Jai Jinendra

Jai Jinendra! ( ) (started in 7th CE) is a common greeting used by the Jains. The phrase means "Honor to the Supreme ''Jinas'' (Tirthankaras)"

The reverential greeting is a combination of two Sanskrit words: ''Jai'' and ''Jinendra''
:The word, ''Jai'' is used to praise somebody. In Jai Jinendra, it is used to praise the qualities of the ''Jinas'' (conquerors).
:The word ''Jinendra'' is a compound-word derived from the word ''Jina'', referring to a human being who has conquered all inner passions and possess Kevala Gyan (pure infinite knowledge), and the word "Indra," which means chief or lord.

Meguti Aihole Jain Inscription

A slab on the outer east side wall of the Jain Meguti temple is inscribed in Sanskrit language and Old Kannada script. It is dated to 634 CE, and is a poem by Jain poet Ravikirti. He was in the court of king Pulakeshin II. This inscription opens with the words "Jai Jina" the equivalent of "Jai Jinendra" salutation in Sanskrit. The inscription is a panegyric by the Jain poet wildly praising his patron Pulakesin II.

The first verse reads:-

"''Victorious is the holy Jina ─ he who is exempt from old age, death and birth ─ in the sea of whose knowledge the whole world is comprised like an island. And next, long victorious is the immeasurable, wide ocean of the Chalukya family, which is the birth-place of jewels of men that are ornaments of the diadem of the earth.''"

This 7th-century greeting remains a tradition among contemporary era Jains as "Jai Jinendra".Kielhorn (1901), pp. 1–11, footnote 15 on p. 7

See also

*God in Jainism
*Mahavira

Notes

References

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{{Jainism topics

Greeting words and phrases of India
Jain practices