Article: Jain calendar

Detailed colophon
Image by British Library © CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)

Beginning in 78 CE, the Śaka era or Śaka-saṃvat was once widespread in western India, particularly in Gujarat and Saurashtra. It is used extensively in Jain manuscripts and inscriptions. Sometimes it is mentioned alone, but, in most cases, it occurs together with the date in the Vikrama era. It is no longer in use today.

Generally, the year is counted when it has finished. Therefore in order to get the equivalent year in the Common Era, one has to add 78 to the Śaka era date. This example shows the date as part of the colophon, written in red ink.

The term ‘Śaka’ refers to a king, most probably belonging to ‘one of the non indigenous dynasties of the first century A.D.’ (Salomon 1998: 184).

Floating candles on Dīvālī day
Image by siddhu2020 © CC BY 2.0

The Jain era, known as Vīra-saṃvat and abbreviated as vī° saṃ°, starts from 527 BCE in the Śvetāmbara tradition or 662 BCE according to the Digambaras. This is the year of the emancipation from the cycle of rebirth of Mahāvīra, the 24th Jina.

Although this dating system is of great importance in the written tradition, it has not been used as often as might be expected. For example, it is not found in manuscript colophons and only occasionally in inscriptions. However, it is known from Jain texts, and Jain authors use it when referring to the date of a work. Even so, from the 20th century it has been widely used in books which Jains have published in India.

This dating system is habitually used along with others in published works. There are plenty of examples of cumulative dating formulas, such as vīrābda 2480 vaikramābda 2010 śākābda 1876 khristābda 1954 for 1954 CE.

The 2500th year of the Jain era, which corresponds to 1973 to 1974 CE, is specially well known because it saw great celebrations of Mahāvīra’s teachings. The day Mahāvīra attained nirvāṇa is also the date of the Jain Dīvālī.

Some Jain books written in the Indian languages and published in India since the 20th century show a new development. This is the creation of new eras connected with the names of Śvetāmbara religious teachers regarded as leading figures by their group of followers. These eras start in the year the religious teachers’ died. For example, dharma saṃ. 25 refers to Vijayadharma-sūri, who died in 1921, and equates to 1946 CE. These eras are used only within very limited circles, however, since these eponymous teachers do not enjoy the same status among all Śvetāmbara Jains.

Śvetāmbara monks
Image by Hoorob – Robert Tyabji © CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The 12 months of the Jain year begin the day after the festival of Dīvālī, which takes place in late September to October in the Western calendar. The exact date varies because it is calculated using the lunar calendar.

From the point of view of Jain religious life and practice, the fundamental division of the year is between the rainy season and the rest of the year. This distinction has been in effect since the beginnings of Jainism and has its own terminology. The four-month period is commonly known as cāturmāsa in Sanskrit, comāsa in Hindi and comāsu in Gujarati. It starts on Āṣāḍha Bright 14 – corresponding to mid-July -– and ends with Kārttika Bright 15 in regions affected by the north Indian climate. The rest of the year is referred to as ‘eight months’ or by an old technical term long since out of use, the Prakrit uubaddha or Jain Sanskrit ṛtubaddha (see Balbir 1997).

This distinction determines major differences and specific rules in the behaviour of monks and nuns. Outside the monsoon season, Jain mendicants have a wandering life, in which they do not stay anywhere longer than a few days. During the monsoon they are supposed to stay in one place, creating a period of close interaction between mendicants and laity. Thus this is a time for intense religious practice for lay people and for important festivals such as Paryuṣaṇ. The arrival of a monastic group for the four-month period is welcomed with great pomp by the local laity and has led to the creation of a special type of artefact among Śvetāmbaras, the ‘letters of invitation’ – vijñapti-patras. The British Library holds a colourful example from the 18th century.

The rainy season is a time when life becomes more abundant, because of the combined effect of warmth and humidity. This is especially true of minute forms of life. This period is therefore also a time when it becomes very easy to harm living creatures by accident, thus breaking the Jain tenet of non-violence without meaning to. Moreover, travel becomes more difficult for practical reasons, especially for Jain ascetics, who can only travel on foot. Therefore they stay in a single place for the duration of the rainy season. In addition, pilgrimages are not performed, so in normally vibrant sacred places, such as Mount Shatrunjaya, the managing trusts do not make the usual facilities available.

Sun and moon
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Each lunar month is divided into two fortnights – pakṣa in Sanskrit – the ‘dark’ fortnight and the ‘bright’ fortnight.

The dark fortnight or ‘dark half‘ runs from the full moon to the new moon. It is known by an assortment of names, such as kṛṣṇa-pakṣa, asita-pakṣa or any other adjective meaning ‘black’ or ‘dark’ followed by the word pakṣa. In the abbreviated form often used in manuscript colophons, calendars and so on, it is given as vadi or vada.

The bright fortnight or ‘bright half‘ runs from the new moon to the full moon. It is known as śukla-pakṣa or any other adjective meaning ‘white’ or ‘bright’ plus pakṣa. In the abbreviated form often used in manuscript colophons, calendars and so on, it is usually sudi or suda.

The beginning of the month depends on the region. In the north Indian calendar a month starts with the dark half of the month and ends with the bright half. But Gujaratis follow the south India system, where the month starts with the bright half and ends with the new moon or dark half (see Cort 2001: 179 and 180 with a table).

In the religious calendar, the time of a change in the phase of the moon is crucial and often corresponds to a specific ritual or holy day.

The nine celestial elements
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Civil days are grouped into sets of seven, which each forms a week. The names of the days follow the pattern of a name of a planet plus the word ‘day’ – vāra.

These names appear in the dating of manuscripts, inscriptions and so on and are still in common use today. Note that in the written tradition there is a great variety of possible names, because there are several words used for ‘moon’, ‘Mars’, ‘Jupiter’ and so on.