Jainism, like Buddhism, was part of the newly arisen ?rama?a tradition. Not only was it one of Buddhism’s main competitors, but it also influenced and enriched the development of Buddhist religious institutions. It is true that Buddhism and Jainism have different doctrines, but they are regarded as “sister religions” by many scholars, because they both developed at nearly the same time with similar religious terminology and culture. Due to the religious competition, the attitude Buddhism took to Jainism differed from Jainism’s understanding of its own tradition. Therefore, there are discrepancies between Jainism as presented in Buddhist scriptures and that of Jainism’s own texts. Therefore, religious competition as seen in early Buddhist scriptures and the consequent hermeneutic effect are noteworthy. The present article explores the above issues. Using early Buddhist texts in Pali and Chinese, it looks at the relationship between Buddhism and Jainism. Then, based on several cases of religious competition in early Buddhist texts, it brings to light the hermeneutic effects accompanying that competition. Finally, the article concludes with some thoughts on these issues.
