This makes Ramayana and Mahabharata as much a part of Jain faith as it is of Hindu faith. Ram, for the Jains, was a non-violent Baladeva, and Krishna was a violent Vasudeva. Besides, Tirthankaras, each era is blessed with 12 great emperors, the Chakravartis, and nine non-violent heroes, the Baladevas, whose violent brothers, the Vasudevas, fight villains, the Prati-Vasudeva.
They believe in 24 great sages, the Tirthankaras, appearing in each of the infinite life-cycles (kalpa) of this world. Jainism does not have one founder-leader. However, unlike Buddhists, it believes in the concept of an individual soul (jiva-atma), which rises to higher realms when cleansed of all impurities through austerities such as non-violence, abstinence and fasting. Like Buddhism, it does not have the concept of God (param-atma). Historians, however, have located its origin to the period that also saw the rise of Buddhism and Upanishadic doctrines related to rebirth, soul, and liberation, which is approximately 2500 years ago, a few centuries before the arrival of Alexander and the rise of the Mauryan Empire. Jainism, like Hinduism, considers itself to be sanatan dharma, the eternal faith, with no beginning (anadi) and no end (ananta).
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