Icons of Devotion

Introduction

The 24th and last Jain Tirthankara, Vardhamana Mahavira (c. 599- 527 BCE), a slightly older contemporary of Gautama Buddha, is credited with formalising Jain doctrine. While Jainism shares several tenets with Buddhism, it is uniquely grounded in three core principles: ahimsa (non~violence), aparigraha (non~possession or non~attachment), and anekantavada ( the doctrine of manifold perspectives or multiplicity of viewpoints). Together, these principles constitute not only a rigorous soteriological discipline aimed at individual emancipation from the cycle of birth and death (samsara), but also a profound ethical framework with enduring relevance. Articulated through the lifelong practices and teachings of twenty~three earlier Tirthankaras and brought to culmina~ tion by Mahavira, this lineage systematised the Jain dharma into a coherent ethical and metaphysical system.