A central teacher of the Jain tradition, roughly contemporary with the Buddha, associated with a rigorous ethics of non-harm.
Mahavira is a central teacher of the Jain tradition, generally placed as roughly contemporary with the Buddha. He is most strongly associated with a rigorous ethics of non-harm, and he is a good example of a figure the archive can discuss meaningfully even before it has a dedicated tradition page for his tradition.
For transparency: this archive does not yet have a full Jainism tradition overview, so this page links to the concepts most closely associated with Mahavira rather than to a tradition page that doesn't exist. That is a deliberate choice — the archive would rather link to real, existing material than fabricate a link. A proper Jainism page is a natural future addition, and when it exists this page will connect to it.
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The principle of non-harm or non-violence — developed with particular rigor in some traditions and adapted into modern political thought.
The principle linking action to consequence, understood differently across Indian traditions.
The idea of a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth — a shared framework across several traditions that nonetheless interpret it differently.
The founding teacher of the Buddhist tradition — a figure whose core teachings are well attested while much of the traditional biography is later material.
An ancient Indian tradition known for a rigorous ethics of non-harm and a distinctive analysis of karma and the soul.