In short
This glossary defines 64 commonly used Jain terms in plain English — concepts, practices, roles and traditions. Where the site has a full page on a term, this glossary links to it.
This glossary has not yet had a final review by a knowledgeable reader. Definitions are kept short and general rather than sect-specific except where a difference is noted. Tell us if something needs correcting.
A
- Acharya
- The head of a monastic order or lineage — a senior teacher responsible for ordaining and guiding other monastics.
- Agama (also spelled Aagam)
- Scripture. Shwetambar tradition holds a canon of Agamas transmitted from Mahavira's teaching; Digambar tradition holds the original Agamas were lost and relies on later texts instead. Read more
- Ahimsa
- Non-violence in thought, word and deed toward all living beings. The foundational vow of Jainism, from which the other vows are traditionally understood to follow. Read more
- Ajiva
- Everything that is not soul: matter, and the non-material substances of motion, rest, space and time. One of the two basic categories of Jain metaphysics, alongside jiva. Read more
- Anekantavada
- The doctrine of many-sidedness: that reality is complex, and any single statement about it captures only one true perspective among several. Closely tied to syadvad. Read more
- Anuvrata
- A "small vow" — one of the five main vows as taken by a layperson, scaled to a householder's life rather than observed absolutely. Read more
- Aparigraha
- Non-possession or non-attachment: limiting what one owns and desires. For monastics, near-total renunciation of property; for laypeople, usually a self-imposed limit on wealth. Read more
- Aryika
- A fully ordained Digambar nun. The Digambar equivalent of a sadhvi in the Shwetambar tradition.
- Asrava
- The influx of karmic matter toward the soul, caused by activity of mind, speech and body. Becomes lasting bondage (bandha) only when combined with passion. Read more
- Asteya
- Non-stealing: not taking what has not been freely given. One of the five vows. Read more
- Ayambil
- A form of fasting in which only plain, unspiced boiled food is eaten once a day, without ghee, oil, dairy, sugar or raw vegetables. Read more
B
- Bandha
- The actual binding of karmic matter to the soul, following asrava. Its type, quantity, duration and intensity are analysed separately in Jain doctrine. Read more
- Bhavana
- A reflection or contemplation practised to cultivate a particular virtue or correct outlook — for example, meri bhavna, a well-known reflection on universal friendliness and forgiveness.
- Biyasana (also spelled Biyasan)
- A fasting observance of eating only twice in a day, at fixed sittings, with nothing taken in between.
- Brahmacharya
- Chastity. For monastics, complete celibacy; for laypeople, usually fidelity within marriage and restraint outside it. One of the five vows. Read more
C
- Chauvihar
- A vow to take nothing at all — no food, water or medicine — from sunset until sunrise the next day.
D
- Darshan
- The act of respectfully viewing a Tirthankara's image or a revered ascetic, understood as a devotional and merit-generating act in itself.
- Das Lakshan Parva (also spelled Dashlakshana)
- The ten-day Digambar festival of the ten supreme virtues, held during Paryushan, concluding in Kshamavani.
- Digambar
- "Sky-clad" — one of the two principal Jain traditions, whose fully ordained monks renounce clothing entirely as an expression of complete non-possession. Read more
E
- Ekasana
- A fasting observance of eating only once in a day, at a single sitting, remaining seated throughout.
G
- Gunasthana
- One of fourteen traditional stages of spiritual development, tracking a soul's progress from bound by wrong belief through to full liberation. Read more
- Guptdaan
- Giving without being named or acknowledged publicly — a respected form of charitable giving in Jain practice.
J
- Jiva
- The soul: a conscious, eternal substance. Jain philosophy attributes souls very widely — to humans, animals, plants and minute beings in earth, water, fire and air. Read more
K
- Kalpa Sutra
- A Shwetambar scripture, read aloud during Paryushan, containing the biography of Mahavira and accounts of earlier Tirthankaras.
- Karma
- In Jain doctrine, subtle physical matter that binds to the soul as a result of activity coloured by passion, obscuring its natural qualities. Not merely a moral principle, but a substance. Read more
- Kevala Jnana (also spelled Kevalgyan)
- Complete, unlimited omniscient knowledge, attained by a soul just before liberation. The highest of the five kinds of knowledge in Jain epistemology. Read more
- Kshamavani
- The Digambar day of forgiveness, following the tenth day of Das Lakshan, on which forgiveness is formally sought from all living beings.
M
- Micchami Dukkadam
- A Prakrit phrase meaning "may all my faults be forgiven," exchanged on Samvatsari and Kshamavani as a formal request for forgiveness.
- Moksha
- Liberation: the permanent freedom of the soul from karma and from the cycle of rebirth, the ultimate goal of Jain practice. Read more
- Muhpatti
- A small cloth worn over the mouth by Sthanakvasi and Terapanth mendicants, to avoid inadvertently harming minute airborne life while speaking.
- Muni
- A monk — a fully ordained male ascetic who has taken the five great vows (mahavratas).
N
- Nav Tattva
- The nine (or, in some counts, seven) fundamental realities of Jain philosophy, describing what exists and how the soul becomes bound by karma and is ultimately liberated. Read more
- Navkar Mantra (also spelled Namokar Mantra)
- The most fundamental Jain prayer, paying homage to five categories of supreme, liberated and virtuous souls rather than to any single individual or deity.
- Navkarsi
- The vow of not eating until a set time after sunrise (traditionally 48 minutes), the earliest point at which a fasting day's first meal may be taken.
- Nirjara
- The shedding of existing karma from the soul, chiefly through austerity (tapa) and the exhaustion of karma already bound. Read more
P
- Pachkhan (also spelled Pachchakhan)
- A formally taken vow of restraint for a set period — commonly around food and drink — undertaken with a fixed start and end condition.
- Panch Parmesthi
- The five supreme beings honoured in the Navkar Mantra: Arihant, Siddha, Acharya, Upadhyaya and Sadhu.
- Papa
- Demerit: inauspicious karma bound through violence, falsehood, theft or greed, producing suffering. Kept in the cycle of rebirth just as punya is. Read more
- Paryushan Parva
- The principal Shwetambar festival, eight days of introspection and repentance concluding in Samvatsari, the day of universal forgiveness.
- Prabhavana
- Spreading the light of the Dharma — making Jain teaching known and available. Also used for contributions that support that work.
- Pratikraman
- A ritual of introspection and repentance for faults committed knowingly or unknowingly, performed daily by many observant Jains and especially during Paryushan.
- Punya
- Merit: auspicious karma bound through compassion, charity and restraint, producing pleasant circumstances. Valuable along the path, but not itself the goal. Read more
R
- Ratnatraya
- The three jewels: right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge (samyak jnana) and right conduct (samyak charitra), held together as the path to liberation. Read more
S
- Sadhu
- A general term for a fully ordained male ascetic; also used within the Panch Parmesthi as the fifth of the five supreme beings.
- Sadhvi
- A fully ordained female ascetic in the Shwetambar tradition, equivalent to an Aryika among Digambars.
- Samvara
- The stopping of new karmic influx, achieved through disciplined conduct, restraint and right attitude. Read more
- Samvatsari
- The final day of Shwetambar Paryushan, the day of universal forgiveness, on which Micchami Dukkadam is exchanged.
- Samyak Charitra
- Right conduct: living according to right knowledge, chiefly through the five vows. The third of the three jewels. Read more
- Samyak Darshana
- Right faith: settled conviction in the soul, karma and the path to liberation as Jain teaching describes them. The first of the three jewels. Read more
- Samyak Jnana
- Right knowledge: accurate understanding of the fundamental realities (tattvas), held without confusion or contradiction. The second of the three jewels. Read more
- Sangh (also spelled Sangha)
- The Jain community as a whole, traditionally described as fourfold: monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.
- Santhara (also spelled Sallekhana)
- A rare vow of gradually withdrawing food and drink at the very end of life, taken with religious guidance and distinguished in Jain teaching from suicide by its absence of passion or despair. Read more
- Satya
- Truthfulness — speaking only what is true and also causes no harm. One of the five vows. Read more
- Shraman (also spelled Shramana)
- A general term for a renunciant ascetic; used as part of the name of some Sthanakvasi monastic organisations, such as the Shraman Sangh.
- Shwetambar
- "White-clad" — one of the two principal Jain traditions, whose monks and nuns wear simple white robes rather than remaining unclothed. Read more
- Siddha
- A liberated soul that has attained moksha and exists eternally free of karma and rebirth. The second of the five supreme beings in the Panch Parmesthi.
- Sthanakvasi
- A Shwetambar sub-tradition that rejects image worship, holding prayer and study in plain halls (sthanaks) rather than temples.
- Syadvad
- The "maybe" doctrine of conditional predication: that any statement about reality is true only from a particular standpoint, and should be qualified accordingly. Works alongside anekantavada. Read more
T
- Tapa (also spelled Tapasya)
- Austerity, of which Jain teaching names twelve kinds — six external, such as fasting, and six internal, such as repentance and meditation.
- Tattva
- A fundamental reality or truth. See Nav Tattva for the full set of nine (or seven). Read more
- Terapanth
- A Shwetambar sub-tradition founded by Acharya Bhikshu in 1760, distinguished by a single unified Acharya and centralised order. A separate Digambar Terapanth also exists.
- Tirthankara
- A liberated soul who has attained omniscience and re-established the Jain teaching for their era. Twenty-four are traditionally recognised, the most recent being Mahavira.
U
- Upadhyaya
- A senior monastic teacher responsible for the scriptural and doctrinal instruction of other ascetics — the fourth of the five supreme beings in the Panch Parmesthi.
- Upvas
- A complete fast: no food, and in its strictest form no water, for a full day or longer.