Jain ascetics affirm the five great vows: non-violence (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), non-stealing (asteya), celibacy (brahmacharya), and non-possession (aparigraha). Taken absolutely and for life at ordination, the vows govern every act of the monk or nun, who renounces harm, falsehood, taking what is not given, all sexual activity, and personal property. Lay Jains take corresponding lesser vows (anuvratas), the same disciplines observed in partial, practicable measure suited to householder life.
Jain tradition holds that the fivefold structure of the vows reflects a specific historical development within the lineage of Tirthankaras: Parshvanatha, traditionally regarded as the twenty-third Tirthankara and the figure many historians consider the most plausible historically attested predecessor of Mahavira, is remembered as having taught four vows, omitting celibacy as a separate discipline on the assumption it was included within non-possession; Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara and founder of the tradition in its historically attested form, is credited in texts such as the Acharanga Sutra with separating celibacy out as an explicit fifth vow, a refinement Jain tradition presents as a clarification suited to a later and more lax age rather than a correction of Parshvanatha's teaching.