Chapter I - Introduction

Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India having its own dogma, metaphysics, philosophy, mythology, ethics and ritual. There is no room for the authority of the Vedas in Jaina philosophy; as such it is regarded as the nāstika philosophy along with the Bauddha and Cārvāka philosophies. Traditionally in India, one who denies the authority of the Veda is called nāstika. But it has similarity with the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy regarding the ultimate aim of life. The ultimate aim of the orthodox as also the Jaina system is to achieve liberation (mokṣa) from bondage caused by the influx of karman into the soul. To obtain liberation Jaina philosophy advocates three means which are known as rightfaith (samyak-darśana), right-knowledge (samayak-jñāna) and right-conduct (samyak-cāritra).