twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the 9th century BCE, and the twenty-fourth tirthankara Mahavira, around 600 BCE. Jainism is considered an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every time cycle of the cosmology. The three main pillars of Jainism are ahiṃsā (non-violence), anekāntavāda (non-absolutism), and aparigraha (asceticism). Jain monks take five main vows: ahiṃsā (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). These principles have affected Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly lacto-vegetarian lifestyle. Parasparopagraho jīvānām (the function of souls is to help one another) is the faith's motto, and the Namokar Mantra is its most common and strongest prayer. Jainism is one of the oldest religions still practiced today. It has two major ancient sub-traditions, Digambaras and Śvētāmbaras, which hold different views on ascetic practices, gender, and the texts considered canonical. Both sub-traditions have mendicants supported by laypersons (śrāvakas and śrāvikas). The Śvētāmbara tradition in turn has two sub-traditions: Deravasi also known as Mandirmargis, and Sthānakavasī.[2] The religion has between four and five million followers, known as Jains or Jainas, who reside mostly in India, where they numbered around 4.5 million at the 2011 census. Outside India, some of the largest Jain communities can be found in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Japan is also home to a fast-growing community of converts.[3] Major festivals include Paryushana and Das Lakshana, Ashtanika, Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, Akshaya Tritiya, and Dipawali.

Jainism is transtheistic and forecasts that the universe evolves without violating the law of substance dualism,[4] and the actual realization of this principle plays out through the phenomena of both parallelism and interactionism.[5]

Tattva connotes reality or truth in Jain philosophy and is the framework for salvation. According to Digambara Jains, there are seven tattvas: the sentient (jiva or living), the insentient (ajiva or non-living), the karmic influx to the soul (Āsrava, which is a mix of living and non-living), the bondage of karmic particles to the soul (Bandha),[9][10] the stoppage of karmic particles (Saṃvara), the wiping away of past karmic particles (Nirjarā), and the liberation (Moksha). Śvētāmbaras add two further tattvas, namely good karma (Punya) and bad karma (Paapa).[11][12][13] The true insight in Jain philosophy is considered as "faith in the tattvas".[12] The spiritual goal in Jainism is to reach moksha for ascetics, but for most Jain laypersons, it is to accumulate good karma that leads to better rebirth and a step closer to liberation.[14][15]

According to Jainism, the existence of "a bound and ever changing soul" is a self-evident truth, an axiom which does not need to be proven.[22] It maintains that there are numerous souls, but every one of them has three qualities (Guṇa): consciousness (chaitanya, the most important), bliss (sukha) and vibrational energy (virya).[23]

Saṃsāra Main articles: Saṃsāra (Jainism) and Vitalism (Jainism) The conceptual framework of the Saṃsāra doctrine differs between Jainism and other Indian religions. Soul (jiva) is accepted as a truth, as in Hinduism but not Buddhism. The cycle of rebirths has a definite beginning and end in Jainism.[27] Jain theosophy asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations as they circle through Saṃsāra,[28][29] going through five types of bodies: earth bodies, water bodies, fire bodies, air bodies and vegetable lives, constantly changing with all human and non-human activities from rainfall to breathing.[30] Harming any life form is a sin in Jainism, with negative karmic effects.[31][32] Jainism states that souls begin in a primordial state, and either evolve to a higher state or regress if driven by their karma.[33] It further clarifies that abhavya (incapable) souls can never attain moksha (liberation).[27][34] It explains that the abhavya state is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act.[35] Souls can be good or evil in Jainism, unlike the nondualism of some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.[34] According to Jainism, a Siddha (liberated soul) has gone beyond Saṃsāra, is at the apex, is omniscient, and remains there eternally.[36]