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Mahavira

(Encyclopedia)Mahavira: see Jainism.

Jainism

(Encyclopedia)Jainism jīˈnĭzəm [key] [i.e., the religion of Jina], religious system of India practiced by about 5,000,000 persons. Jainism, Ajivika, and Buddhism arose in the 6th cent. b.c. as protests against ...

Ajivika

(Encyclopedia)Ajivika äjēˈvĭkə [key], religious sect of medieval India, once of major importance. The Ajivikas were an ascetic, atheistic, anti-Brahmanical community whose pessimistic doctrines are related to ...

Girnar

(Encyclopedia)Girnar gĭrnärˈ [key], sacred mountain, 3,666 ft (1,117 m) high, Gujarat state, W India, on the Kathiawar Peninsula; a pilgrimage place for adherents of Jainism. It has five peaks, the sides of whic...

Khandwa

(Encyclopedia)Khandwa kŭndˈvə [key], city (1991 pop. 145,133), Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Khandwa is a district administrative center and a market for cotton, timber, and grain. There are cotton gins, ...

Kosala

(Encyclopedia)Kosala kōˈsələ [key], ancient Indian kingdom, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Oudh. Its capital was Ayodhya. It was a powerful state in the 6th cent. b.c. but was weakened by a se...

karma

(Encyclopedia)karma or karman kärˈmə, kärˈmən [key], [Skt.,=action, work, or ritual], basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The doctrine of karma states that one's state in this life is a r...

nirvana

(Encyclopedia)nirvana nērväˈnə [key], in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, a state of supreme liberation and bliss, contrasted to samsara or bondage in the repeating cycle of death and rebirth. The word in Sansk...

Prakrit literature

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit literature. By the 6th cent. b.c. the people of India were speaking and writing languages that were much simpler than classical Sanskrit. These vernacular forms, of which there were several, a...

ahimsa

(Encyclopedia)ahimsa əhĭmˈsä [key] [Sanskrit,=noninjury], ethical principle of noninjury to both men and animals, common to Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. Ahimsa became influential in India after 600 b.c., co...
 

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