In the sixth century a. C., the India it was a region of strong contrasts in the political, social and religious spheres.
in the kingdom of magadhawhich had established itself in the plain of the eastern Gangestwo new religions arose, the jainism and the buddhismas a reaction against the abuses of the prevailing religion, the brahmanismwhich had allowed the priests to dominate all aspects of social life.
Kingdom of Magadha in India, in the 5th century BC. C., before its expansion
Much later, during the first centuries of the Christian era, which would witness the rise of Hinduism in India, an advanced branch of Brahmanism which, over time, has remained the dominant religion in this country.
The brahmanism, which was born from the fusion of Vedism and pre-Aryan religions, had become around the 6th century BC. C. in a formalist review, focused on increasingly complex rites.
For example, the very expensive ceremony of the horse, which lasted several months and had to be fulfilled by the kings to legitimize their power, represented a drain on the royal coffers.
However, around this time, a religious reformism took place through new currents of thought.
The jainism and the buddhism They agreed in many respects. They preached non-violence and an ascetic life as a means to find salvation; they opposed human and animal sacrifice, and questioned the caste system which, favored by the brahmanismhad strengthened its rigid structure with the specialization of trades and opened an insurmountable gap between rich and poor.
Jainism
The movement Jain had a long history before the appearance of its prophet Mahavir either vardhamanawhich means “he who grows”.
A representation of Mahavira
According to the tradition Jainwhen Mahavir appeared on earth, 23 prophets had passed through it before. His followers began the reckoning of time in the year of his death and called it jina“the victorious one”, the man who had mastered his previous two and achieved another superior.
His doctrine, later called jainismIt was a moralistic religion. He defended the idea of an eternal world that is not directed by any god, but by natural and moral laws.
Although in a great existence of a transcendent being or beings, the jainism considers that the direct intervention of the supernatural and of the gods does not affect the life of man. He is perfected by the acts he performs throughout his life and his destiny is subject to karma (the results of their conduct).
At his death, the individual is reborn in another body, until after successive lives, it reaches perfection and dissolves into the absolute.
Jain today (Flickr: k4znvsk242)
The jainism It has reached our days with hardly any doctrinal variations since the schism that occurred at the beginning of the Christian era, motivated by the different interpretations that were given about absolute nudity.
Two monastic tendencies arose from this: the Digambarawhich they adopted as the one who dressed “already the air”, and the swattambarawho wear white.