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Creation myth in Jainism.
- Thread starter hmshariq
- Start date
All from wikipedia:
Jains do not believe in a creator deity that could be responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. The universe is self regulated by the laws of nature. Jains believe that life exists in various forms in different parts of the universe including earth. Jainism has extensive classification of various living organisms including micro-organisms that live in mud, air and water. All living organisms have soul and therefore need to be interacted without causing much harm.
Jainism as such does not have a concept of who was the first human being. It is just not an important question. Every living being including the smallest micro organism is a 'Jeev'.
There are infinite number of 'Jeevs' and an infinite number of 'Jeevs' that have attained liberation.
Jains do not believe in a creator deity that could be responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. The universe is self regulated by the laws of nature. Jains believe that life exists in various forms in different parts of the universe including earth. Jainism has extensive classification of various living organisms including micro-organisms that live in mud, air and water. All living organisms have soul and therefore need to be interacted without causing much harm.
Jainism as such does not have a concept of who was the first human being. It is just not an important question. Every living being including the smallest micro organism is a 'Jeev'.
There are infinite number of 'Jeevs' and an infinite number of 'Jeevs' that have attained liberation.
Jainism believe in eternal cycle of Kala Chakra. As per this theory, our region (referred to as Bharat Kshetra) roves around a central axis and continuously passes through various self repeating epochs. Just as revolving of our earth around sun leads to self repeating seasons, same way as our universe (referred to as Bharat Kshetra in Jain annals) revolves around its central axis our planet experiences self repeating epochs that at one point makes the living conditions on our planet so conducive that it becomes a living paradise. The description of this phase of our planet in Jain annals is very similar to the description of Garden of Eden in Abrahamic religions. At another point, the conditions become so severe that our planet becomes a living hell.
These conditions keep repeating themselves, endlessly. The time frame of one such revolution is so huge that is can be referred to as countless years (but not infinite).
So, there is really no creator in Jainism. Nor was there any first human as described in Abrahamic religions.
However, when examined closely, there is a startling similarity similarity between the folklore of Adam & Eve of Bible / Quran and the Jain annals.
Adam was supposed to be living with Eve in the Garden of Eden where all they desired was given to them by nature. Then at one point of time their paradise was lost and they had to till the land and start working for food.
Jain annals claim that in the third epoch of the descending phase of Kala Chakra, our planet was like the Garden of Eden where there were special "Kalpa Trees" that provided everything the humans needed. Similar to the Abrahamic folklore, the Jain annals claim that the humans those days lived in pairs like that of Adam and Eve and rejoiced. However, as the 3rd epoch was nearing its end, because of change of climatic conditions the special "Kalpa Trees" went extinct and thus the humanity was forced to move out of their private gardens and form civilized societies.
As per Jain annals, among the first humans who moved out of these paradises was "Nabi-Raja" and her consort. Nabi-Raja was the person who organized humans in civilized societies and set forth the rules of human behavior in the changed scenario.
This is exactly what prophet Adam is supposed to have done. In Islam, He is referred to as "Nabi-Adam". Compare the similarity in name with that of "Nabi-Raja" in Jain annals. Islam further claims that Nab-Adam descended out of Garden of Eden in the Indian subcontinent at the island of Cylone (Sri Lanka). This again further points towards South India that Jainism regards was the hub of Jainism and its Dravidian culture.
Thus, though Jainism does not believe in a creator, its annals do point that there was a point where civilization on our planet started and the stories of this starting point of our current day civilization are remarkable very similar to those of Abrahamic traditions.
Love
Amit
eMail- [email protected]
These conditions keep repeating themselves, endlessly. The time frame of one such revolution is so huge that is can be referred to as countless years (but not infinite).
So, there is really no creator in Jainism. Nor was there any first human as described in Abrahamic religions.
However, when examined closely, there is a startling similarity similarity between the folklore of Adam & Eve of Bible / Quran and the Jain annals.
Adam was supposed to be living with Eve in the Garden of Eden where all they desired was given to them by nature. Then at one point of time their paradise was lost and they had to till the land and start working for food.
Jain annals claim that in the third epoch of the descending phase of Kala Chakra, our planet was like the Garden of Eden where there were special "Kalpa Trees" that provided everything the humans needed. Similar to the Abrahamic folklore, the Jain annals claim that the humans those days lived in pairs like that of Adam and Eve and rejoiced. However, as the 3rd epoch was nearing its end, because of change of climatic conditions the special "Kalpa Trees" went extinct and thus the humanity was forced to move out of their private gardens and form civilized societies.
As per Jain annals, among the first humans who moved out of these paradises was "Nabi-Raja" and her consort. Nabi-Raja was the person who organized humans in civilized societies and set forth the rules of human behavior in the changed scenario.
This is exactly what prophet Adam is supposed to have done. In Islam, He is referred to as "Nabi-Adam". Compare the similarity in name with that of "Nabi-Raja" in Jain annals. Islam further claims that Nab-Adam descended out of Garden of Eden in the Indian subcontinent at the island of Cylone (Sri Lanka). This again further points towards South India that Jainism regards was the hub of Jainism and its Dravidian culture.
Thus, though Jainism does not believe in a creator, its annals do point that there was a point where civilization on our planet started and the stories of this starting point of our current day civilization are remarkable very similar to those of Abrahamic traditions.
Love
Amit
eMail- [email protected]
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
There is no need for Jainism to seek confirmation in Christianity and Islam. You are saying all this with such conviction. Have you read about 'Anekantavada' or 'Syadavada'?
Anekantavada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anekantavada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia