Jainism and Hinduism

Traditionally the term Hindu has meant an original inhabitant of India. During the Muslim rule the term "Hindu" was used in contrast with "Turk" (Muslim), and did not imply a single unified religion. However during the British rule, the term Hindu came to defined as religion based on the Vedas. This is how the term Hindu is defined in a Wikipedia article: see Hindu. The discussion below used the term Hindu in the sense of the Vedic Dharma.

Unique features of Jainism

Over several thousand years, Jain influence on Hindu philosophy and religion have been considerable, while Hindu influence on Jain temple worship and rituals can be observed in certain Jain sects.

Impact of Jainism

However, Jain influence on ancient and classical Tamil culture is deep. For example, the seminal moral scripture of the Tamils called The Kural by Thiruvalluvar (early common era), which is revered by Tamils of all creeds (Hindus, Jains, Christians, etc.) offers many clear indications of its author's Jain identity. Among other things, Thiruvalluvar's (1) introductory reverence for an "Adi Bhagavan" (a common Jain reference to Lord Rishabha) having specifically eight spiritual attributes (in Jainism, God, or the pure soul, has eight major attributes); (2) insistence upon complete vegetarianism and not eating even already killed/dead animals (in stark contrast to Buddhism); (3) praise for ascetics who "control the five senses"; (4) rejection of ritual sacrifices (contrary to common Vedic Hindu practices); (5) insistence upon eschewing violence even against one's enemies (in contrast to the Bhagavad Gita); and (6) other frequent allusions to Jain moral attitudes, each indicate a devoutly Jain moral thinker. However, The Kural was composed in a deftly non-sectarian fashion. Thiruvalluvar upheld universal human virtues which are also embraced and cherished by the Christians and Hindus of Tamil Nadu.

Hinduism is theoretically based upon the Vedas which the Jains do not accept as scriptures. They also do not accept the Hindu conception of God (see Ishvara) as the Supreme Omnipotent Being. In practice, Hinduism has absorbed many concepts from Jainism like vegetarianism (though in Hinduism neither a requirement nor a dogma), ahimsa and pacifism. In India, it is not uncommon in some regions for Hindus and Jains to visit each other's temples.

Jain-Hindu Disputes

Today, a concern of modern Jains in post-independence India has been the preservation of ancient pilgrimage sites and holy shrines -- such as Mt. Girnarji in Gujarat -- which in recent decades have come under pressure from certain groups -- in the case of Girnarji, Hindu devotees of the deity Dattatreya.

Is Jainism an "Offshoot of Hinduism"?

In modern India, Jains share a variety cultural and linguistic affinities with other religious communities, and the same may be said of those other communities.

Partly due to historical biases within some academic fields related to the study of religion and culture -- namely, (i) a greater emphasis placed on the demographically larger Hindu and Buddhist faiths, and (ii) a tendency to employ historical paradigms peculiar to Judeo-Christian history -- Jainism has been variously labeled an anti-Brahmin social movement, a lesser twin of Buddhism, a religion of "extreme asceticism", a pacifist creed, and other tableaus at odds with both historical evidence and modern reality.

External Resources

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• Who is a Hindu? DEfinition at hindu.org
• Are Jains Hindus? Koenraad Elst
• Jainism and Hinduism A discussion Thread
• Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple, Dharmasthala
• Unexploited vestiges of Jainism

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