Studying Jainism: A Textual and Analytical Workbook on Jain Philosophy and Practice

The primary sources of Jainism — the Agamas, philosophical treatises on anekantavada, and commentaries on ascetic practice — reward careful reading but require interpretive tools that introductory surveys rarely provide. This workbook builds those tools: how to read Jain texts with attention to their internal logic, how to compare Jain ethical arguments with adjacent traditions, and how to write about Jain thought with accuracy. By the end of this course you will be able to read excerpts from Jain canonical and philosophical texts with attention to their argumentative structure, apply the doctrine of anekantavada (many-sidedness) as an analytical framework to ethical and philosophical questions, compare Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist treatments of karma and liberation using a structured template, analyze a contemporary Jain ethical issue using classical Jain reasoning, and produce a written analysis that represents Jain thought accurately and fairly. What you will learn: - A close reading of a selected passage from the Acaranga Sutra on ascetic practice — identifying key terms, implicit assumptions, and rhetorical structure - Anekantavada in practice: exercises applying the "seven standpoints" (saptabhangi) to philosophical and ethical claims - A structured comparison of karma across Jainism, Buddhism, and Brahmanical Hinduism — what each tradition means by the term and where they diverge - Case study: applying the principle of ahimsa to contemporary questions — diet, ecology, technology — using classical Jain reasoning as the analytical frame - Reading Digambara versus Shvetambara texts on the liberation of women — identifying doctrinal differences and their philosophical basis - How to evaluate secondary scholarship on Jainism: distinguishing insider accounts, orientalist studies, and contemporary academic religious studies - Writing exercise: a structured short analysis of a Jain philosophical argument, with a model response and annotated self-assessment rubric - A synthesis worksheet mapping Jain ethics from metaphysical premise to practical implication Each workbook section provides a framing overview, primary text excerpts with annotations, a structured set of analytical tasks, a worked example, and a self-assessment checklist. All primary sources are in English translation with key Prakrit/Sanskrit terms annotated. This course is suitable for students of religious studies, philosophy, or South Asian studies who want to work directly with Jain primary sources and develop analytical writing skills. No prior knowledge of Jainism or Indian languages is required. Suitable for those new to textual analysis of religious traditions.