Jainism

In the 6th Century BC, in many countries, there was great religious ferment.

• Persia - Zoroaster
• China - Confucius
• India - Jainism & Buddhism

The Vedic religion has become ritualistic. Senseless slaughter of animals in the name of religion created a new feeling of pity for animals and the desire not to hurt life. The origin of Jainism is not clear. Traditionally it is associated with 24 saints known as Tirthankaras.

1. Rishabhadeva:

• He was the first thirthankara.
• He was mentioned in Rigveda, Vishnupurana and Bhagavatapurana.
• The presence of his name in the above scriptures indicates that Jainism is as old as the Vedic religion.

2. Parsvanatha:

• He is regarded as the real founder of Jainism.
• He was the son of the king of Vaisali in Bihar.
• Theparents of Vardhamana Mahavira were followers of Parsvanatha.
• He enjoined on his followers 4 vows,
• (1) Ahimsa (non-violence)
• (2) Satya (truth)
• (3) Asteya (non-stealing)
• (4) Aparigraha (non-aquisition)

3. Vardhamana Mahavira:

• He was the 24th and the last thirthankara.
• He was born in 599 BC
• His father - Sidhartha, who was a kshatriya chief of a clan called Jnatrika.
• His mother - Trisala, who was related to the royal family of Vaisali.
• His wife -Yashoda
• His children - one daughter.
• Very little is known about the early life of Mahavira.
• According to Jain tradition, Vardhamana married a princess, Yashoda.
• After the death of his parents, at the age of 30, he renounced the world and wondered all over eastern India.
• At the age of 43, he attained Kevalajnana (or) highest spiritual knowledge.
• To the original 4 vows, he added the 5th vow, Brahmacharya.
• He is called -
• (1) Mahavira - the great hero
• (2) Jina - the conqueror
• (3) Niggantha - free from bondage
• He died at Pava in South Bihar in 527 BC.

Teachings of Mahavira:

• He didnot believe in God.
• He rejected the Vedas.
• He rejected the authority of Brahmins.
• Man is the architect of his own destiny and need not crave for the mercy of God or any such person.
• To attain spiritual enlightment one should discard all external things including clothes.
• Individual's souls will be released from rebirth by following the three fold path -
• (1) right belief
• (2) right knowledge
• (3) right conduct
• He laid great emphasis on ahimsa.
• Jains regard fasting unto death as an act of great merit.

The Jain Church:

Mahavira founded the Jain Church and nominated 11 of his close disciples as Gandharas (or) heads of schools. Only one of these disciples, Arya Sudharma, survived Mahavira and became the pontiff of the Jain Church.

Towards the close of 4th Century BC, great schism took place in Jain Church. One section came to be called Swetambaras (those clad in white) and the other section is called Digambara (naked). According to Swetambaras, the original teachings of Mahavira are to be found in 14 ancient texts called 'Purvas'.

Spread of Jainism:

• Jainism had never spread beyond India.
• Chandra Gupta Maurya was a great patron of Jainism.
• Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, also professed Jainism.
• Samprati, Ashoka's grandson converted to Jainism and sent missionaries to Andhradesa and other parts of Southern India.
• South Indian dynasties like Kadambas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas patronised Jainism.

The revival of Hinduism from the Gupta period led to the gradual decline of Jainism.

Vedic Civilization

Theories regarding original home of Aryans:

1. William Jones & Max Muller -

• Aryans originally lived in Europe and migrated to other countries.
• This theory is based on the similarities between Sanskrit and European classic languages like Greek and Latin.

2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Arctic Region.

3. Majority - Central Asia especially the regio between Oxus and Jaxarles.

The Aryans who migrated to India are called Indo-Aryans. The culture developed by them is called Vedic Culture.

Popular meaning of Veda is 'Knowledge'. Veda is derived from Sanskrit root 'Vid' which means 'to know'. The restricted meaning is applied to 4 sacred books ,

1. Rigveda - oldest of all.
2. Samaveda
3. Yajurveda
4. Atharvaveda.

The Vedas are regarded as 'Sruti' (or) divine revelations heard by 'rishis' (or) seers and therefore infallible. Each Veda has 4 parts,

1. Samhita - it is in the form of hymns or mantras sung in the praise of various Gods.
2. Brahmana - explains the meaning and use of hymns.
3. Aranyaka - it is derived from 'Aranya' (or) forest. They deal with philosophical doctrines to be studied in sylvan retreats by those who have entered the 'vanaprastha ashrama'.
4. Upanishad - means to sit down near someone. It is applied to doctrines imparted by father to son (or) teacher to pupil. Upanishads try to answer important philosophical questions like the existence of God, relation between man and universe. Upanishads are called 'Vedanta', meaning the end of Vedas. The total number of Upanishads is 108. Some of the important Upanishads are isa, kena, taittariya, chandogya and aitareya.

Sruti: All the vedas are collectively known as sruti (or) revelation. Sruti means the rhythm of the infinite heard by noble souls. They constitute Vedic literature proper.

Smriti: Smriti means memory. They are handed down to the next generations by the sages by word of mouth. The most important among the smritis is 'Vedanga'. Vedanga literally means the limb of the Vedas. Vedangas are 6 in number,

1. Siksha - phonetics
2. Kalpa - Ritual
3. Vyakarana - Grammar
4. Nirukta - Etymology
5. Chhaandas - Metrics
6. Jyothisya - Astronomy

Vedic Polity:

• Rigvedic tribes were ruled by kings.
• Non-monarchial form is also known.
• The power of the king was not absolute.
• The king was assisted by Senani, Gramani, & Purohita.
• The business of the tribe was carried on by a popular assembly known as Samiti.
• There was another body, Sabha, which was something like the upper house of the legislature.

Social Life:

• Primarily pastoral and agricultural people.
• Basic unit of social organisation was Patriarchal family.
• Other Units are grama, visa and jana.
• Grama constituted of a number of families & all the agricultural land attatched to it.
• The headman of grama was called 'gramani'.

1. Position of women:

• Women occupied a position of great honour in the early vedic period.
• Girls were educated.
• Child marriages were forbidden.
• Monogamy was the general rule.
• Widows were allowed to remarry.
• Polyandry was unknown.
• There was no seclusion of women.
• Wife was called 'sahadharmini'.
• Lopamudra, Sikata, Ghosha, Apala, Visvavara were some of the women who composed hymns and were given the status of rishi.
• In the later Vedic age, the position of women deteriorated.

2. Food:

• Staple food was Wheat, milk, vegetables, and fruits. [There has been no evidence of consumption of fruits prior to the Vedic Period, i.e, by the Harappans.]
• Eating of beef was not forbidden in the early vedic period, but it became a taboo by the late Vedic period, due to the depletion of the population of cows.
• Soma and Sura are two popular alcoholic drinks.

3. Dress:

• Cotton, wool and deer skin were used.
• The garments consisted of 3 pieces, Nivi - undergarment, Paridhana - main garment, adhivasa - mantle.
• Both females and males were fond of ornaments, especially of gold.

4. Amusements:

• Chariot racing
• Hunting
• Dance and music
• Gambling
• There were 3 types of musical instruments - percussion, string and wind.

Economic Life:

1. Agriculture:

• they lived in scattered villages.
• they took care to preserve livestock.
• to arrest the depletion of cows, eating beef was prohibited.

2. Textiles: Next to education, textiles provided occupationto bulk of the population.

3. Trade & Industry:

• Barter system was the means of trade.
• Commerce was largely in the hands of people called Pani, who were probably non-Aryans.
• In later Vedic age, the traders grouped themselves into Srenis or guilds.
• The use of niskha (or) metallic currency is known.

By the later Vedic Period, the division of society on the basis of Varna (or) Caste developed. This evil practice which still haunts India has its roots in the Vedic Period. Inspite of modernisatio in several ways, the practice of Caste System is still prevelant in India to this date.

There is no word in Sanskrit or any other Indian languages to denote caste. Instead, the word Varna is used, which means colour. Basing on the word Varna, some are of the opinion that the caste system grew out of the racial factor.

1. Theory of race (or) colour: The fair complexioned Aryans looked down upon the dark-complexioned dravidians. To preserve the purity of Aryan blood, caste system was introduced. This theory doesn't stand to reason as there is no evidence of caste system in the early vedic period.
2. Theory of divsion of labour: Caste system evolved in later vedic period to meet the new challenges and requirements of the time due to the growing number of occupations.
3. Purusha-Sukta Theory: The earliest reference to the division of society has been found in 'Purusha-Sukta' in the tenth book of Rigveda samhita. It describes a mythical legend about the sacrifice of a primeval giant called Purusha, the ideal man (or) spirit of the world. Gods have cut Purusha into 4 parts and different varnas originated from different parts of the body of Purusha.

• from mouth - Brahmins
• from arms - Kshatriyas
• from thighs - Vaishyas
• from feet - Sudras

In its original form Caste system is only a class system. Upward mibility was allowed. Castes were not determined by birth. Chabge of professionl led to change of caste. Vyasa, the author of Mahabharata was the son of a fisherwoman. Sage Vasishta was son of a prostitute. Vidura, friend of Dritarashtra was a dasiputra. Parasurama and Dronacharya who were brahmins by birth became kshatriyas later on. Interdining and inter-marriages were allowed.

In later Vedic Period, the caste system became more rigid, inter-marriages were forbidden. Even during the later vedic period, there is no evidence of the practice of Untouchability.

Indus Valley Civilization

In 1922, the excavations carried out at Mohanjodaro in Larkhana district of Sindh (Pakistan) by R.D.Banerjee brought into light the civilization which existed long before the Rigvedic times. The first excavations which were carried out at Harappa, in the Montgomery district of Punjab (Pakistan) and Mohenjodaro are in the Indus Valley region. Hence, it was first named Indus Valley Civilization. Later, it was described as Harappan Civilization.

Mohenjodaro means "Mound of the Dead".

New sites have been excavated by B.B.Lal and S.R.Rao at,

• Kalibangan - on the left bank of the extinct Ghaggar river in Rajasthan.


• Lothal - near Bhogavo river in Gujarat


• Sukortada - Gujarat

The Harappan Civilization was spread over a large area from Baluchistan to Gujarat. The area covered by this is much greater than its contemporary civilizations in Egypt and Sumeria.

Period : 7000 BC - 6000 BC.
The C-14 analysis indicated the structures at Mehrgarh belonged to 6000 BC.

Distinguishing Features:

1. Town Planning -

• Streets are arranged in a grid manner.


• Main streets running from North to South.


• Cross streets and lanes at right angles to them.

2. Houses -

• Houses were built with bricks baked in kilns.


• All houses have wells, drains and bathrooms.

3. The Great Bath

4. Granary Complex

5. Port - at Lothal


Economic and Social life:

1. Food -

• Wheat was the staple food.


• Fish and mutton were are also commonly consumed.


• No taboo on eating beef and pork.


• No evidence of consumption of fruits.

2. Dress - Fabrics made of cotton were extensively used.

3. Ornaments -

• Finger rings and necklaces were worn by both men and women.


• Nose studs, Bangles, Anklets and ear rings were worn by women.

4. Hair Dressing -

• Females dressed their hair in various styles and decked them with ornaments.

5. Seals -

• made of paste, stone (or) steatite (soap stone).


• the obverse contained an inscription and figure of an animal.


• the reverse has a perforated knob for suspension.


• the script is pictographic containing nearly 400 signs.


• the script is yet to be deciphered.

6.Script -

• Soviet experts are of the opinion that the script has no connection
  with Sumerian Civilization of West Asia or with the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
  They claim that the script resembles a Dravidianlanguage akin to Tamil,
  Malayalam or Kannada.
• Dr.S.R.Rao doesn't accept the above view. He studied
  1,800 harappan seals and concluded that Harappans spoke an Indo-European
  language and observed religious rituals which were later adopted by the
  Aryans. He says that there is no link with the Dravidian languages.

7. Religion -

• Very little is known about the religion of the Harappans.


• no temple or shrine has been discovered so far.


• Pictures of Shiv or Pasupati and mother goddess can be seen.


• animals and trees were worshipped.


• the representation of Swastika and Wheel on some seals suggests that sun was
  worshipped.

Decline of the Harappan Civilization:

Earlier explanation was that the Harappan Civilization was destroyed by the invading Aryans. But, the most widely accepted theory is that the Harappans moved to Southern parts of India due to repeated floods floods of the Indus river, decreased fertility of the soil, and some climatic changes.