During the 6th century BCE, according to an ancient Buddhist tract, as many as 62 different philosophical and religious schools flourished in India. Among them, only the Ajivikas survived till the late medieval times, while Jainism and Buddhism continued to flourish until the modern times. Mahavira and Buddha, the founders of these two faiths, based their ethical teachings against the sacrificial cult of the Vedic religion. These sects are called heterodox – not conforming to orthodox beliefs.
1. Jainism – Sources and Councils
- Mahavira's preaching was orally transmitted by his disciples over about one thousand years.
- First Jain Council – Pataliputra: held two hundred years after the nirvana (death) of Mahavira to codify the canon. It ended as a failure because it could not arrive at a unanimous decision in defining the canon.
- Second Jain Council – Vallabhi: held in the 5th century CE; it was successful in resolving the differences, enabling scholars to explain the principles of Jainism with certainty.
- Around 500 CE the Jain acharyas (teachers) realised it was extremely difficult to keep memorising the entire Jain literature. Significant knowledge was already lost and the rest was tampered with modifications, so they decided to document the Jain literature.