RBSE VU Jain Darshan cheat sheet

The term Jaina derives from jina ('conqueror'), one who has conquered the four ghātiyā karmas: jñānāvaraṇīya, darśanāvaraṇīya, mohanīya, and antarāya.

Jain tradition counts 24 tīrthaṅkaras, from Ṛṣabhanātha (Ādinātha) to Mahāvīra (Vardhamāna), the last being a historical teacher of the 6th–5th century BCE.

Mahāvīra is titled Nāyaputta (Nātaputta) in Buddhist sources and is regarded by Jains as the 24th tīrthaṅkara, not the founder of the doctrine.

Jainism is classed as a śramaṇa (non-Vedic, ascetic) tradition alongside Buddhism and Ājīvika, contrasted with the Vedic darśanas that accept śruti authority.

Among the six orthodox darśanas, Jainism is closest to Sāṅkhya and Vaiśeṣika in its pluralist realism, but rejects a single primal prakṛti and accepts an atomic pudgala.

Key sectarian division: Digambara (sky-clad, male monasticism, texts preserved separately) and Śvetāmbara (white-clad, accepts the 45 Āgamas as extant).

The Tattvārtha Sūtra of Umāsvāti/Umāsvāmī is the earliest systematic Sanskrit compendium accepted by both major sects.

Anekāntavāda (many-sidedness) is the philosophical signature of Jainism, expressing itself epistemologically as nayavāda and syādvāda.

Pramāṇa is valid, doubt-free cognition (samyag jñāna); Jain texts commonly list pratyakṣa (direct) and parokṣa (indirect) as the two primary divisions.

Śvetāmbara tradition (following the Āgamas) recognizes three pramāṇas: pratyakṣa, anumāna, and āgama/śabda; some later writers add upamāna and arthāpatti.

Jain pratyakṣa is restricted to direct cognition by the self (including avadhi and manaḥparyaya), so sense-perception is classed as parokṣa-unlike Nyāya.

Naya is a partial standpoint (aṅgadeśa) that grasps one aspect of a multifaceted object without denying the others; it is not false by itself.

Nayavāda lists standpoints such as naigama, saṅgraha, vyavahāra, ṛjusūtra, śabda, samabhirūḍha, and evaṃbhūta.

Syādvāda (saptabhaṅgī) yields seven predications: syād asti, syān nāsti, syād asti nāsti, syād avaktavya, and the three combinations with avaktavya.

The particle syāt means 'in a certain respect', not 'perhaps'; each predication is asserted conditionally, not skeptically.

Anekāntavāda holds that reality possesses infinite attributes (anantadharmātmaka), so no single judgment exhausts it; contradiction is resolved by standpoint indexing.

Dravya is defined as sat, possessing origination (utpāda), destruction (vyaya), and permanence (dhrauvya) together; substance persists while modes change.

Guṇa is an inseparable, inherent quality of a dravya; paryāya is a transient modification of that substance and its qualities.

The six dravyas: jīva, pudgala, dharma, adharma, ākāśa, and kāla; only pudgala is material, and only jīva is conscious.

Dharma and adharma are not motion and rest themselves but the indifferent conditions (upagrāhaka) assisting the movement and rest of jīva and pudgala.

Ākāśa is the all-pervading medium of space, divided into lokākāśa (with dharma, adharma, jīva, pudgala) and alokākāśa (pure space beyond).

Kāla is the condition of change (vartanā); Digambara and Śvetāmbara lists differ on whether kāla is a dravya with atoms (kālāṇu) or a mode of substances.

Pudgala is atomic: paramāṇu is the indivisible unit; aggregates (skandha) form bodies, speech, mind, and sense objects.

Jain metaphysics is pluralist realism (aneka-dravyavāda): substances are many, eternal in essence, and dynamic in mode-neither monist nor momentary.

Karma in Jainism is subtle pudgala (kārmaṇa varganā) bound to the jīva; it is material, not merely a moral law, and obscures the soul's natural qualities.

Eight primary karmas: four ghātiyā-jñānāvaraṇīya, darśanāvaraṇīya, mohanīya, antarāya-and four aghātiyā-vedanīya, nāma, gotra, āyu.

Mohanīya splits into darśana-moha and cāritra-moha; it is the root karmic cause of saṃsāra and is destroyed first at kṣapakaśreṇi.

Bandha arises from four causes: mithyātva, avirati, pramāda, and kaṣāya (anger, pride, deceit, greed), plus yoga (activity of mind, speech, body).

Bandha has four aspects: prakṛti (type), sthiti (duration), anubhāga (intensity), and pradeśa (quantity of karmic particles).

Saṃvara is stoppage of new karmic influx, achieved by gupti, samiti, dharma, anuprekṣā, parīṣaha-jaya, and cāritra.

Nirjarā is shedding of accumulated karma, either by passive ripening (savipāka) or active austerity (akāma/śramaṇa nirjarā); it is the direct route to liberation.

The guṇasthānas are fourteen stages of spiritual ascent, from mithyādṛṣṭi (1) to ayogakevalī (14), with the eleventh stage marked by complete cessation of new bondage.

Jīva is defined by upayoga (consciousness in the forms of jñāna and darśana) and is intrinsically pure, infinite in knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy.

Saṃsārī jīvas are classified by indriya: ekendriya (touch only), dvīndriya, trīndriya, caturindriya, and pañcendriya (with mind, manas).

Ekendriya jīvas are of five kinds: pṛthvīkāya, apkāya, teukāya, vāyukāya, and vanaspatikāya; the first four are called sthāvara, plants also sthāvara.

Vanaspati is twofold: pratyeka (individual) and sādhāraṇa (common body shared by many jīvas, e.g., bulbs, roots).

Pañcendriya beings are either asaṃjñī (without mind) or saṃjñī (with mind); only the latter can attain mokṣa in human form.

Ajīva comprises pudgala, dharma, adharma, ākāśa, and kāla; it lacks consciousness and is the non-living complement to jīva.

Pudgala's four intrinsic qualities: sparśa (touch), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), and varṇa (color); paramāṇu is its indivisible unit, without beginning or end as a class.

Jīva is nitya (eternal) yet parimāṇavat (finite in extent), pervading the body it occupies (aṅgulapramāṇa in its contracted state), and it transmigrates with karmic body.

Ahiṃsā is the supreme dharma (ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ); it is defined as abstention from injury to any jīva, in thought, word, and deed, and includes non-approval of others' violence.

The five mahāvratas for ascetics: ahiṃsā, satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-possession).

The five aṇuvratas for householders are the same five, but as limited vows (aṇu = small); they are paired with guṇavratas and śikṣāvratas.

Guṇavratas: digvrata (limiting directions), deśavrata (limiting area), anarthadaṇḍa-virati (avoiding purposeless harm).

Śikṣāvratas: sāmāyika (equanimity meditation), deśāvakāśika (further spatial limit), poṣadha (fasting/ascetic day), atithisaṃvibhāga (sharing with guests/ascetics).

The eleven pratimās are stages of householder progress, from darśana pratimā (right faith) to uddiṣṭa-tyāga (renunciation of possessions).

The three guṇas or 'jewels' for householders are dāna, pūjā, and upavāsa, while the path's core is ahiṃsā, saṃyama, and tapas.

Hiṃsā is graded by intention (bhāva) and by the nature of the being harmed; the Jain emphasis is on minimizing harm, not merely on avoiding it absolutely.

Nikṣepa is the placement or analysis of a term's meaning in four or six ways: nāma, sthāpanā, dravya, bhāva (and, in sixfold lists, also jñāna and abhāva).

Nāma-nikṣepa is the arbitrary use of a name (e.g., 'Rāma' applied to a person or a statue); sthāpanā-nikṣepa is a symbol or image standing for something.

Dravya-nikṣepa applies to the actual substance or past/present fact; bhāva-nikṣepa applies to the present intention or inner state (e.g., a 'monk' by intention, not merely dress).

Nikṣepa is a linguistic-logical tool to prevent equivocation; it prepares the ground for nayavāda and syādvāda.

Naya grasps a part (deśa) of an object; pramāṇa grasps the whole (sakala); a naya becomes false (nayābhāsa) when it claims exclusivity.

The seven nayas: naigama (general+particular), saṅgraha (general), vyavahāra (particular), ṛjusūtra (momentary), śabda (grammatical), samabhirūḍha (contextual), evaṃbhūta (state-based).

Syādvāda's saptabhaṅgī is often illustrated by the blind men and the elephant: each naya is true in its aspect, false as exclusive.

Jain logic rejects the claim that contradictory predicates cannot both apply: they apply to the same object in different respects (syāt), not simultaneously and unconditionally.

The three jewels (ratnatraya): samyak darśana (right faith), samyak jñāna (right knowledge), and samyak cāritra (right conduct); together they constitute the path to mokṣa.

Samyak darśana arises through kṣayopaśama of darśana-mohanīya, i.e., suppression-cum-destruction of right-faith-deluding karma; it is the first step.

Samyak jñāna is knowledge of the seven tattvas: jīva, ajīva, āsrava, bandha, saṃvara, nirjarā, and mokṣa.

Samyak cāritra follows the five mahāvratas or aṇuvratas and the avoidance of the five āsravas; it is the direct cause of saṃvara and nirjarā.

Mokṣa is the complete destruction of all eight karmas and the release of the jīva from saṃsāra; it is a state of infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy (ananta catuṣṭaya).

The liberated jīva (siddha) resides in siddha-śilā at the top of lokākāśa, is formless (arūpī), sexless, and without further birth.

Mokṣa is attainable only in human birth (manuṣya-gati) with right faith and conduct; the celestial and animal realms can produce faith but not liberation.

Jain soteriology is individualistic and non-theistic: no creator god grants mokṣa; the tīrthaṅkara teaches the path, but each jīva liberates itself.

The Śvetāmbara canon (Āgamas) has 45 texts in the present recension: 11 Aṅgas, 12 Upaṅgas, 10 Prakīrṇakas, 6 Chedasūtras, 4 Mūlasūtras, and 2 Cūlikāsūtras.

The Aṅgas include the Ācārāṅga, Sūtrakṛtāṅga, Sthānāṅga, Samavāyāṅga, Bhagavatī (Vyākhyāprajñapti), Jñātādharmakathā, and others.

Digambara tradition holds that the original Aṅgas were lost; it preserves the Ṣaṭkhaṇḍāgama and Kaṣāya-pāhuḍa as its authoritative early works.

The Tattvārtha Sūtra of Umāsvāti (c. 2nd–5th c. CE) has 10 chapters and 357 sūtras; it is the standard systematic text of both sects.

Commentators on the Tattvārtha Sūtra include Pūjyapāda (Sarvārthasiddhi), Akalaṅka (Tattvārtharājavārttika), and Vidyānanda (Tattvārthaślokavārttika).

Kundakunda (Digambara) authored the Samayasāra, Pravacanasāra, and Niyamasāra, emphasizing the pure self (śuddhātmā).

Umasvati/Umāsvāmī, Siddhasena Divākara (Nyāyāvatāra, Sanmatitarka), Haribhadra (Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya), and Hemacandra (Yogaśāstra, Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita) are central figures.

The Nyāya-Āgama, a later logical tradition, includes works by Siddhasena Divākara, Akalaṅka (Nyāyaviniścaya), and Vidyānanda (Aṣṭasahasrī).

Nyāya: accepts four pramāṇas (pratyakṣa, anumāna, upamāna, śabda) and a creator god (Īśvara); Jainism accepts two/three and denies a creator.

Nyāya treats sense-perception as pratyakṣa; Jainism restricts pratyakṣa to the self's direct cognition and classes sense-perception as parokṣa.

Vaiśeṣika: six padārthas (dravya, guṇa, karma, sāmānya, viśeṣa, samavāya); Jainism's dravya-guṇa-paryāya scheme rejects samavāya as a separate category.

Vaiśeṣika atoms are inert and motionless without an external cause; Jain pudgala atoms are intrinsically dynamic and combine naturally.

Sāṅkhya: 25 tattvas with a single prakṛti and many puruṣas; Jainism has six dravyas and no single material cause-pudgala is material, jīva is conscious.

Sāṅkhya puruṣa is passive and attributeless; Jain jīva is active, possesses upayoga, and is the agent of its own karma.

Yoga: Patañjali's eight limbs aim at kaivalya (isolation of puruṣa); Jain yoga is often fourfold (jñāna, darśana, cāritra, tapas) aiming at mokṣa.

Mīmāṃsā: emphasizes Vedic ritual and apūrva; Jainism rejects Vedic authority, animal sacrifice, and a creator, and stresses ahiṃsā as the highest dharma.

Vedānta (Advaita): one non-dual Brahman/Ātman; Jainism is pluralist (aneka-dravya) and rejects monism, holding jīvas are many and eternal.

Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita Vedānta accept a personal creator God and grace; Jain mokṣa is self-attained without divine grace.