Unlike some religious and philosophical systems that grapple with mortality, Jainism, along with related Dharma traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism, primarily addresses the problem of rebirth. The very concept of saṃsāra, often translated into English as “reincarnation,” highlights the core concern of repeated embodiment, as “reincarnation” literally suggests “becoming flesh again.” In Jainism, the ultimate aspiration is not to perpetuate physical existence or even extend one’s lifespan, but to permanently escape the cycle of post-mortem embodiment.
This spiritual path may seem perplexing or even unbelievable to those unfamiliar with Jainism. Ernst Becker, in his influential book The Denial of Death, expressed skepticism, stating that religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism “performed the ingenious trick of pretending not to want to be reborn, which is a sort of negative magic: claiming not to want what you really want most”. However, the presumption that the desire for rebirth (or eternal life) is universal clashes with the Jain perspective, which emphasizes the pervasive nature of suffering (duḥkha) in the world and the possibility of attaining a higher state of existence.
The interconnected concepts of karma and saṃsāra, diverging from established Vedic thought, were likely initially introduced by the Jains, Buddhists, and Ājīvikas (Bronkhorst 2011, 7–32). These early śramaṇa, or “striver,” groups, active in the mid-to-late first millennium BCE, viewed the world as inherently full of suffering, regardless of social standing.
They understood saṃsāra, a continual return to this world, as the result of accumulated karmas and their subsequent consequences. Saṃsāra, derived from the Sanskrit root saṃ + √sṛ, meaning “going or wandering through” (Monier-Williams), specifically denotes the cycle of rebirth and redeath, also referred to as reincarnation, transmigration, or metempsychosis. It is crucial to distinguish this idea of cyclic individual existence from the concept of cyclic cosmic existence. The latter represents a constant, impersonal universal process, whereas the former is a personal and modifiable process concerning the individual’s journey within the universe.
Jainism posits that all actions inevitably cause suffering to some living being, leading to the accumulation of karma that binds the soul (jīva) to the cycle of rebirth. Since there is no divine intervention in karmic consequences, liberation from rebirth hinges on preventing new karma accumulation (saṃvara) through careful action and minimizing harm, alongside eliminating existing karma (nirjarā) through austerities (tapas) like fasting.
Early Jainism prioritized liberation (mokṣa) as the sole goal. By eradicating all karma, the jīva escapes its physical form and ascends to the universe’s summit (lokākāśa), joining liberated souls (siddhas). Freed from saṃsāra, the soul is eternally free from suffering, both experienced and inflicted, and exists in a state of pure knowledge (jñāna), perception (darśana), energy (vīrya), and bliss (sukha). Distinctively, unlike contemporaneous dualistic traditions like Sāṃkhya, Jainism uniquely assigns a physical location within the cosmos for its liberated souls. Although fundamentally non-material, the liberated jīva remains within cosmic space, as its movement is limited by the absence of a medium for motion beyond.
Initially, Jainism emphasized the ascetic path, lacking a well-defined lay community and dependence on householders for support. Early texts frequently condemned the householder’s life due to its inherent generation of suffering and karma. Jain renunciants considered all births within the four destinies (gatis)—human, heavenly, infernal, and plant/animal—undesirable, viewing the final birth as the only truly “good” one. However, mirroring developments in other śramana traditions, a lay Jain community and dharma gradually arose, promoting gradual saṃsāric progress and auspicious rebirths through monastic settlements, socio-political expansion, lay patronage, and doctrinal and philosophical evolution.
