The language of the Jain canon and of early Indian scripture and drama, the spoken sister of Sanskrit.
Mahavira preached in Ardhamagadhi, the Prakrit of Magadha, and the Jain canon was preserved in it. The Prakrits — the natural, spoken sisters of Sanskrit — also carry early Buddhist texts and much of classical Indian poetry and drama.
Prayers & Creeds in Its Traditions
- Five Precepts (Pancasila) Buddhist — Five voluntary training rules — against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants — undertaken by lay Buddhists.
- Metta Sutta Buddhist — The Buddha's discourse on loving-kindness, chanted as a blessing and a protection.
- Namokar Mantra Jain — Jainism's central mantra of homage to the five supreme beings, recited at the start of prayer and meditation.
- Refuge Prayer (Tisarana) Buddhist — The formula of going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha — the act that makes a person a Buddhist.
Learning and Reference Resources
- Jain eLibrary — canonical texts Free / open access
Related Across the Site
- dharma Glossary Term — That which is upheld; order; duty.
- karma Glossary Term — Action; deed.
- samsara Glossary Term — Wandering; the flowing-on.
- Sanskrit Language — The sacred language of Hinduism and a scriptural language of Buddhism and Jainism: Vedic first, then the classical language of Indian theology.
- St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology Library — An open-access, multi-author theological reference with advanced articles on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
- Five Precepts (Pancasila) Prayer or Creed — Five voluntary training rules — against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxicants — undertaken by lay Buddhists.
- Refuge Prayer (Tisarana) Prayer or Creed — The formula of going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha — the act that makes a person a Buddhist.
- Buddhism World View — Buddhism teaches that suffering comes from craving and ignorance; by following the Buddha's Eightfold Path, a person can awaken and be freed from rebirth.
Provenance
Classification follows Ethnologue and standard Indo-Iranian linguistics; identifiers verified at build time.