Jainism
And it's teachings
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Jainism is thus a moral code rather than a religion in the modern western sense of the term. It recognised no Supreme Being, but there was a whole galaxy of deified men who had been spiritually great. Every soul possessed the potentiality of becoming as great as they.
1. Belief in Soul and Karma: According to Mahavira every element was a combination of material and spiritual factors. While the material factor is perishable, the spiritual factor is external and consistently evolving itself. He held that the soul was held in a state of bondage due to karma.
2. Nirvana: The chief object of life according to Mahavira is to attain salvation. He therefore insisted on avoiding evil Karmas, prevent all kinds of fresh Karmas and destroy the existing ones. According to him this could be attained through five vows viz., non-injury (Ahimsa), speaking truth (Satya), non-stealing (Asteya), non-adultery (Brahmacharya) and non-possession (aparigraha).
3. Non-Belief in God: Mahavira did not believe in God nor did he believe that He created the world or exercised any personal control over it. According to him the world never comes to an end. No matter ends, it simply changes its form. Since the universe is also composed of certain matters it simply changes its form. We clearly find the influence of the Sankhya philosophy as far as this principle is concerned.
4. Rejection of Vedas: Jainism also rejected the theory of the Vedas and attached no importance to the sacrificial rituals of the Brahmans.
5. Ahimsa: Mahavira laid too much importance on Ahimsa. According to him all creatures, animals, plants, stones, rocks etc. possess life and one should not do any harm to the other in speech, deed or action. Though this principle was not entirely a new one, credit goes to the Jains that they popularized it and thereby put an end to the practice of various types of sacrifices.
6. Freedom to Women: Mahavira favoured the freedom of women and believed that they also had the right to attain Nirvana. In this respect Mahavira followed the example of his predecessor, Parsva Nath. Women were allowed in the Jain Sangha and many women became Sarmini and Sravikas.