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The Oldest Living Religion
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civilization as we understand it today. An interesting piece of evidence curiously assigas Lord Rşabha to just about this time. The Selucide ambassador Magasthenes who resided for some time in Pätaliputra, at the court of emperor Candra Gupta Maurya, now unanimously accepted to be a Jaina monarch, in about the year 305 B. C. records that the then current indigenous tradition dated the beginning of Indian History from 6462 years before that time, when according to it -the great Indian Dionysus and his son the great Hercules lived. He also associates this Dionysus with Mt. Meru and Kailāsa (Hemodos), attributes to him the invention and discovery of various arts and crafts, building of cities, setting up of kingdoins, and so on. He calls him Lenaios because he discovered how fruits should be gathered and pressed to yield juice. Before his times the inhabitants are said to have subsisted on such fruits as the earth yielded spontaneously. His son Herakles was a great warrior and conqueror, had many wives and numerous children. Dionysus lived a long age of 250 years.
Now all this description points to none else but to Lord Rsabhadeva or Ādinātha (The first Lord), the first propagator of religion, the first promulgator of law and order, pioneer of art, industry and social organization who at the close of Bhogabhūmi (oature depending primitive life) inaugurated the Karmabhūmi (age of action
1 Smith - EHI, E. Thomas -Early faith of Asoka, A. R. Banerji-QJMS, XIV, 1923, p. 5.9, Jayaswal - JBORS-III, C. D. Chatterji B. C. Law, vol., etc. etc.
2 M. C. Crindle - Ancient India, p. 35-38 (Indica of „Magasthenes),
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