Dharmic Traditions
Four religions originating in the Indian subcontinent sharing key conceptual vocabulary — dharma (cosmic + ethical order/duty), karma (moral action + its consequences), samsara (cycle of rebirth), moksha/nirvana/kaivalya (liberation) — but disagreeing fundamentally on metaphysics, scripture, deities, salvation path. Hinduism + Buddhism + Jainism emerged from the same matrix of Vedic + sramana traditions during the Indian Axial Age ~600-200 BCE; Sikhism emerged later (15th c CE) from devotional bhakti + Islamic Sufi cross-fertilization in Punjab.
Together ~1.75 billion adherents (~22% of humanity), heavily concentrated in South + Southeast + East Asia with growing global diasporas.
Hinduism
The oldest extant religion (continuous traditions traceable to ~1500 BCE Vedic period, with antecedents in Indus Valley Civilization 3300-1300 BCE). No single founder. Sanatana Dharma (“eternal dharma”) is the traditional autonym. Encompasses staggering diversity: monotheist + polytheist + monist + non-theist threads coexist; ~1.2 billion adherents; ~80% of India, 81% of Nepal, plus Bali + Mauritius + global diaspora.
Sacred texts
Shruti (“that which is heard”) — revealed scriptures, ontologically primary:
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4 Vedas — composed orally ~1500-500 BCE, written later; classical Sanskrit
- Rig Veda (~1500-1200 BCE) — oldest; 10 mandalas, 1028 hymns; gods Indra + Agni + Surya + Varuna + Soma; Nasadiya Sukta 10.129 (creation hymn); Purusha Sukta 10.90 (cosmic person + varna emergence)
- Yajur Veda — sacrificial formulas; Black + White recensions
- Sama Veda — chants/melodies derived from Rig Veda
- Atharva Veda — folk magical + medical + philosophical
- Each Veda has 4 layers — Samhita (hymns) + Brahmanas (ritual exegesis) + Aranyakas (“forest texts”) + Upanishads (philosophical dialogues)
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Upanishads — ~800-300 BCE; 108 mukhya “principal” Upanishads; 13 considered most ancient + authoritative (Brihadaranyaka + Chandogya + Katha + Isha + Kena + Mundaka + Mandukya + Aitareya + Taittiriya + Prashna + Shvetashvatara + Maitri + Kaushitaki); central concepts — Brahman + Atman + their identity (aham brahmasmi, tat tvam asi)
Smriti (“that which is remembered”) — authored, secondary, voluminous:
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Itihasas (epics):
- Ramayana — attributed Valmiki ~400 BCE - 200 CE; 24,000 verses; Rama + Sita + Hanuman + Ravana
- Mahabharata — attributed Vyasa ~400 BCE - 400 CE; ~100,000 verses (world’s longest epic); Pandavas vs Kauravas; contains Bhagavad Gita (700 verses, dialogue Krishna + Arjuna on Kurukshetra battlefield — karma yoga + bhakti yoga + jnana yoga)
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18 Mahapuranas (“great old narratives”) — mythology + cosmology + genealogy + theology; ~300-1500 CE
- Vishnu Purana + Bhagavata Purana (Krishna devotion) + Shiva Purana + Skanda Purana + Markandeya Purana + Padma + Garuda + Brahma + Brahmanda + Brahma-vaivarta + Linga + Varaha + Vamana + Matsya + Kurma + Narada + Agni + Bhavishya; plus 18 Upapuranas
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Dharma Shastras — legal/ethical codes; controversial Manu Smriti (~200 BCE - 200 CE) on varna + social roles; Yajnavalkya Smriti + Narada Smriti
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Agamas + Tantras — sectarian ritual + theology — Shaiva + Vaishnava (Pancharatra) + Shakta tantras
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Sutras — aphoristic systematic philosophy:
- Yoga Sutras Patanjali ~200 BCE - 400 CE — 196 aphorisms; eight limbs of yoga (ashtanga); samadhi
- Brahma Sutras / Vedanta Sutras Vyasa/Badarayana — systematizes Upanishadic teaching
- Nyaya Sutras + Vaisheshika Sutras + Samkhya Karika + Mimamsa Sutras
Six Darshanas (orthodox philosophical schools)
Accept Vedic authority. Three pairs:
- Nyaya (logic) — Gautama Nyaya Sutras ~6th c BCE; epistemology + 16 categories (pramanas — perception + inference + comparison + verbal testimony)
- Vaisheshika (atomism) — Kanada Vaisheshika Sutras ~6th-2nd c BCE; 7 padarthas; paramanu atoms
- Samkhya — Kapila; dualism of prakriti (matter/nature) + purusha (consciousness); 25 tattvas; foundational for Yoga + Ayurveda
- Yoga — Patanjali (codifier, ~2nd c BCE - 4th c CE); 8 limbs (yama + niyama + asana + pranayama + pratyahara + dharana + dhyana + samadhi); kaivalya liberation
- Mimamsa (Purva Mimamsa) — Jaimini; Vedic ritualism + hermeneutics + dharma as ritual obligation
- Vedanta (Uttara Mimamsa) — Upanishad-based; three major sub-schools:
- Advaita Vedanta — non-dualism — Adi Shankara (788-820 Kerala/Kaladi); Brahman alone is real, world is maya (illusion + dependence); jivanmukti; commentaries on Upanishads + Gita + Brahma Sutras
- Vishishtadvaita — qualified non-dualism — Ramanuja (1017-1137 Tamil Nadu); Brahman has internal differentiations (souls + matter); bhakti as primary path
- Dvaita — dualism — Madhva (1238-1317 Karnataka); Brahman + souls + matter ontologically distinct
- Also Achintya Bheda Abheda (Chaitanya) + Shuddhadvaita (Vallabha)
Heterodox schools (reject Vedic authority — nastika): Buddhism + Jainism + Charvaka (materialism, lost texts)
Core concepts
- Brahman — ultimate reality, source + ground of all; saguna (with attributes) vs nirguna (without)
- Atman — self/soul; Advaita: Atman = Brahman; others: Atman distinct
- Tat tvam asi (“That thou art”) + Aham brahmasmi (“I am Brahman”) + Ayam atma brahma — Mahavakyas
- Samsara — cycle of birth-death-rebirth driven by karma
- Karma — action + its moral fruit (literal + cumulative subtle imprints); 3 types — sanchita (accumulated) + prarabdha (current life) + agami (future)
- Dharma — duty + righteousness + cosmic order + religion; svadharma (one’s own duty) varies by varna + ashrama + stage
- Moksha — liberation from samsara; final goal
- Four purusharthas (life aims) — dharma (righteous duty) + artha (material prosperity) + kama (legitimate pleasure + desire) + moksha (liberation)
- Four ashramas (life stages) — brahmacharya (student, celibate) + grihastha (householder) + vanaprastha (forest dweller, semi-retired) + sannyasa (renunciate)
- Varna system — 4 classes — Brahmin (priest/scholar) + Kshatriya (warrior/ruler) + Vaishya (merchant/farmer) + Shudra (laborer); outside the system — Dalit (“untouchable” + “scheduled caste” — Indian Constitution 1950 outlawed untouchability under Article 17; affirmative action via reservations)
- Jati — birth-based endogamous caste groups (~3000+); empirically dominant social category vs the theoretical 4 varnas
- Trimurti — Brahma creator + Vishnu preserver + Shiva destroyer/transformer (functional triad, not Trinity in Christian sense)
- Avatars of Vishnu — 10 dashavatara — Matsya (fish) + Kurma (turtle) + Varaha (boar) + Narasimha (man-lion) + Vamana (dwarf) + Parashurama + Rama + Krishna + Buddha (controversial inclusion) + Kalki (future)
- Devi / Shakti — Goddess in many forms — Durga + Kali + Lakshmi + Saraswati + Parvati; Shaktas worship goddess as supreme
- Pantheon — 33 koti (categories or millions) of deities; folk + regional + pan-Indian; Ganesha (elephant-headed) + Hanuman + Murugan/Kartikeya + Surya + Indra etc.
Major movements + sects
- Bhakti movement 6th-17th c — devotional Hinduism focused on personal deity
- South India: Alvars (12 Vaishnava poet-saints 6th-9th c) + Nayanars (63 Shaiva)
- Medieval: Ramanuja + Madhva + Nimbarka + Vallabha
- North: Kabir (1440-1518 Varanasi, syncretic) + Mirabai (1498-1547 Rajput princess, Krishna) + Tulsidas (1532-1623 Ramcharitmanas) + Tukaram (1608-49 Marathi) + Surdas (1478-1581 Krishna bhakti) + Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534 Bengal, Krishna kirtan)
- Tantra — esoteric ritual + meditation traditions cross Shaiva + Shakta + Vaishnava; left-hand (vamachara) + right-hand (dakshinachara); kundalini + chakras + mantra + yantra + mudra
- Shaivism + Vaishnavism + Shaktism + Smartism — 4 main sampradayas
- ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) — A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded NYC 1966; Gaudiya Vaishnava revival; Hare Krishna mahamantra
- Reform movements 19th c:
- Brahmo Samaj — Ram Mohan Roy 1828 — monotheist + opposed sati + caste + child marriage
- Arya Samaj — Dayananda Saraswati 1875 — “back to the Vedas,” opposed image worship + caste
- Ramakrishna Mission — Ramakrishna (1836-86) + Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902, 1893 Parliament of Religions Chicago)
- Theosophical Society — Blavatsky + Olcott + Annie Besant (Adyar from 1882)
- Hindu nationalism / Hindutva — V.D. Savarkar coined 1923; RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) founded 1925 Hedgewar; political wing BJP (founded 1980, governing India 2014-); Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement → Babri Masjid demolition 1992 → Ram Mandir consecration 2024; tensions with secularism + minorities
Practice
- Puja — worship — home shrine or temple — offerings to deity image (murti) — light + incense + flowers + food (prasada); arati (light offering with bells)
- Pilgrimage (tirtha-yatra)
- Kumbh Mela every 12 years rotating Prayagraj + Haridwar + Ujjain + Nashik; Prayagraj 2025 ~660 million attendance over 6 weeks — largest gathering in human history
- Varanasi / Kashi / Banaras — Shiva’s city; Ganges ghats; cremation at Manikarnika + Harishchandra; ~3000 years continuous
- Tirupati Andhra Pradesh — Venkateswara (Vishnu); most visited temple worldwide
- Rameshwaram Tamil Nadu — one of Char Dham + Jyotirlinga
- Char Dham — 4 sacred sites — Badrinath (Vishnu, Uttarakhand) + Dwarka (Krishna, Gujarat) + Jagannath Puri (Vishnu, Odisha) + Rameshwaram; also smaller Himalayan Char Dham (Yamunotri + Gangotri + Kedarnath + Badrinath)
- Mt Kailash (Tibet) — Shiva’s abode; pilgrimage parikrama ~52 km
- Pashupatinath Kathmandu Nepal — Shiva
- Vaishno Devi Jammu + Sabarimala Kerala
- Festivals:
- Diwali / Deepavali — Festival of Lights — October-November — Rama’s return + Lakshmi worship + Hindu New Year (varies regionally)
- Holi — Festival of Colors — March — Krishna + Holika; spring
- Navaratri + Durga Puja + Dussehra — 9 nights goddess worship + 10th day victory of Rama over Ravana / Durga over Mahishasura; September-October
- Ganesh Chaturthi + Janmashtami (Krishna birth) + Ram Navami (Rama birth) + Maha Shivaratri (great night of Shiva)
- Cremation — funeral pyre standard; ashes to Ganges or other sacred river; antyeshti
- Mantras — Om / Aum (primordial sound) + Gayatri Mantra (Rig Veda 3.62.10) + Maha Mrityunjaya + Hare Krishna
- Yoga + meditation — practices range from physical (hatha) to devotional (bhakti) to insight (jnana) to action (karma yoga) to royal (raja yoga)
- Sacred — plants (tulsi basil + bilva + neem) + animals (cow as gomata) + rivers (Ganges + Yamuna + Saraswati + Godavari + Narmada + Sindhu + Kaveri — 7 sacred rivers)
- Ahimsa + vegetarianism — varies — many traditions strictly vegetarian (Brahmin + Vaishnava + Jain-influenced regions); beef avoidance near-universal among practicing Hindus; some Shakta + tantric traditions permit meat ritually
Buddhism
The teaching of the Awakened One (Buddha), originating in 5th-4th c BCE northern India and now ~520 million adherents across South + Southeast + East + Central Asia + global converts. Non-theistic (rejects creator-God) yet richly populated with buddhas + bodhisattvas + devas + spirits across traditions. Three vehicles (yanas) form the major branches.
Life of the Buddha + Four Noble Truths
Siddhartha Gautama — traditional dates ~563-483 BCE (long chronology) or ~480-400 BCE (short/revised chronology accepted by most current scholarship). Born Lumbini (modern Nepal, Shakya clan; royal heritage); father Suddhodana; mother Maya died 7 days postpartum, raised by Mahapajapati. Sheltered from suffering; “Four Sights” — sick man + old man + dead man + wandering ascetic — provoked existential crisis; Great Renunciation at age 29; 6 years of ascetic practice with various teachers (Alara Kalama + Uddaka Ramaputta) + extreme self-mortification; abandoned extremes for Middle Way; Enlightenment at age 35 under Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya (now Mahabodhi Temple); first sermon at Sarnath (deer park near Varanasi) to 5 former ascetics — Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Setting the Wheel of Dharma in Motion); 45-year teaching career; parinirvana (final passing) at Kushinagar age 80, lying between two sal trees.
Four Noble Truths (cattari ariyasaccani):
- Dukkha — life is marked by suffering / unsatisfactoriness / dis-ease (birth + sickness + aging + death + separation from beloved + union with disliked + not getting what one wants + the 5 aggregates of clinging themselves)
- Samudaya — origin of dukkha is tanha (craving + thirst + clinging) — for sensual pleasures + for existence + for non-existence
- Nirodha — cessation of dukkha is possible by cessation of tanha
- Magga — the path leading to cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path:
- Right View / Understanding (samma ditthi)
- Right Intention / Thought (samma sankappa)
- Right Speech (samma vaca)
- Right Action (samma kammanta)
- Right Livelihood (samma ajiva)
- Right Effort (samma vayama)
- Right Mindfulness (samma sati)
- Right Concentration (samma samadhi)
Grouped into 3 divisions — wisdom (panna): 1-2; ethics (sila): 3-5; concentration (samadhi): 6-8.
Three Marks of Existence (tilakkhana):
- Anicca — impermanence
- Dukkha — unsatisfactoriness
- Anatta — non-self (no permanent unchanging self/soul)
Three Jewels / Three Refuges (tiratana):
- Buddha — the awakened one
- Dharma / Dhamma — the teaching
- Sangha — the community (monastic ordained or all noble disciples)
Branches
Theravada (“teaching of the elders”) — closest to early Buddhism textually; uses Pali Canon (Tipitaka) + Pali language; arhat (saint) ideal; predominant in:
- Sri Lanka — Mahavihara tradition from ~3rd c BCE Ashoka mission; Buddhaghosa (~5th c CE) Visuddhimagga
- Myanmar / Burma — Burmese Sayadaw tradition; modern vipassana revival (Ledi + Mahasi + Sun Lun)
- Thailand — royal patronage; Thai forest tradition (Ajahn Mun + Ajahn Chah → Western branches)
- Cambodia + Laos
Mahayana (“great vehicle”) — emerged ~1st c BCE - 1st c CE; bodhisattva (one who postpones nirvana to liberate all beings) ideal; broader canon including new sutras; emphasizes emptiness (shunyata) + skillful means (upaya) + buddha-nature (tathagatagarbha):
- China — translation traditions Kumarajiva (4-5th c) + Xuanzang (7th c, Journey to the West); sub-schools
- Tiantai — Zhiyi 538-97; Lotus Sutra supreme
- Huayan — Avatamsaka Sutra; interpenetration; Fazang 643-712
- Pure Land (Jingtu) — Amitabha + Sukhavati; faith + recitation Nianfo “Namo Amituofo”; Honen Japan 1175 → Jodo Shu + Shinran 1224 → Jodo Shinshu (largest Japanese Buddhist school); largest popular Mahayana practice globally
- Chan / Zen / Seon / Thien — Bodhidharma (legendary 6th c India to China); silent illumination + koan; Dogen 1200-53 → Soto (shikantaza just sitting); Eisai 1141-1215 + Hakuin → Rinzai (koan); Korea Seon (Chinul) + Vietnam Thien (Thich Nhat Hanh 1926-2022)
- Nichiren — Nichiren 1222-82 — Lotus Sutra + Namu Myoho Renge Kyo chant; Soka Gakkai modern lay movement
- Korea + Japan + Vietnam — Mahayana dominant
- Tibetan Mahayana transitions to Vajrayana
Vajrayana (“diamond / thunderbolt vehicle”) + Mantrayana / Tantric / Esoteric Buddhism — incorporates Mahayana base + tantric methods (mantra + mandala + visualization + deity yoga + guru devotion); ~6th-12th c development; predominant in:
- Tibet + Mongolia + Bhutan + Himalayan regions
- Four main schools:
- Nyingma (“ancient ones”) — Padmasambhava 8th c; Dzogchen (Great Perfection)
- Kagyu (“oral lineage”) — Marpa + Milarepa + Gampopa; Karmapa head (currently 17th Karmapa disputed succession); Mahamudra
- Sakya — Khön family; Sakya Pandita 13th c
- Gelug (“virtuous”) — Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) founded; Dalai Lama as Avalokiteshvara incarnation political+spiritual leader; current 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso b. 1935, exile 1959 in Dharamshala
- Shingon — Japanese Vajrayana, Kukai/Kobo Daishi 774-835
- Key texts — Tantras (Guhyasamaja + Chakrasamvara + Kalachakra + Hevajra); Bardo Thodol (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”) — Padmasambhava attributed, terma revealed Karma Lingpa 14th c; guides consciousness through 49-day intermediate state
Major texts
Theravada / Pali Canon (Tipitaka) — 3 baskets:
- Vinaya Pitaka — monastic discipline (Patimokkha — 227 rules for bhikkhus + 311 for bhikkhunis)
- Sutta Pitaka — discourses — 5 nikayas (Digha + Majjhima + Samyutta + Anguttara + Khuddaka — includes Dhammapada + Sutta Nipata + Jataka tales)
- Abhidhamma Pitaka — 7 books of systematic philosophy + psychology
Mahayana sutras:
- Prajnaparamita sutras (Perfection of Wisdom) — Heart Sutra (shortest) + Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedika) + 8000-line + 25000-line + 100000-line versions
- Lotus Sutra (Saddharma Pundarika) — One Vehicle teaching; everyone can become Buddha
- Pure Land sutras — Larger + Smaller Sukhavativyuha + Amitayurdhyana
- Avatamsaka / Flower Garland Sutra
- Lankavatara Sutra — Yogacara/Chan-relevant
- Vimalakirti Sutra — lay bodhisattva
- Mahaparinirvana Sutra + Srimaladevi Sutra — Buddha-nature
- Sandhinirmocana Sutra — Yogacara basis
Commentarial / systematic:
- Visuddhimagga Buddhaghosa ~430 CE — Theravada path manual
- Mulamadhyamakakarika Nagarjuna ~150 CE — Madhyamaka, emptiness logic
- Yogacarabhumi + Vasubandhu + Asanga ~4th c — Yogacara/Cittamatra “mind-only”
- Bodhicaryavatara Shantideva ~700 — bodhisattva path
- Bodhipathapradipa Atisha 11th c — Lamrim source
- Lamrim Chenmo Tsongkhapa 1402 — Gelug graded path
Concepts
- Nirvana / Nibbana — extinction of craving + ignorance; liberation; not annihilation of self because no self to annihilate; parinirvana at death of awakened one
- Shunyata — emptiness — phenomena lack inherent existence (Madhyamaka, Nagarjuna); not nihilism, the middle between substantialism + nihilism
- Pratityasamutpada / dependent origination — phenomena arise in dependence on conditions; 12 links (nidanas) — ignorance → formations → consciousness → name-and-form → 6 sense-bases → contact → feeling → craving → clinging → becoming → birth → aging-death
- Five aggregates (skandhas) — what constitutes a “person” — form/matter (rupa) + feeling (vedana) + perception (sanna/samjna) + volition/formations (sankhara/samskara) + consciousness (vinnana/vijnana)
- Bodhicitta — awakening mind; aspiration to attain enlightenment for sake of all beings (relative); direct realization of emptiness (absolute)
- Tathagatagarbha / Buddha-nature — all beings have potential for buddhahood
- Karma + rebirth in 6 realms — gods (devas) + asuras (titans, jealous gods) + humans + animals + hungry ghosts (pretas) + hells (narakas); human rebirth most conducive to liberation
- Theravada arhat vs Mahayana bodhisattva — arhat liberated for self; bodhisattva delays for all beings
- 10 perfections (paramitas) — Mahayana: generosity + ethics + patience + effort + meditation + wisdom (+ skillful means + aspiration + power + knowledge); Theravada has slightly different list
Practice
- Meditation:
- Vipassana insight — direct observation of impermanence/dukkha/anatta; modern lineages — Mahasi Sayadaw (noting), Goenka (body scan, 10-day courses worldwide), Pa Auk (jhana-based), Western Insight Meditation Society (IMS Massachusetts, Joseph Goldstein + Sharon Salzberg + Jack Kornfield)
- Samatha calm-abiding — jhanas 1-4 + formless
- Zazen Zen seated meditation; Soto shikantaza “just sitting”; Rinzai koan introspection
- Metta / mudita / karuna / upekkha — 4 brahmaviharas — loving-kindness + sympathetic joy + compassion + equanimity
- Tibetan visualization — deity yoga (yidam); ngondro (preliminaries) — 100,000 each of refuge prostrations + Vajrasattva mantra + mandala offerings + guru yoga; lojong mind training; dzogchen (Nyingma) + mahamudra (Kagyu) — direct nature-of-mind teachings
- Chanting — Pali (Theravada) — refuge + precepts + paritta protective chants; Sanskrit (Mahayana) — Heart Sutra; Tibetan — mantras (Om Mani Padme Hum — Avalokiteshvara; Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum — Padmasambhava)
- Refuge in Three Jewels — daily and at entry to path
- Precepts:
- 5 lay precepts — no killing + stealing + sexual misconduct + lying + intoxicants
- 8 precepts — full moon + observance days — add no eating after noon + no entertainment/cosmetics + no high beds
- 10 precepts — novice monastics
- 227 monastic precepts (Patimokkha) — fully ordained Theravada bhikkhu
- 311 bhikkhuni Theravada nun (revived 1996 after near-extinction, contested in some Theravada countries)
- ~250 bhikshu / 348 bhikshuni Mahayana traditions
- Pilgrimage — 4 main sites — Bodh Gaya (enlightenment) + Sarnath (first sermon) + Kushinagar (parinirvana) + Lumbini (birth); 4 additional — Rajgir (Vulture Peak) + Sravasti + Sankasya + Vaishali
- Sangha monastic ordination — historically required living teacher lineage; female ordination (bhikkhuni) lapsed in Theravada Sri Lanka 11th c + Myanmar 13th c; revived 1996 Sarnath by Sri Lankan + Korean nuns; still contested in Thailand + Burma traditional hierarchy; Mahayana retained female ordination throughout
- Statues, stupas, relics — stupa originally relic-mound, evolved to pagoda + chorten; relic veneration central — Buddha’s tooth at Kandy Sri Lanka, hair relics at Shwedagon Yangon, ashes distributed at parinirvana
Jainism
The path of the Jinas (“conquerors” — over passions). One of the oldest continuous traditions; emphasizes ahimsa (non-violence) more rigorously than any other religion. ~5 million followers, mostly India (Gujarat + Rajasthan + Karnataka + Mumbai); influential out of proportion to numbers via philosophy + business + Gandhi.
Founder + history
24 Tirthankaras (“ford-makers” — they ford the river of samsara); Mahavira (“great hero”) is the 24th and most recent (599-527 BCE traditional or 5th c BCE per modern scholarship), contemporary of the Buddha. Born Vardhamana in Bihar kshatriya family; renounced at age 30; 12 years extreme asceticism; kevala jnana (omniscient liberation) at age 42; preached 30 years; moksha at Pavapuri age 72.
The previous tirthankara Parshvanatha (~9th-8th c BCE) is historically verifiable as a separate figure; older tirthankaras (Adinath/Rishabha + 22 others) are mythological/cosmic-time figures.
Core teaching
Five great vows (mahavratas) for ascetics, lay versions (anuvratas) for householders:
- Ahimsa — non-violence — extends to all sentient beings down to microorganisms + plants
- Satya — truthfulness
- Asteya — non-stealing
- Brahmacharya — celibacy (full) / chastity (lay)
- Aparigraha — non-possessiveness — full Digambara monks own nothing including clothing
Metaphysics:
- Jiva (souls) + ajiva (non-souls — matter + space + time + dharma + adharma as principles of motion/rest)
- Karma is material — subtle matter that attaches to jiva based on action; kashayas (passions) cause influx (asrava); ascetic practice causes nirjara (shedding); full removal = moksha
- Anekantavada — non-absolutism, multi-perspectivism; reality has many aspects, single viewpoints partial (blind men + elephant parable Jain origin)
- Syadvada — “maybe-ism” — 7-fold predication acknowledging conditional truth
Path to moksha — Three Jewels (ratnatraya):
- Samyak darshana — right faith
- Samyak jnana — right knowledge
- Samyak charitra — right conduct
Sects
- Digambara (“sky-clad”) — monks practice nudity; women cannot attain moksha in current life (must be reborn male first); ascetic discipline stricter; rejects current Shvetambara canon
- Shvetambara (“white-clad”) — monks + nuns wear white robes; women can attain moksha; preserved Agamas (canonical texts)
- Sub-sects — Sthanakavasi + Terapanthi (anti-image worship); Murtipujak (image worship); Bispanthi + Terapanthi (Digambara branches)
Practice
- Strict vegetarianism + many avoid root vegetables (which harm plant + soil microbes) — onions, garlic, potatoes
- Drinking filtered water + walking with broom (oghaka) sweeping path of insects
- Paryushana (Shvetambara, 8 days) + Das Lakshana (Digambara, 10 days) annual fast/reflection August-September; Kshamavani (forgiveness day)
- Sallekhana — voluntary fasting to death — ultimate ascetic practice
- Influenced Gandhi’s nonviolence (Gandhi’s mother + family had Jain connections in Gujarat) → satyagraha
- Temple architecture — Dilwara Mt Abu Rajasthan (11th-13th c marble); Palitana Gujarat — Shatrunjaya hill 863 temples; Ranakpur Rajasthan (1437); Shravanabelagola Karnataka — 17m monolithic Bahubali / Gomateshwara statue (981 CE)
Sikhism
Youngest of the major dharmic religions; ~30 million adherents; primarily Punjab + global diaspora (UK + Canada + USA). Monotheistic devotional tradition emerging from bhakti + Sufi confluence in 15th-17th c Punjab.
Founder + Gurus
Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) — born Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib, Pakistan); Hindu family; mystical experience at Sultanpur Lodhi; “There is no Hindu, there is no Mussulman”; itinerant teaching journeys (udasis) across South Asia + reportedly Tibet + Mecca + Baghdad; established Kartarpur community; appointed successor before death.
Ten Gurus (the Guruship transferred at each one’s death):
- Guru Nanak Dev 1469-1539
- Guru Angad Dev 1504-52 — Gurmukhi script standardization
- Guru Amar Das 1479-1574 — institutional reform, langar formalized
- Guru Ram Das 1534-81 — founded Amritsar
- Guru Arjan Dev 1563-1606 — compiled Adi Granth 1604; first Sikh martyr (tortured to death by Mughal Jahangir)
- Guru Hargobind 1595-1644 — miri-piri dual swords (temporal + spiritual); militarization
- Guru Har Rai 1630-61
- Guru Har Krishan 1656-64 — youngest Guru, died age 7-8 of smallpox
- Guru Tegh Bahadur 1621-75 — martyred by Aurangzeb in Delhi for defending Kashmiri Hindus’ religious freedom (Sis Ganj Sahib gurdwara marks site)
- Guru Gobind Singh 1666-1708 — founded Khalsa (community of initiated) at Vaisakhi 1699 Anandpur Sahib — Panj Pyare (“Five Beloved”); finalized Adi Granth as Guru Granth Sahib; before death declared the Granth as eternal Guru
Guru Granth Sahib — sacred scripture compiled by Guru Arjan 1604, finalized by Guru Gobind Singh 1708; 1430 standard pages (angs); contains hymns of 6 Gurus + 15 Bhagats (including Hindu Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev + Muslim Sufis); 31 ragas; written in Gurmukhi script; treated as living Guru — opened ceremoniously, given throne (takht), put to rest each night.
Core beliefs
- Ik Onkar (“One Supreme Reality”) — opening of Mool Mantar; absolute monotheism
- Naam japna — meditate on God’s name
- Sewa — selfless service
- Simran — remembrance of the Divine
- Karma + rebirth retained from dharmic substrate but liberation through grace + remembrance, not just works
- Rejects: caste hierarchy + ritual + idolatry + asceticism + female inferiority + religious distinctions
Khalsa + Five Ks
Initiated Sikhs (Amritdhari) take Amrit initiation; men add “Singh” (lion), women “Kaur” (princess) to names; commit to 5 Ks:
- Kesh — uncut hair (covered by turban/dastar)
- Kara — steel bracelet
- Kanga — wooden comb
- Kachera — cotton undergarments
- Kirpan — ceremonial sword
Practice
- Gurdwara — Sikh place of worship; main hall houses Guru Granth Sahib on takht; langar (free community kitchen) — anyone of any background eats together seated on floor (institutionalized equality)
- Golden Temple / Harmandir Sahib Amritsar — built 1604 Guru Arjan; rebuilt + gilded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh 19th c; holiest site
- Five Takhts — seats of temporal authority — Akal Takht (Amritsar) + Patna Sahib + Anandpur Sahib + Hazur Sahib (Nanded) + Damdama Sahib
- Daily prayers — Japji Sahib morning + Rehras evening + Kirtan Sohila bedtime
- Ardas — petitionary prayer at end of services
- Vaisakhi April — Khalsa anniversary
- Operation Blue Star June 1984 — Indira Gandhi ordered Indian Army assault on Golden Temple to expel militants under Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale → assassination of Indira Gandhi by Sikh bodyguards Oct 31 1984 → 1984 anti-Sikh riots — ~3000+ killed across India (mostly Delhi); decades-long Khalistan separatist tensions