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Jainism
and intelligence). His son Bharata Cakravarti, the first. universal conqueror had many wives and numerous sons. So there is no doubt that this more than two thousand years old tradition so definitely referred to Lord Rșabhadeva whose date according to it would come to be 6765 B. C. or about 9000 years ago. At least this was the date traditionally believed in the 3rd 4th century B. C. But incidentally, it is quite in keeping with the geological data mentioned above, and is sufficiently anterior to the beginnings of the most ancient civilization of the Indus Valley (c.6000 B. C.), of the early Egyptian Civilization (c. 5000 B. C.) to the advent of the Aryans (c.3000 B, C.). And thus Jainism is found to have existed throughout the pre-historical (pre-written bistorical), protohistorical and historical times.
This oldest religion of man was primarily called simply Dharma or Mānavadharma or Magga? (the Mārga or Path), in the Indus Valley days as Rsabha cultor Jainadharma, by the Vedic people as Vrātya religion or Abiṁsādbarma, in the time of the Upanisads as Ārbala Dharma or Ātmadharma, in Buddha's times
1 The authors of Manu's Code, the Mahābhārata and the Purāņas (100 B.C. - 1000 A. D.) increased their traditional dates and periods of yugas etc. to enormous lengths. Seeing this the Jaida writers also, who definitely knew that their tradition were decidedly anterior to those of the Brāhmanas, extended their dates as well and to outwit the Brābmanas made them so fabulous as to be beyond computation.
2 About the very ancient character of the word Magga and its original application to Jainism, see-New Light op the Antiquity of Jainism'-J.A., XIV, 1, p. 22.
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