How to Write a Jain Memorial
Writing a memorial for a Jain loved one is a quiet act of honour, a record of a life shaped by ahimsa, of small daily choices that added up to a soul moving onward. This guide offers prompts, structure, and gentle suggestions grounded in Jain tradition to help you write something honest and lasting, whether you are working alone or gathering memories from family and sangha.
Writing a memorial within the Jain tradition
Jain teaching frames death as a passage in the soul's long journey toward moksha: liberation from the cycle of birth and death through the steady shedding of karma. A life well lived is one in which the soul has loosened its bonds, and the means of that loosening is ahimsa (non-violence), aparigraha (non-attachment), and right conduct in body, speech, and mind. A Jain memorial does not need to dramatise the loss; it honours how the deceased actually lived these principles.
What lives at the centre of a Jain memorial is the deceased's lived ahimsa, not as a slogan but as a thousand small choices. The vegetarian or vegan meals they prepared. The careful way they swept a floor or watered a plant. The patience that refused to be drawn into anger. The language they used about people who were not in the room. These are the threads of a Jain life, and they belong in the memorial more than any general praise.
Customs vary between the two main sects. Shvetambara families may speak of their deceased's temple practice and reverence for the white-clad ascetics; Digambara families may emphasise the path of the sky-clad monks and the absolute discipline of non-possession. Sthanakvasi and Terapanthi practice differ again. Regional traditions across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and the diaspora add their own colour. Write to your own family's practice; the memorial should sound like the person it remembers.
What to include. Jain elements
Many Jain families open their memorial with a reference to the Namokar Mantra: the prayer of reverence to the Arihantas, Siddhas, Acharyas, Upadhyayas, and all Sadhus, or with a short line in the deceased's memory invoking the blessings of the Tirthankaras. A short prayer for the soul's onward journey toward moksha sits well near the beginning or the end.
The substance of the memorial is their ahimsa and their character. The vegetarian or vegan kitchen they kept. The water they strained, the way they walked carefully on the ground, the language they refused to use against another being. Did they observe samayika (the forty-eight minute meditation)? Pratikraman (the practice of repentance)? Paryushana or Daslakshana? Did they undertake tapasya: fasting, austerities, the eight-day Atthai or longer fasts? Did they perform dana (giving) to monks, nuns, or those in need? These specifics are the truest portrait of a Jain life.
You may also include their relationship with the Tirthankaras (perhaps a particular devotion to Mahavir, Parshvanath, or Adinath) and the scriptures or teachings that shaped them, whether the Tattvartha Sutra, the Kalpa Sutra, the Acharanga Sutra, or the teachings of an Acharya whose discourses they attended. Mention of jiv daya (compassion to all life), animal welfare work, gaushala support, or pilgrimage to Shatrunjaya, Shravanabelagola, Sammed Shikharji, or another tirth fits naturally. Keep the language sincere; let the deeds carry the weight.
Memory prompts
Use these to gather material before you start writing, or share them with family and sangha who knew the person and want to contribute.
- Their commitment to ahimsa in small daily ways, how they walked, swept, spoke, and chose what to eat.
- Vegetarian or vegan meals they made, the dishes the family still cooks because of them.
- A samayika they observed, or a regular pratikraman, and what it meant to them.
- Their relationship with a particular Tirthankara, Acharya, or Sadhvi whose teachings shaped them.
- Acts of compassion to animals, jiv daya in the home, gaushala support, work for animal welfare.
- How they handled anger, the moments they refused to be drawn into harsh speech.
- What they read or studied, sutras, commentaries, the discourses of monks and nuns they followed.
- Their detachment from material things, what they refused to accumulate, what they gave away freely.
- Tapasya they undertook, fasts during Paryushana or Daslakshana, the Atthai, or longer austerities.
- A pilgrimage they made to Shatrunjaya, Sammed Shikharji, Shravanabelagola, or another tirth.
Structure suggestions
A simple shape that holds up well, whether the memorial is a short passage or a long piece.
- Open with a reference to the Namokar Mantra, a line invoking the Tirthankaras, or a short scene from the deceased's daily ahimsa: sweeping the floor with care, straining water, refusing to step on an ant.
- Move into their story, where they were born, the family they made, the work they did, the temple or sthanak they called home.
- Spend the most words on their lived ahimsa and their character. Concrete examples carry far more than general praise, the meal they always cooked, the harsh word they would not say, the animal they could not let suffer.
- Name their practice plainly. Their samayika, pratikraman, fasts, scriptural study, devotion to a particular Tirthankara or Acharya, describe what they actually did.
- Include the voices of others if you can. A line from a grandchild who learned to cook from them, a memory from someone they fed at a sadhvi's upashraya, a sentence from a sangha member.
- Close with prayer for the soul's onward journey toward moksha. A line invoking the Tirthankaras, the Namokar Mantra, or a quiet "may their soul find peace" — let the ending stay still.
If a blank page is too much
Writing about someone you have just lost is hard, and a blank document is sometimes the hardest part. If that is where you are, Cherished Book offers a free, respectful first draft built from a few short questions you can then shape with your own words and invite family to add to. The AI is calibrated to Jain framing: the soul's journey toward moksha, the lived practice of ahimsa, and non-attachment as the heart of the path, and nothing publishes without your review. Many families find it easier to edit something gentle than to start from nothing.
Including others
A Jain life is held within sangha and family, and a memorial reads more truly when many voices are gathered.
- Reach out to the temple, derasar, or sthanak the family attended. The trustees, the upashraya volunteers, and regular sangha members often hold stories of the deceased's quiet service.
- Ask the wider family (siblings, cousins, mamas, masis, foi) Jain family memory often runs across generations and continents.
- Invite their grandchildren to contribute a sentence each. A child's memory of a grandparent straining water, or refusing to swat a fly, or teaching them to fast carries weight no adult writing can match.
- Reach out to the animal welfare, gaushala, or vegetarian community they were part of, they will often have stories no one in the family heard.
- Welcome contributions in any language. A line in Gujarati, Hindi, Marwari, Kannada, English, or any language the family carries belongs in the memorial.
- Cherished Book lets sangha, family, and friends add memories, photos, and short tributes to the same memorial, so you do not have to gather everything yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Is it appropriate to write a memorial for a Jain who has died?
Yes. Recording a life of ahimsa, the deceased's practice, and the way they lived non-attachment is in keeping with Jain tradition. The caution is against praise that flatters beyond what is true; a sincere, modest record is welcome.
Should I mention which sect the deceased belonged to?
Yes, where it matters to the family. Shvetambara, Digambara, Sthanakvasi, and Terapanthi traditions shape practice in different ways. Naming the deceased's sect helps the memorial read truly to those who knew them.
How do I write about their fasts and austerities without sounding boastful?
Stay close to specifics: what they actually did, when, and what it meant to the household. "She kept the Atthai every Paryushana for thirty years" honours the practice more truly than any superlative.
Last reviewed June 2026.
Preserve their memory, together.
A collaborative memorial lets family and friends share stories, photos, and announcements, all in one place. It’s free to create.
Something not right?
We work hard to keep this content accurate and respectful. If you spot anything that could be improved, let us know.