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There is evidence to show that so far back as the first centuty B. C. there were people who were worshipping Rsabhadeva. Archaeological evidence belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization also lend support to the hoary antiquity of the Jaina tradition. However, we are now is an unassailable position to state that Jaina religion had evolved its definite shape and substance at least before 800 B. C. and it had carved out its name and fame as one of the sects representing Sramanic ideology, emphasizing principles of self-discipline and non-violence.
According to Jainism, the goal of life is the restoration of the pristine purity of the soul, so that man may attain pure knowledge. The concept of man in Jainism is that every soul (man) has got infinite capacity for spirtual progress and that he can by its very nature gain infinite knowledge and can enjoy boundless happiness. The fact is that the primary cause of pleasure and pain is within us, but they have been wrongly imposed on external things in the empirical world. The practice of aloneness, shelterlessness saves man from the feelings of pleasure and pain due to external causes. Thus man can understand the mystery of pleasure and pain by knowing his own self.
It may be noted here that all the activities prompted by passions-anger, pride, deceit and greed-are vitiated. They attract Karmic matter to the soul. Thus all our vitiated activities do not come from void but from the impressions (Karma) that lie latent in our subtle body. A latent impression (Karma) in our subtle body becomes active on attaining maturity. We have, then, an inner vibration. This inner vibration is known as inclination (Adhyavasaya). This inclination comes in contact with the astral body and assumes a colouring known as Lesya, which expresses itself in all our activities, good and bad. The observance of vows controls our vitiated activities. The Samanasuttam tells us that gambling, drinking, hunting, harshness in speech, callousness in punishment, malpractices in monetary matters and coital contact with woman (or man) other than one's own wife (or husband) are sins and all these seven have been said to be vicious habits. All these should be abandoned by the householder. Anuvratas (partial vows), Gunavratas (vows of withdrawal), and Siksavratas (vows of pursuance) should be followed by the householder for his own ethico-spiritual progress. A voluntary limitation of property with its corollary of the concept of holding property in trust for the larger good of society results in social justice and a fair distribution of wealth and resources among individuals as well as among nations.
In Jainism, the basis of socio-spiritual ethics is Ahimsa (non-violence). The positive meaning of non-violence is active Love. Non-violence is not a static but a dynamic concept. In its dynamic condition, it does not mean meek
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