As noted, however, Jain mythology asserts that the line of Tirthankars in the present era began with Rishabhdeva ; moreover, Jains themselves believe that Jainism has no single founder, and that it has always existed and will always exist, although it is occasionally forgotten by humans.

* Rishaba — Rishi mentioned in Rig Veda and later in several Puranas, and believed by Jains to be the first official religious guru of Jainism, as accredited by later followers.

Likewise a popular Hindu ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala, India is the Tabuh Rah blood offering to Theyyam gods, despite being forbidden in the Vedic philosophy of sattvic Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, Theyyam deities are propitiated through the cock sacrifice where the religious cockfight is a religious exercise of offering blood to the Theyyam gods.

Contemporary Jainism is a small but influential religious minority with as many as 6 million followers in India and growing immigrant communities in North America, Western Europe, the Far East, Australia and elsewhere.

Sculpture representing two founders of Jainism: left, Rishabha ( Jain tirthankar ) | Rishabha first of the 24 tirthankara s ; right Mahavira, the last of those 24, who consolidated and reformed the religious and philosophical system.

* Independent Religion – From the Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Jainism: "... Along with Hinduism and Buddhism, it is one of the three most ancient Indian religious traditions still in existence.

During the rule of the 15th Kirata King Jinghri, another religious doctrine, Jainism, was being preached by Mahavir in India.

Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of South Asia.

Despite being forbidden in the Vedic philosophy of sattvic Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism., Theyyam deities are propitiated through the rooster sacrifice where the religious cockfight is a religious exercise of offering blood to the Theyyam gods.

Several places in the Himalaya are of religious significance in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.

Today people from various religious faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Jainism live together united, making it a place of enormous sacred importance.

Through the ages, Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God and this has resulted in Jainism being labeled as nāstika darsana or atheist philosophy by the rival religious philosophies.

Many religious traditions ( e. g. Buddhism, Jainism, the Christian desert fathers ) include practices that involve restraint with respect to actions of body, speech, and mind.

During the Shiva Kavi period ( see Shivakavi Trayamu, the Trinity of Shaivite Poets ), the new religions Shaivism and Vaishnavism were spreading in Andhra, resulting in conflict between these two groups as well as between the two established religious groups, Buddhism and Jainism.

However, the term sramana is a general term for Indian religious man in Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvika.

* Homa, a religious practise in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, involving making offerings into a consecrated fire

Jainism is a religious tradition in which all life is considered to be worthy of respect and Jain teaching emphasises this equality of all life advocating the non-harming of even the smallest creatures.

This latter scenario would have been comparable with the later Gupta monarchs, who were predominantly Vaiṣṇavites, but under whose regimes heterodox religious movements like Buddhism and Jainism were allowed to flourish.

In Jainism, Mahavir Jayanti, also known as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, is the most important religious holiday.

The guru-shishya tradition ( parampara ) is a hallowed one in Hinduism and appears in other religious groups in India, such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Later, it was performed in all religious places of Jainism as well as Buddhist monasteries.

Lacto-vegetarian diets are popular with many followers of the Eastern religious traditions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Jainism emphasizes the equality of all life, advocating harmlessness towards all, whether the creatures are great or small.

Jainism emphasizes the equality of all life, advocating harmlessness towards all, whether great or small.

Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to Jainism.

The existence of unseen microbiological life was postulated by Jainism, which is based on Mahavira's teachings as early as 6th century BCE.

Compassion for all life, human and nonhuman, is central to Buddhism, which was founded by Siddhattha Gotama ; and also Jainism, which was founded by Mahavira 599 – 527 BC.

Followers of Jainism believe that everything from animals to inanimate objects have life in different degree and they go to great lengths to minimise any harm to it.

Jainism teaches followers to have tremendous respect for all of life.

Throughout his life, he studied Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sufism in addition to his academic and monastic studies.

Samsāra or Sangsāra ( Sanskrit: स ं स ा र ) ( in Tibetan called " khorwa "), literally meaning " continuous flow ", is the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth ( reincarnation ) within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Yoga and Sikhism.

Orphism, Platonism, Jainism and Buddhism all discuss the transmigration of beings from one life to another.

In Jainism, is the worldly life characterized by continuous rebirths and reincarnations in various realms of existence.

Hinduism has preached about humility and egoless state through numerous sacred scripts and sages which dates back to 5500 – 2600 BCE. Hinduism has influenced many originating religions like Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism regarding egoless state and nirvana or mukti. Eknath Easwaran writes that the Gita's subject is " the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious ", and " The language of battle is often found in the scriptures, for it conveys the strenuous, long, drawn-out campaign we must wage to free ourselves from the tyranny of the ego, the cause of all our suffering and sorrow ".

Many religious orders adhere to a mendicant way of life, including the Catholic mendicant orders, Hindu ascetics, some dervishes of Sufi Islam, and the monastic orders of Jainism and Buddhism.

Unlike his father Chandragupta ( who was a Hindu in major part of his life and followed Jainism in older days ), Bindusara believed in the Ajivika sect.

Towards the end of his life he developed an interest in Jainism.

Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, believed that the only way to be released from the cycle of life ( birth, death, and then rebirth ), one must follow, like Buddhists, ahimsa and not harm any living creature ( Regenstein 1991, p. 229 ).

Adipurana written in Champu style, a mixed form of prose and verse is a Kannada version of the Sanskrit work by Jinasena and details the life of Rishabha, the first Tirthankara of Jainism, in sixteen cantos.

In Jainism, ajiva is anything that has no soul or life, the polar opposite of jiva.

In the Far East, a contemplative life not centered on the idea of deities began in the sixth century BCE with the rise of Jainism, Buddhism, and certain sects of Hinduism in India, and of Taoism in China.

Indeed, this day is not merely a traditional ritual, but a first step on their path to liberation or salvation, the final goal of every man's life, according to the teachings of Jainism.