________________
The Oldest Living Religion
19
their propagation, if not to any earlier Tirthankara, at least certainly to Pārsval and his disciples. In fact as Dr. Radhakrishnan says, “There is no doubt that Jainism prevailed even before Vardhamāna or Pārsvanātha”. 2
"But” says Dr. Nagendra Natha Basu, the reputed scholar, Sanskritist and Laxicographer, “Neminātha, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jajnas, who preceded Lord Pārsva Nātha, was a cousin of Lord Śrr Kțşņa. If we admit the historicity of Lord Kțsna, there is no reason why we should not regard his contemporary Lord Neminātha, the 22nd Tirthařkara as a real and historical person”,3
Dr. Fuhrer says, “Lord Neminātha, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas has been accepted as a historical person”.4 Same is the opinion of Prof. L. D. Barnett.
Mr. Karwa says, “Neminātba was the cousin of Kțsna. When the 22nd Tirthařkara of the Jainas was a contemporary of Lord Krsna, the readers may well imagine the antiquity of the remaining 21 TIrthankaras", 6
Col. Tod—“To me it appears that there were four distinguished Boodhas or Wisemen. The second ( the twenty-second of the Jainas ) was Neminātha, in 1120 B. C.", and says that he was contemporary of Kțşņa.*
1 For a life of Pārsva see "Lord Pārsva Nātba' by H, S. Bhattacharya and 'Bhagavān Pārsva Nātha' by K. P. Jain.
2 Indian Philosophy, vol. I, p. 287. 3 Harivamsa Purāņa-Introd. p. 6.
4 Epigrapbica Indica, Part I, p. 389 and Part II, p. 206-7.
5 Ancient Mid-Indian Kșatriya Tribes, vol. I, foreword p. IV.
6 Bhagavad Gitā--Appendix. * Apnals--Vol. I, p. 97-99, He also curiously makes
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
