like a wall. The man who reaches out and grasps its leg says the elephant is like a pillar, while the man who touches its ear says it is like a fan. A sixth man who has observed this tells them they are all wrong and all right. Only by combining what they know of the elephant can they get an accurate description of the animal.

Bibliography

Barbato M. “Anekāntavāda and Dialogic Identity Construction.” Religions, vol. 10, no. 12, 2019, doi:10.3390/rel10120642. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Biswas, Soutik. “Should India’s Jains Be Given the Choice to Die?” BBC, 21 Aug. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33998688. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Chhibber, Vatsala. “Meet the Millennial Jain Monks.” LiveMint, 24 Feb. 2018, www.livemint.com/Leisure/lQ6a1mlkovLV2BQ1SDswDK/Meet-the-millennial-monks.html. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

“Jain Renouncers: Sky Clad and White Clad.” The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, pluralism.org/jain-renouncers-sky-clad-and-white-clad. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Kelly, Jasmine. “Cycle of Rebirth.” Jainpedia, Institute of Jainology, jainpedia.org/themes/principles/jain-beliefs/cycle-of-rebirth. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Mark, Joshua J. “Jainism.” World History, 21 Sept. 2020, www.worldhistory.org/jainism. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

“Ordinary Jains into Extreme Penance.” Jain Heritage Centres, 18 Aug. 2012, www.jainheritagecentres.com/news/news-updates/ordinary-jains-into-extreme-penance. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Saju, M.T. “Woman Ascetic Attains Samadhi after Undergoing Sallekhana for 39 Days.” Times of India, 5 May 2019, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/woman-ascetic-attains-samadhi-after-undergoing-sallekhana-for-39-days/articleshow/69179043.cms. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

“The Soul.” BBC, 10 Sept. 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/beliefs/soul.shtml. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.