Vardhamana Mahavira was the most famous thinker of the Jains, who spread his message around 2500 years ago. He was a Kshatriya prince of the Lichchhavis, a group that was a part of the Vajji Sangha.
At the age of thirty, he left home and went to live in a forest. For twelve years, he led a hard and lonely life, at the end of which he attained enlightenment.

Upanishad were part of the later Vedic texts. Upanishad literally means' approaching and sitting near' and the texts contain conversations between teachers and students. Often, ideas were presented through simple dialogues.
Most Upanishadic thinkers were men, especially Brahmins and Rajas. Occasionally, there is the mention of women thinkers also.

Men and women who joined the Sangha led simple lives. They meditated for most of the time, and went to cities and villages to beg for food during fixed hours. That is why, they were known as bhikshus (the Prakrit word for beggar) and bhikshunis. They performed the following functions :
(i) They taught others and helped one another.
(ii) They also held meetings to settle any quarrels that took place within the Sangha.

The earlier viharas were made of wood and then of bricks. Some of them were even built in caves that were dug out in hills, especially in western India.

Sangha could be joined by brahmins, kshatriyas, merchants, labourers, barbers, courtesans and slaves.

Sangha was an association of those who left their homes. As both Mahavira and Buddha felt that only those who left their homes could gain true knowledge, they arranged for them to stay together in the Sangha.

It was difficult for farmers to follow Jainism because they had to kill insects to protect their crops which was not allowed in Jainism.

The Buddha taught in the language of the ordinary people, Prakrit, so that everybody could understand his message.

Satyakama Jabala was named after his mother, the slave woman Jabali. He had a deep desire to learn about reality and was accepted as a student by a brahmin teacher named Gautama, and eventually, he became one of the best-known thinkers of that time.

Many of the thinkers felt that there was something permanent in the universe that would last even after death. They described this as the atman or the individual soul and the brahmin or the universal soul. They believed that ultimately, both the atman and the brahmin were one