<p>Jainism - with Hinduism and Buddism - is an integral part of Indian culture, and its adherents continue to make a vital contribution to the religious and economic life of the subcontienent. Furthermore, Jainism, with its distinctive views on matters such as non-violence and intellectural relativity, has clear relevance to life and thought in the 20th-century. In this up-to-date guide to one of the world's oldest religions, Paul Dundas goes beyond recent accounts of Jainism which have concentrated on doctrine to give instead a strong sense of Jainism as a living and dynamic faith. He focuses on the Jains as agents within their own destinies and on the manner in which they have, over the centuries, structured and made sense of their lives as Jains. Paul Dudas interprets the Jain religion as both a historical, evolving phenomenon and a mode of life which provides a coherent and satisfying world view for its followers. He demonstrates the complex and multidiemnsional nature of Jainism, traces its evolution, and assesses its principlal doctrinal and sectarian characteristics, giving special attention to Jain attitudes towards scripture, and the role of ritual and sacred places.</p>

The Jains (Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

Religion & Spirituality

Dundas, Paul

Other Eastern Religions & Sacred Texts

Routledge

The Jains (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

The Indian religion of Jainism, whose central tenet involves non-violence to all creatures, is one of the world's oldest and least-understood faiths. Dundas looks at Jainism in its social and doctrinal context, explaining its history, sects, scriptures and ritual, and describing how the Jains have, over 2500 years, defined themselves as a unique religious community. This revised and expanded edition takes account of new research into Jainism.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

<p>The Indian religion of Jainism, whose central tenet involves non-violence to all creatures, is one of the world's oldest and least-understood faiths. Dundas looks at Jainism in its social and doctrinal context, explaining its history, sects, scriptures and ritual, and describing how the Jains have, over 2500 years, defined themselves as a unique religious community. This revised and expanded edition takes account of new research into Jainism.</p>

History, Scripture and Controversy in a Medieval Jain Sect (Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies)

Examining the history and intellectual activity of the medieval Svetambara Jain renunciant order, the Tapa Gaccha, this book focuses on the consolidation by the Tapa Gaccha from the thirteenth century of its identity as the leading Svetambara order. The author argues that this was variously effected by negotiating the primacy of lineage, the posthumous divinity of one of its leaders,  the validity of styles of scriptural exegesis and customary practice and the status of non-Jains through the medium of chronicles and poetry and polemical engagement with other Jain orders and dissident elements within its own ranks.   Drawing on largely unstudied primary sources, the author demonstrates how Tapa Gaccha writers created a sophisticated intellectual culture which was a vehicle for the maintenance of sectarian identity in the early modern period. The book explores issues which have been central to our understanding of many of the questions currently being asked about the development not just of Jainism but of South Asian religions in general, such as the manner in which authority is established in relation to texts, the relationship between scripture, commentary and tradition and tensions both between and within sects.

Reference

Jains

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Books by Dundas, Paul

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dundas, Paul. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Jains (Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

The Jains (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

The Jains (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

History, Scripture and Controversy in a Medieval Jain Sect (Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies)

History, Scripture and Controversy in a Medieval Jain Sect (Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies)

Jains