Hinduism and Jainism

Thesis Statement

Regardless of being entirely different, Hinduism and Jainism share some aspects in common.

Introduction

In any religion or faith, the idea of a God is the basic principle and this principle is the foundation stone of complete network of religion. If person gets to know any religion's concept about God, then, he or she can easily develop that religion's perspectives on salvation, sin and man, developing a knowledgeable theory on that religion's practices and ideals, simultaneously. A prime reason for this is these practices and beliefs are second to the principle of God (Zimmer, pp. 13-16).

In both religions, i.e. Hinduism and Jainism there are different concepts about God. However, both of these two religions have, undoubtedly, the most sophisticated and elaborative principles about God and the primary place of practice of both of these religions is the Indian subcontinent. Regardless of having a good deal in mutual, the concepts about God in these two religions are distinctly and essentially different.

Hinduism's God

Wooburne summarized the concept of God in the Hindu religion, in his article The Idea of God in Hinduism stating that, In making endeavors to review the concept of God in Hinduism, it must be said that it would be more appropriate to talk about the “Ideas” of Hindus about God, as the history of Hinduism reveals a surprising forms of ideas. The proof; one can find the ideas of pantheism, monotheism, henotheism and polytheism, all in Hinduism (www.indiaparenting.com).

Hindu concept about God comprise of Krishna, Vishnu, Shakti, Shiva or Brahma. Vishu is believed to be the ultimate God in the Hindu tradition Vaishnavite and Krishna either believed to be an avatar of Vishnu or the Supreme Existence. On the other hand, Brahma is the Hindu God of Creation, Shakti the divine feminine power and Shiva is one amongst the five basic forms of God in the Samatra tradition of Hindu religion. All of these Gods are worshipped as Supreme Beings in varying forms; however, the worshipping God differs by geographical location, upbringing or tradition.

One can say that Hinduism is similar to Christianity because Christians also have various traditions and forms including Baptism, Methodism, Catholicism and so forth. In addition to this, Hinduism would have been parallel to Christianity only if the different traditions of Christians worshipped various figures from the Bible as the Divine God. A complete yet incomprehensible explanation of the idea of God in the Hindu religion can be given through this line; God is one, but also many (saif_w.tripod.com).

Jainism's God

If we talk about Jainism, the religion has an entirely different idea about God compared to what Hindus have. People belonging to Jainism do not believe in an eternal, omnipotent and all-powerful entity that created this universe. Although it may sound absurd that Jains do not believe in a God; however, it would not be appropriate to characterize the faith of Jains under the umbrella of atheism. The concept of God in Jainism is related to the unchangeable qualities of the universe ruled by sanctity ...