Buddhism,[5] and that is, that
the former represents a theological mean between Brahmanism and
Buddhism.

Mah[=a]v[=i]ra, the reputed founder of his sect, was, like Buddha
and perhaps his other rivals, of aristocratic birth. His father is
called king, but he was probably hereditary chief of a district
incorporated as a suburb of the capital city of Videha, while by
marriage he was related to the king of Videha, and to the ruling house
of M[=a]gadha. His family name was Jn[=a]triputra, or, in his own
Prakrit (Ardham[=a]gadh[=i]) dialect, N[=a]taputta; but by his sect he
was entitled the Great Hero, Mah[=a]v[=i]ra; the Conqueror, Jina; the
Great One, Vardham[=a]na (Vardahmana in the original), etc. His sect
was that of the Nirgranthas (Nigganthas), _i.e_., 'without bonds,'
perhaps the oldest name of the whole body. Later there are found no
less than seven sub-sects, to which come as eighth the Digambaras, in
contradistinction to all the seven Cvet[=a]mbara sects. These two
names represent the two present bodies of the church, one body being
the Cvet[=a]mbaras, or 'white-attire' faction, who are in the north
and west; the other, the Digambaras, or 'sky-attire,' _i.e_., naked
devotees of the south. The latter split off from the main body about
two hundred years after Mah[=a]v[=i]ra's death; as has been thought by
some, because the Cvet[=a]mbaras refused to follow the Digambaras in
insisting upon nakedness as the rule for ascetics.[6] The earlier
writings show that nakedness was recommended, but was not
compulsory.[7] Other designations of the main sects, as of the
sub-sects, are found. Thus, from the practice of pulling out the hairs
of their body, the Jains were derisively termed Luncitakecas, or
'hair-pluckers.' The naked devotees of this school are probably the
gymnosophists of the Greek historians, although this general term may
have been used in describing other sects, as the practice of
dispensing with attire is common even to-day with many Hindu
devotees.[8]

An account of the Jain absurdities in the way of speculation would
indeed give some idea of their intellectual frailty, but, as in the
case of the Buddhists, such an account has but little to do with their
religion. It will suffice to state that the 'ages' of the Brahmans
from whom Jain and Buddhist derived their general conceptions of the
ages, are here reckoned quite differently; and that the first Jina of
the long series of pre-historic prophets lived more