Śvetāmbara

Śvetāmbara is one of the two major Jain traditions. Its name means “white-clad,” reflecting the white garments traditionally worn by its monks and nuns.

Jainism: An Indian religious tradition emphasizing nonviolence, asceticism, and liberation from rebirth. Śvetāmbara is one of Jainism’s two major traditions.
Digambara: One of Jainism’s two major traditions, whose male mendicants traditionally renounce clothing. Digambara is Śvetāmbara’s principal counterpart, differing over ascetic practice and doctrine.
Jain schism: The historical separation of Jain communities into traditions with distinct practices and doctrines. Śvetāmbara’s history is bound to the gradual differentiation from Digambara.
Murtipujaka: A Śvetāmbara Jain community whose worship includes images of tirthankaras. Image worship distinguishes this major Śvetāmbara subgroup from non-image-worshipping communities.
Tirthankara: A spiritual teacher who has conquered rebirth and shown the path to liberation in Jainism. Śvetāmbara reveres the same lineage of twenty-four tirthankaras as other Jain traditions.
Jain nudity: The practice of renouncing clothing in certain Jain mendicant traditions as an expression of non-possession. Digambara nudity contrasts with Śvetāmbara mendicants’ traditional white garments.
Bhadrabahu: A Jain teacher traditionally associated with an early migration and the history of the community’s divisions. Later accounts connect Bhadrabahu with narratives explaining the split between Jain traditions.
Sthanakvasi: A Śvetāmbara Jain movement that rejects image worship and emphasizes meditation and ethical discipline. Its practices show that Śvetāmbara includes communities without temple image worship.
Jain monasticism: The disciplined mendicant life practiced by Jain monks and nuns to pursue liberation. Śvetāmbara identity is expressed through its mendicant orders and rules.
Jainism and gender: The ways Jain doctrines and institutions address gender, including women’s capacity for liberation. Śvetāmbara and Digambara traditions differ over whether women can attain liberation directly.

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