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Chapter One ORIGINS IN ETERNITY
“There is truth in the Jaina idea that their religion goes back to a remote antiquity, the antiquity in question being that of the pre-Aryan, so called Dravidian illuminated by the discovery of a series of great late stone-age cities in Indus valley, dating from third and perhaps even fourth millenium B. C."1 Claims of Eternity
Naturally the followers of every religious faith proclaim their religion as having its source in antiquity and Jainas are no exception to this. The traditions and the legendary accounts prove the existence of Jainism as eternal. Jainism is revealed again and again in every cyclic period of the universe by innumerable Tirthaúkaras. The Jainas divide the whole span of time into two equally spanned cycles, namely, Utsarpiņi and Avasarpiņi. During Utsarpini, there is a gradual ascendency in moral and physical state of the universe, while during Avasarpiņi, the case is just reverse, i. e., the gradual descent of moral and physical state of universe. Each of these two is subdivided into six gras each extending over crores of years. This time-cycle goes on endlessly and Tirthaikaras ( Seers ) are born at regular intervals. They preach, practice and expound the eternal principles of Jainism. Pre-Aryan Roots
But this claim of eternity would appear to be very extravagent if we consider the fact that in our planet, the earliest
1. Prof. Zimmer : Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and
Civilization,
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