Suzanne Coy, age 14, of Birmingham, Ala., her question:
WHAT IS JAINISM?
Jainism is the religion of India that is concentrated in Gujarat and Rajasthan, in parts of Bombay and in the state of Karnataka (Mysore), as well as in the larger cities of the Indian peninsula.
The Jains total about 3.5 million but they exert an influence in the predominantly Hindu community far out of proportion to their numbers. They are mainly traders and their wealth and authority have made their comparatively small sect one of the most important of living Indian religions.
Jainism is similar to Buddhism. It was founded by Vardhamana Inatiputra or Nataputta Mahavira (599 527 B.C.), called Jina (Spiritual Conqueror), a contemporary of Buddha. As do the Buddhists, the Jains deny the divine origin and authority of the Veda and revere certain saints, preachers of Jain doctrine from the remote past, whom they call prophets. These saints are liberated souls who were once in bondage but they became free, perfect and blissful through their own efforts. They offer salvation from the cycle of rebirths.
Jains recognize some of the minor deities of the Hindus. Nevertheless, their religion, like Buddhism, is essentially atheistic.
Fundamental to Jainism is the doctrine of two eternal, coexisting, independent categories known as jiva ( an animate, living soul: the enjoyer) and ajiva (an inanimate, nonliving object: the enjoyed).
Jains believe, moreover, that the actions of mind, speech and body produce subtle karma (infra atomic particles of matter), which become the cause of bondage, and that one must abstain from violence to avoid giving pain to any form of life.
Jains believe that one can attain salvation (mokhsa) only by freeing the soul of karma through practice of the three "jewels" of right faith, right knowledge and right conduct.
Differences occur in the religious obligations of the monastic orders (whose members are called yatis) and the laity (sravakas).
The yatis must observe five great vows: refusal to inflict injury; truthfulness; refusal to steal; sexual restraint; and refusal to accept unnecessary gifts.
In keeping with the doctrine of nonviolence, the yatis carry the Jainist reverence for animal life to its most extreme lengths. In some sects, the yati will wear a cloth over his mouth to prevent insects from flying into it. And he will carry a brush to sweep the place on which he is about to sit, to remove any living creature from danger.
The secular sravaka, in addition to his observance of religious and moral duties, must engage in the adoration of the saints and of his more pious brethren, the yatis.
The two main sects of Jainism, the Digambara (naked) and the Svetambara (white clad, wearers of white cloth), have produced a vast body of secular and religious literature in the Prakrit and Sanskrit languages.