Jainism, also known as
Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four
tirthankaras, with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third
tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the 9th century BCE, and the twenty-fourth
tirthankara Mahavira, around 600 BCE. Jainism is considered an eternal
dharma with the
tirthankaras guiding every time cycle of the cosmology. The three main pillars of Jainism are
ahiแนsฤ (non-violence),
anekฤntavฤda (non-absolutism), and
aparigraha (asceticism).