The module is designed to: 

a)       Introduce students to the history, doctrines, philosophy, ritual and worship, textual sources, anthropology and art of this ancient Indian religion. 

b)      Enable students to produce, through the planning and writing of extended essays, some analytical work in depth on particular aspects of Jainism.

c)       Provide a basis for students to distinguish between what is unique to the Jaina tradition and what it shares with the wider Indian religious culture.

Knowledge and Understanding:

a)       to situate the main beliefs and practices of the Jains in their cultural and historical contexts, with reference to key texts (verbal and visual); 

b)      to identify and analyse those elements that distinguish Jainism from other Indian religions and provide a critical account of the coherence and integrity of the tradition; 

c)       to give some account of the ways in which Jainism has changed, particularly over the last two centuries, and to suggest what historical, social and ethical dynamics are at work in the modern  community.

Methods will include:

• Informal and formal lecturing with use of:

Handouts

Slides

Videos

Printed material

• Small group preparation (based on designated reading and questions), followed by group presentations and a general discussion.
• A fieldwork trip to the Jain temple in Leicester.
• Talks by research students (when appropriate).

The material (whether doctrinal and textual or expressive and artistic) will be mainly examined from the historical and hermeneutical perspectives (i.e. the major concern will be to uncover meaning in relation to context).  These approaches will be supplemented by anthropological and sociological analyses, especially of the more recent material (in line with the dominant approach of much of the secondary literature).

Intellectual Skills:

 all traditional intellectual skills, such as critical analysis and evaluation of evidence.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

• empathetic and critical engagement with the beliefs and behaviour of others.

Transferable Skills:

• effective oral and written communication.
• effective organisation of material.
• the ability to argue cogently from the evidence.
• the ability to work collaboratively and effectively as a member of a group.
• the ability to undertake independent learning and thought, and to reflect on the results.
• familiarity with IT and computer programmes for the production of clear and typographically clean documents.
• personal attributes such as self-reliance and adaptability in a chosen project.

(Description of how the assessment (both formative and summative) will enable a student to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes.)

This double module is assessed by a portfolio of TWO essays.  These should be approximately 2000- 3000 words each in length

The syllabus will normally contain such key elements as:

• Early Jainism in its Indian cultural and religious context – its relation to Buddhism and Hinduism (Brahminism).
• The life of Mahåv¥ra and his relation to Pårßva.
• The locus of authority in Jainism - texts, renouncers, reformers and T¥rtha∫karas.
• The content of the earliest texts.
• The Jaina world-view, especially the development of karma doctrine and ethics (including the principle of ahiµså).
• Ascetic practices and 'ritual'; monasticism, meditation, and liberation.
• Umåsvåti's Tattvårtha SËtra.
• Jaina cosmology and its relation to ethics.
• Sectarianism: Ívetåmbaras, Digambaras, Sthånakavåsis, and others.
• Women in Jainism:Gender and Salvation.
• Jaina ‘philosophy’:Anekåntavåda.
• Jaina 'mysticism' - Kundakunda and knowledge of the self.
• The relation of monks and nuns to the laity according to the early texts.
• Lay Jaina practice: dietary habits.
• Jaina pËjå, temples and pilgrimage sites
• Jain art: its relation to ritual and cosmology.
• Modern Jain movements (Srimad Rajachandra and Kanji Svami).
• Jainism beyond India (especially in the U.K. and USA).
• A study trip to the Jain Temple in Leicester, and, whenever possible, visiting speakers

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Dundas, P       The Jains (Routledge, 1st. pub. 1992; 2nd. ed. 2002)

Jaini, P.S.         The Jaina Path of Purification(Berkeley, 1979)

Texts in translation

1  Granoff, P. (ed.)     The Clever Adulteress & Other Stories: A Treasury of Jain Literature(Ontario, 1990).

2  Hemacandra          The Lives of the Jain Elders(R. Fynes, trans, Oxford, 1998).

3  Hemachandra        The Yogashastra of Hemachandracharya(A. S. Gopani, trans., 1989).

4  Jacobi, H. (tr.)         Jaina Sutras Part I, Sacred Books of the East  Vol. XXII, Part II, SBEVol. XLV (Motilal, Delhi, repr. 1980, 1973).

5  Umåsvåti (trans. N. Tatia)  That Which Is: Tattvårtha SËtra (San Francisco, 1994).  Two other translations are also available in the library

6  Kundakunda (trans. J. L. Jaini)   Samayasåra    (1990).  Also available trans. by A. Chakravarti.

Secondary sources

7    Babb, L.                 Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture(Berkeley, 1996).

8    Banks, M.              Organizing Jainism in India and England(Oxford, 1992).

9    Bronkhorst, J.       The Two Traditions of Meditation in Ancient India(Delhi, 1993).

10  Caillat, C.              Atonements in the Ancient Ritual of the Jaina Monks(Ahmedabad, 1975).

11  Caillat, C.              'Jainism' in Eliade, M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Religion(Chicago).

12  Carrithers, M. &  Humphrey, C. (eds.)  The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society(CUP, 1991).

13  Carrithers, M.        'Naked Ascetics in Southern Digambar Jainism' in Man 24:219-35 (1989).*

14  Carrithers, M.        'Jainism and Buddhism as  Enduring historical Streams' in Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford21: 141-63 (Oxford, 1990).*

15  Cort, J.E.               Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India(OUP, 2001)

15a  Cort, J.E.             Liberation and Wellbeing: A Study of the Ívetåmbar MËrtipËjak Jains of North Gujarat.  Ph.D. diss.  (Harvard University, 1989).

16  Cort, J.E.               'Medieval Jaina Goddess Traditions' in NumenVol, XXXIV, Fasc.2, 1987, pp.235-255.

17  Cort, J.E.               'MËrtipËjå in Ívetåmbar Jain Temples' in Religion in India(ed. T.N. Madan) Delhi, 1991, pp.212-223.

18  Cort, J.E. (ed)       Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Cultures in Indian History (New York, 1998)

18a Cort, J.E.              ‘The Ívetåmbar MËrtipËjak Jain  Mendicant’ in in Man 26:651-71 (1991).*

19  Cort, J.E.               'The Veneration of Jina Images' and 'Jain Questions and Answers: Who Is God and How Is He Worshiped' in Donald S. Lopez (ed.) Religions of India in Practice(Princeton, 1995).

20  de Bary, W.T.(ed.) Sources of Indian TraditionVol. I. (New York, 1958).

21  Doniger, W. (ed.)  Puråˆa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (New York, 1993).

22  Folkert, K.W.        Scripture and Community: Collected Essays on the Jains, ed. J.E. Cort (Atlanta, 1993).

23  Folkert, K.W.        'Jainism' in Hinnells, J.R. (ed.) A Handbook of Living Religions(Penguin, 1985).

24  Glasenapp, Helmuth Von (trans. Gifford, B.)      The Doctrine of Karman in Jain Philosophy(1991).

25  Glasenapp, Helmuth Von (trans. Shrotri, S. B.)   Jainism: An Indian religion of Salvation(Delhi, 1999; 1st. pub. 1925).

26  Granoff, P.            'Jain Stories Inspiring Renunciation' in Donald S. Lopez (ed.) Religions of India in Practice(Princeton, 1995).

27  Humphrey, C. & Laidlaw, J.         The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship(Oxford, 1994).

28  Jaini, P.S.              Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women(California, 1991).

29  Jaini, P.S.              'Karma and the Problem of Rebirth in Jainism', in W. O'Flaherty (ed.), Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, California 1980, pp. 217-238.

29a Jaini, P.S.              'Íramaˆas: Their Conflict with Bråhmaˆical Society' in Chapters in Indian CivilixzationVol. 1, J. W. Elder (ed.) (Iowa, 1970).*

30  Johnson, W.J.        'The Religious Function of Jaina Philosophy: Anekåntavåda Reconsidered' in Religion(January 1995) 25, pp. 41-50.

31  Johnson, W.J.        Harmless Souls: Karmic Bondage and Religious Change in Early Jainism(Motilal Banarsidass, 1995).

32  Laidlaw, J.            Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society Among the Jains(OUP, 1995).

33  Lopez, D. (ed.)      Religions of India in Practice(Princeton, 1995).

34  Matilal, B.K.         Central Philosophy of Jainism (Anekånta Våda)(Ahmedabad, 1981).

35  Pal, P.                    The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India(Los Angeles, 1994).

36  Sangave, V.A.       Jaina Community: A Social Survey (Bombay, 1980).

37  Schubring, W.       The Doctrine of the Jainas(Delhi, repr. 1978).

38  Shah, U.P.             'Jainism' in New Encyclopaedia Britannica.

39  Smet, R. & Watanabe, K. (eds.) Jain Studies in Honour of Jozef Deleu(Tokyo, 1993).

40  Singhi, N.K. (ed.)  Ideal, Ideology and Practice  (India, 1987).

41  Tatia, N.                Aspects of Jaina Monasticism(1981).

42  Tatia, N.                Studies in Jaina Philosophy (Varanasi, 1951).

43  Wagle, N.K. & Qvarnström, O. (eds)       Approaches to Jaina Studies(Toronto, 1999)

44  Williams, R.          Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Íråvakåcåras(London, 1963).

45  Zimmer, H.            Philosophies of India(Princeton, 1951).