The path of the Jinas, the conquerors: liberation of the soul from karma through non-violence, non-possession, and many-sided truth.
Jainism is among the oldest of India's renunciant traditions. Its two great branches divided over scripture, practice, and the clothing of monks, and they read the same ancient inheritance differently to this day. This tree models the division and its sub-branches as first-class entities.
Major divisions
The divisions most visitors need first, in the order the tradition itself presents them.
Branch
Digambara
The sky-clad branch, whose monks renounce clothing itself and which holds that the canon of the Shvetambaras is lost and that women must be reborn…
Branch
Shvetambara
The white-clad branch, which keeps the canon the councils preserved, clothes its monks in white, and holds that women may be liberated in a woman's…
Divisions inside Jainism
- Digambara-Shvetambara Division, Traditionally 1st century CE and after
Jainism across the site
Prayers & Creeds (1) · Devotion (3) · History of Worldviews (20) · Traditions (1) · Languages (2) · Religious Art Entries (2) · Calendar Events (5)
Sources
Primary
- The Tattvartha Sutra.
Secondary
- Paul Dundas, The Jains (2002).