According to Jainism, the world was never “created.”

1. No beginning, no end

- The universe (loka) is anādi–ananta – without beginning and without end. - There is no first moment when it started, and there will be no last moment when it ends. ( jainknowledge.com)

1. No creator God

- Jain Dharma clearly says: no one created the universe – not a god, not a person, not any power. - The universe simply exists on its own nature and works according to natural laws and karma, not by someone’s wish. ( jainknowledge.com)

1. What the universe is made of

Jain texts say everything is made of two eternal categories: ( jainknowledge.com) - Jiva – souls, living beings (from tiniest one-sensed beings to humans, devas, hell-beings, etc.). - Ajiva – non-living substances: - Pudgala (matter) - Dharma-dravya (principle of motion) - Adharma-dravya (principle of rest) - Ākāśa (space) - Kāla (time) None of these are created; they are eternal.

1. How things “start” and change

- Though the universe as a whole is eternal, inside it everything is constantly changing (utpād–vyaya–dhrauvya: origination, destruction, permanence in substance). - Time moves in endless cycles: - Avasarpinī – descending half-cycle (happiness, purity, spiritual capacity decrease). - Utsarpinī – ascending half-cycle (they increase again). ( jainknowledge.com) - Worlds appear, develop, decline, and change form, but nothing comes from absolute nothingness.

1. Structure of the Jain universe (very simple outline) ( jainknowledge.com)

- Adho-loka – lower world, hellish regions. - Madhya-loka – middle world (humans, animals, plants, microscopic life, etc.). - Ūrdhva-loka – upper world (heavens). - Above all is Siddha-śilā, where liberated souls stay forever in pure bliss. ( jainknowledge.com)

1. Digambar & Śvetāmbara – same core view

- Both agree: - Universe is beginningless & endless. - No creator of the world. - Souls and matter are eternal; karma explains order, pleasure, and pain. - Differences are mainly in details of cosmology drawings, measures, and descriptions, not in this basic principle. ( jainknowledge.com)

In short, Jain answer to “How was the world created?” is: > The world was never created. It has always existed, made of eternal souls and eternal matter, continually changing under the law of karma—without any creator.

You can read more in a simple Q&A style here and a short cosmology overview here .