UPSC Preparation: Art and Culture – Jainism and Cārvāka

The origin of Jainism could be traced back to India thousands of years ago to the 2^nd or 3^rd millennium BCE and few archeological remnants found from the sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation seemed to mention about the Tirthankaras of Jainism. Jainism is believed to have influenced two other important religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. The core beliefs of Jainism constitute the progress of one’s soul towards a divine consciousness by the means of wisdom, self-reformation, self-control and no-violence towards all living beings. The Jain community consists of about 10 million individuals worldwide with majority of them living in India and others in North America, East Africa and Asia. A unique feature of Jainism is the belief of the followers in the 24 great teachers known as ‘Tirthankaras’ who taught the importance of living in the harmony with the Universe and achieving spiritual liberation.

Cārvāka school of materialism which is also known as ‘Lokāyata’ (means “Worldly Ones” in Sanskrit) is a philosophical Indian school of materialists who supposedly stood against the view of karma, the after-world, liberation (Moksha), the dominance of sacred texts, the self and the concept of immortality. The Cārvāka school only believed in direct perception (Anubhava). One of the most important contributions of the Cārvāka school was in the field of science. The Cārvāka school’s emphasis on the validation of the truth in an empirical manner emerged as the golden rule of the scientific method. Do watch the video below to learn more about Jainism and the Cārvāka school of materialism.

 

In the video titled “Art and culture: Indian Philosophy 3.3 Jainism and Carvaka - Prepare for UPSC IAS”, Dr. Roman Saini discussess about two major heterdox schools: Jainism and Cārvāka. Dr. Roman deals with the introduction to Jainism, doctrines of Jainism (Panchmahavrata), philosophy of Anekantavada aka Syadvada, 2 Jain councils and Cārvāka/Lokāyata school.

 

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